Merry Christmas and a story about Doc Brown

Christmas came a little bit earlier in Japan than the rest of the world (depending on where you live) and last night I and my wife had a good time at a Christmas party at our church VIC (Yokohama, Japan).

Just as a little gift for Christmas, I want to share this song with you. It's a song we wrote for our church VIC, in 2011. As you can see, so many things happened this year in Japan and in the world. Lyric of this song, 2nd half of the song, is our prayer for Japan. We just recorded this song recently. Yes now we finished recording our "new album". We don't know how it will be released so we need your help here but anyway, now we've done it! It's December 24th early morning it was finished. (Working all night. So tired.)

http://soundcloud.com/imaritones/give-us-your-miracles-mp3

 Give Us Your Miracles (mp3 sample) by imaritones

We set this song "downloadable" on soundcloud. Because we want to share the blessing with you. So feel free to share this song with anyone. It's a worship type, acoustic song.

Now here comes a new year soon.
And new year season is when we Japanese come back to home, hometown, parant's house, to see their family.

Here I want to share a little story. A journal of a local musician.
It's a story about "a local musician".
When I was a kid, when I was younger, we had video disks of "Back To The Future" movies at home. (It was, on Laser Disk, a media which has extinct long ago...)

I watched the movies (Back To The Future trilogy) many times. Actually I learned so much English from that movie. (It's heavy, hah?)
And I noticed that in the movie, Doc (Emmett Brown) calles himself "a local scientist".

I thought it's funny, because, what's local scientist?
Is it something like local bakery or local florist?

But after watching the movie many times, I gradually begining to like the word "local scientist". Because Doc Emmett Brown was totally an incredible guy. He is not famous. He is not rich. But he has a great science skill and invented a time machine after many years of research! (and no one knows the fact except his best friend Marty McFly.) There is almost not doubt that Doc is one of the greatest scientist ever, but he loves solitude and isolated from the world. People call him crazy. But he doesn't care, he stays humble, doing what he's doing, and call himself "a local scientist".

After I started playing music independently, I began to understand how it is like to be a Doc Brown. Being an independent musician is so much like "Back To The Future" movie. And I found out Doc Brown is the best form of independent music. He became a very good roll model for me.

I want to be a Doc Brown. People may call you crazy, but I continue my research and searching for the best music, trying to invent something new.
I'm not famous but trying to stay humble and call myself "a local musician". These things, probably I learned from Doc Brown?

And probably someday I will invent "Time Machine" and go back to the future:)
(hopefully)

But let me tell you one thing.
Here is something I'm more blessed than Doc Brown.
Doc continued his research alone, and the only one person who understands him was his best friend Marty McFly.

When I look at my life, I have my wife, my band, our friends, our church.
And apperantly, we have more than one person who cares about our music.
This is Musician's Blessing!
Because music is something to share with people!
Even if I'm a stuborn introvert person, I can share our music with people.

I'm not saying we are not going to be famous. Things are getting better and better. And we just have made the greatest record ever.
I'm sure the big things are waiting for us all in 2012.

But I just want to tell you, I'm more than happy being "a local musician".
Because we can receive God's blessing most when we are humble.
Because we know that God is always watching what you do, no matter where you are, or, no matter when you are, I mean, even if you are traveling through time.

I love calling myself "a local musician".

Tak Nakamine / Imari Tones
Merry Christmas!

New song video and we need your help!

Well what can I say?
We have been working on our new recording work throughout year 2011.
February-March, we recorded 4 songs, in the occasional blackouts and turmoil after the earthquake.

April we had an opportunity to record 2 songs in Dallas Texas, USA.
(USA recording? Wow, sounds like a dream!)

In summer we (mostly Tak) did one song for Famicom Dojo podcast.

And now we are working on 3 more songs, drum tracks already done.
Probably in January 2012, we will have whole album done.

But here is the problem.
We need a record label.
(Sounds ridiculous?)

As you can see, we have been selling our music independently, mostly on internet.
But this time we want to have a breakthrough.
Next step as a band.

That's why we made these 2 videos.
We have to spread the word and have a breakthrough.

