TOKYO BLUE ALBUM LAUNCH, OCTOBER 8 2009, GROOVE JUNCTION
Remember we had a short feature on these guys a few entries back? We were waiting for them to release their debut album, and now it’s officially out! Wanting to capture the live feel, ‘The Naked Soul’ was recorded fully live, giving listeners a taste of the band’s raw expressions of their feelings and of course, their music. Yeah, it is so raw that they didn’t mind letting go of the little hick-ups here and there in some of the recordings. They even eagerly asked everyone to look out for the mistakes. “We’re not ashamed of it. That’s the point,†Josh added, which got the crowd laughing and cheering. But judging from their complex rhythms and juxtaposed melodies we’ve been grooving to so far, we’re guessing it’s really not an easy task.
The launch was a modest one, where the band played 2 sets with an intimate Q&A session in between. After a mind-blowing opening set, showcasing songs from the album, they took a break to let the crowd get to know them better. Answering a question from the audience, Hiro explained that tolerance for each other’s ideas and musicianship is important and that’s exactly how they go about writing songs as a band. Check out the album and you can see that each of them acts as a composer. When asked about future plans, the band showed keen interest in performing at different music festivals around Malaysia and overseas as well, particularly Jazz Festivals. Now here comes the most popular question at all Q&A sessions – ‘What is the genre of your music?’ According to Hiro, due to their habit of doing whatever they want to their music, some have labeled their music as ‘indie-jazz’. Some have also called them ‘jazz-rockers’…probably from Josh’s mad drumming and love for nu-metal. But hey, call it what you want, bottom line is, their music is the shizz.
They started their 2nd set with full-blown attitude, with Hiro, Ywenna and Josh being in their best elements. Probably more comfortable and relaxed this time around, they jokingly provoked each other on stage with solos and what not. There was also a song dedicated to Hiro’s mum, entitled ‘Kokoro’ which happens to be her favourite, and one for his dad too, called ‘Simple Man’, the finale of the night. That night Tokyo Blue was just at the top of their class. With their effortless playing, elegant showmanship and fun-loving attitude on and off stage, you can take my word that these guys are definitely gonna go places.
We have videos of the whole event here, so enjoy!
