Flying West to the East: Uzi and Ari Tours Japan

In May of 2006, Uzi and Ari embarked on its maiden voyage through the western United States. We slept on a lot of floors, played house shows and rode around in a failing 90s Suburban that didn’t have air conditioning. It was in Fresno, Calif. that we received an invitation from Luxembourg-based record label Own Records to release our album throughout Europe and part of Asia. Thanks in part to their promotion, the song “Mountain//Molehill” was blasting through the Internet and to various ears across the world. A pair of ears that heard the song belong to Tsunehiro Sato, owner of Tokyo-based Friend of Mine Records. He released his own version of the album It is Freezing Out, and was determined to gather the resources to bring us out of obscurity and into the rising sun of Japan.

Fast forward three years to the album Headworms that was also released on Own Records and Friend of Mine Records. Ben Shepard, Garrett Martin, Catherine Worsham and I were on a plane to Japan after returning home from a two month stint in Europe. We arrived in high spirits and met Tsune and the cargo van we were to ride around in. Tsune works as a magazine editor in Tokyo to help fund his infant label, which has released eight or nine releases within the past two years. One of those releases is from another Salt Lake band, The Player Piano. He loves instrumental rock bands with a sentimental twist. He is mostly interested in local bands, and is happy to receive demos from anyone and everyone.  

Tsune set up a modest tour that included five shows in Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya and then two in Tokyo. Booking shows in Japan is a difficult task, as the clubs require a down payment for use of the space. This forces the ticket prices up to between 20 and 30 dollars. This makes the shows smaller than expected, but also brings fans that are interested solely in the music and supporting their preferred bands. My favorite show was the very last one in Tokyo at a club called Moonstep, located north of the fashion district in west Tokyo. We arrived early in the afternoon for soundcheck and soon realized that our allotted time for the night was 30 minutes longer than what we had prepared. Tsune asked if I could perform as Nolens Volens, and I ecstatically replied, “Yes!” It was the last show of the tour, and the stage was set for a dramatic conclusion. 

After soundcheck, we wandered through the streets of Tokyo with Tsune, admiring the architecture. The streets were incredibly quiet, even though they were filled with people going to and from work. Tsune took us to a hole-in-the-wall noodle place, and we found nirvana in a bowl of Yakibuta ramen noodles. We headed back to the club to listen to the opening bands. 

Another way that promoters offset the cost of renting a club is to fill the bill with as many bands as possible. This particular night there were five bands, and Nolens Volens made it six. We listened to A Picture of Her, a Japanese band that Friend of Mine Records recently signed. Like many of the bands that we played with in Japan, A Picture of Her is influenced by the tremendous wave of emo that came out of America in the late 90s. Like many people my age, I have long since left behind the noodling guitars and emotive voice, but I found myself in awe of their musicianship. They have taken every annoying part of emo out and infused it with elements of math rock. 

Several other bands played, and then it was finally my turn to stand before the audience to twiddle my knobs and send my toy instruments through looping feedback. It was daunting to follow bands that are so accomplished as musicians, but I received many happy hands at the end. Uzi and Ari played a very emotional set, as we knew that it would be our last time performing in front of such a welcoming audience.

Photos:

Page:  [1]  2  Next >>

Comments on this article

Be the first to comment!

Add a comment

Please keep your comments on the subject of the article.
We will delete your comment if it is racist, misogynistic, sexist, bigoted or just plain lame.
No HTML allowed!