So can you help us?

We need a record label but we don't know how to contact right people.
So we decided we need help from people.

Here is our request.
Can you retweet or post this video on facebook, twitter, blog, anywhere on internet, so that the word will spread?


Here is the first video called "The Concept".




and here is the second video called "You Key". (This song is a killer!)





These are very low budget videos, recorded by iPhone camera, but they represent our attitude so much. Having fun, being happy, and being thankful to God.
It was so much fun to make these videos.
We hope you enjoy this video just like we did while making them.


Blessings,
Tak / Imari Tones


p.s.
It looks like YouTube got a timing problem. Sound and movie sometimes doesn't synchronize. In that case, maybe you can visit our VIMEO page, just in case.
http://vimeo.com/imaritones

One (very) little victory

Now we finished editing our new videos and ready to show them to you, but today we want to share this one little achievement. In Japan we have a major heavy metal magazine called "Burrn!". It's every metal musician's dream to see their name written on that magazine. And now their January2012 issue, they mentioned about us! (Thanks, Amanda Somerville / Trillium !)

We are just an unknown band doing something weird but this is the first time we were mentioned in major music magazine. (and we are sure there will be many more in the future)

But bigger surprise for us is, this issue of Burrn! magazine is just like a Christian advertisement!! They have Stryper article, and also on August Burns Red interview they focused on their Christianity side (which is very rare in Japanese music magazine) and they put their Christian testimony in the article. Off course we were mentioned as a Christian metal band. How many can you find the word "Christian" in this issue!?

Wow, I can't help but feel GOD is moving here in Japan!!!
It makes me happy! GOD is Awesome!!

Tak / Imari Tones

"The Concept" on SoundCloud

Hello friends!

We were planning to upload 2 song videos in this month. We were going to make them quick, using the photos and movies from the past.

However, it turned out that we need to do it right in the studio, in order to make good videos.
We gonna make those videos in December.
So, instead, we decided to release the songs on SoundCloud first.


 The Concept (sample) - Imari Tones by imaritones


This song is called "The Concept" and we played this song live many times this year.
So some of you already familiar with it.
This is a hard rocking song which goes like "Leave everything behind and follow Jesus Christ~~!".
I want you to spread the word because we need some exposure!
Thank you!

Tak / Imari Tones

STRYPER was awesome in Japan

Some of you may already know but last week Saturday STRYPER came to Japan and played at LOUDPARK festival. (It has been 22 years since they played last time in Japan)
 And, here is a picture with Tak&STRYPER.
Well, it's nothing special. It's meet&greet stuff many bands are doing nowadays.
But let me say this. It was SPECIAL!

Since we started playing Christian Rock, I always loved STRYPER. But their performance at LOUD PARK festival was more than I expected.

Every metal heads attended the festival was amazed by their awesome performance, especially Michael Sweet's amazing voice and twin guitar harmonies.

It was almost something we can call a "miracle". God's glory was shown to Japanese metalheads.

Hope we can be a great band like them in a future.

-Tak / Imari Tones

Side Project(^^)

Long time no update!
(We had some updates on Facebook but no update here on news blog for more than 1 month. Wow, sorry about that.)

We are preparing some "very ambitious" update,
we finished 2 more song mixings and working on 3 more powerful songs.
But for now, let me talk about this "Side Project".

Do you like "Side Project"?
Personally, I don't like it.
I have some favorite bands in my life and I want my heroes to concentrate on their own band/project, rather than those side projects.

But on the other hand, I like helping my friends and having fun together.
I play guitar, bass, sometimes drums in our church worship team,
I play guitar&bass in my pastor's reggae band (Yes, my pastor loves Reggae!)
Also I occasionally join my friends' cover band.

It was last year summer that I met this singer called "Atsuki Ryo"(熱きリョウ).
He was a heavy metal singer from Hiroshima, Japan. And his band had just disbanded a few months before.
He has been singing as a solo act in local bars and clubs around Tokyo.

But he was a very cool guy, and exellent metal singer who has a very wide voice range.
We hit it off together because we both love STRYPER. (smile)

And it was December 2010 that he told me he wanted to play some "Christian Heavy Metal".
He said he was going to write some metal songs for Jesus. And he said he wanted me to play guitars on those songs.
He was not a Christian, but it looks like he was feeling something inside.

It was June this year that he gave me a CD-R with those songs.
Those songs were titled like "Heaven and Hell", "Jesus Christ", and "Soldiers Into Hell" (Yes, they sound pretty much like STRYPER!).

By the end of the summer, I recorded my guitar tracks on his songs.

And now, we got this gig offer from Misono Baptist Church in Kanagawa, a church we played last year. For some reasons, I decided to play this gig with this guy Atsuki Ryo, instead of my band Imari Tones.

We had a meeting in Ikebukuro, and after that we took him to my friend church (Cornerstone Tokyo). And he was very happy there, talking passionately about his idea of God.

So we will play with him at the church concert, in December this year.
This project is called "Atsuki Ryo with Jesus Mode".
...and here is the picture.
Looks like a Japanese rock duo from early 90's, right?

I really hope he's gonna be a fighter for God.

Atsuki Ryo on Twitter (Japanese)
http://twitter.com/atsukiryo

Artist Policy of Imari Tones

Hello!
This is Tak from Imari Tones, a Japanese Christian rock band.


Summer vacation will soon be over. So, before that, I want to write one more story here.


Earlier this year, Lady Gaga came to Japan and she was on every TV show in Japan.
Usually I don't watch TV but the other day my sister showed me some of the TV programs she recorded on her video recorder.
And I understood one thing. Lady Gaga, re-defined the definition of Pop Star in this 21st century. She re-invented "Pop Star". Am I right?


Hopefully, we are trying to re-define the meaning of "Rock Musician" too. (It's just Lady Gaga is doing it far better than us.)

Maybe we are not so good at it, because it's taking so long time and we are still not as big as Lady Gaga. But it's true we have been trying to "re-invent" the meaning of Rock Musician.

So, today, let me tell you about the policy of Imari Tones.

Again, this may be a boring story for you, but these our policies are so much important for us. So let me share it with you, so that you can see why we are doing this. Why we are doing things in this way. A policy of an independent rock band from Japan.



"It's all about Priority"

First of all, I want you to understand, it's all about Priority and making choices.

For an independent band like us, resource is always limitted. Mostly, time, money, money, time, budget, and money.
So you have to think about "Priority".

Some bands put their focus on putting fabulous shows.
Some bands put their focus on making a perfect record.
Some bands put their focus on creating a buzz on internet.
Priority issue, what to focus on, it's very important and critical issue for any band.

But let me tell you. We have seen so many fellow bands in our journey. So many of them disbanded and gone. Playing in a rock band is not easy. But we have survived for years now, making music independently. Here is the reason; Priority and Policy.

Resource is always limited. Nobody can do it perfect (unless you are U2 or Radiohead).
But here is our policy and I want you to understand it.





"Creativity First"

Probably this is our First Priority.

Like I always say, I never really believed in Music Business.
If you take a look at our website, you soon will notice we have so many songs/albums on our catalog. That's because we give our first priority to CREATIVITY.

If we were a major band signed to a major label, probably we could not have made so many songs/records. I think we made a choice, not to be signed to a major company, but to make as many records independently. When did we make that choice? I guess, it was before we started. Probably before we were born. It may sound funny but I believe, most important choices of life, many of them, we made those choices before we were born.

As you know, famous major bands make a record only once in several years nowadays. That's because of business reasons of music industry (I guess).
On the other hand, some indie bands, they make a record and after that they don't make next one for years.

There is always a budget issue. In Japan, indie band like us usually doesn't make a record so often. They don't make a full album. They usually record, just 2 or 3 songs, or possibly 4-5 songs. That's because recording takes so much money, at least in Japan. So how do we record so many songs, while other bands record only 2 songs per year?

It's easy. We learned how to make a record by ourselves. We learned how to record, how to use EQs, how to use Compressor and Reverb. And most importantly, we have our sound policy. We use our lap-top computer and music software, and we can take a good care of our sound.

Probably our sound is different from commercial sound quality of modern age, perfected by ProTools and digital editing. (Yes we use computers too, but we do our recording in very old way. We are not good at editing.) We love 1970s and early 1980s sound and we want to make a record sounds that way. Handcrafted, warm, human sound, even if it's not perfect. Some people may not like it, but that's our choice.

Some artists make a record for external reason, or social reason. They don't make a record if nobody will listen to it. They don't make a record if business is not ready. They do market research and make music based on that. That's okay, because that's the way of business in this real world.

However, we have a different plan.
I'm a type of musician who writes so many songs. I wanna be true to my inner artist. I want to give him a chance as much as possible. God gives me so many songs in my life. How can I walk away from those songs? I want to create music even if nobody will listen to it. We make records simply because we want to. I want to be an artist, before being famous. If I can live as an artist and die as an artist, then my goal is achieved. There is nothing other than that.

That is why we are making so many music, sacrificing all other things.






"Our time plan"

Okay, now that we told you about our creativity policy, I need to tell you this.
Let's face it. Our time plan is so much different than other band's time plan.

What do you think you need to be a Rock Star?
Probably, you will need so many things.

You have to be musically gifted, off course.

You have to find good fellow band members, or you have to have friends who happen to be good musicians. It's very hard to find a right band.

You have to be good looking, at least one way or another. (Off course you know the reason, right?)

You have to be in a right place. If you are living in a jungle somewhere in Africa, you have less chance to be a rockstar. If you are living in Los Angels or New York, probably you will have a better chance.

You have to be in a right time. If you are playing style of music that is outdated decades ago, you have much less chance to be successful. You have to be "Cutting Edge".

You have to be young to be a rockstar. You have to start early. If you start playing at the age of 5 and start your first band at the age of 10, then you probably have better chance than others.

You have to be a good business person, a communicator, or an actor, as well as a musician.

You need support from your family, and you need support from your friends. Not many people can have this kind of support, I think.


In short, you have to be VERY LUCKY to be a rockstar.

How many people trying to be a musician?
How many of them actually be successful?


I knew I didn't have these things in the first place.
Also, I saw whole music industry going down, getting smaller and smaller. Maybe rock music is already dead for a long time.

So, I GAVE UP my hope to be a rockstar at the starting point.


Instead, I came up with another plan.
It's about timeline.

Here is an ordinary (or dreamy) Rock Star timeline of life.
Age18 Start your super rock band
Age22 Get signed to a big record company
Age24 Your album becomes a Gold Record
Age27 Married to a beautiful actress
Age30 Quit the band and start solo career
Age34 Die from drug overdose or something
(Okay, I'm joking.)


Well, it looks so easy and it's pretty quick.
However, I knew this Rockstar timeline wouldn't work for me. Never.

So, I decided to live another time line.
It's not Rockstar timeline.
But it was more like a timeline of Novelists, Painter, or Sculptor.

Let's think.
If you are a Rockstar and you are 40 years old, people say you are OLD.
However, if you are a Painter and you are 40 years old, in many cases, people say you are YOUNG.
This is a big difference.

Music industry changing. Rock Stars don't die young no more.
Rock music is not a new thing any more. It's becoming more and more like a traditional art form.
So maybe it's time you can start your "Painter" timeline as a rock musician.
10 years before, it was impossible, because recording your own music was something not everybody can do. (I started this around year 2000.) But now, thanks to the computer and digital recording system, we can make our music, just like painting a picture on a canvas!

So we tried to live a "Painter" timeline.
Probably, we are the first generation who can do that.
There was no Rock Musician who lived this "Painter" timeline before. Because it was simply impossible.
It's a new thing. There was no rock musician who kept making music and stayed independent for his/her whole life. Our generation is first to do that.
Yes it takes time. But when we do that, we will change the definition of "Rock Musician". And, hopefully, Rock Music now will be a real art form, just like Painting and Writing.

This "Painter" timeline looked very good to us.
Decades ago, you have to be famous to keep making music.
But now, you don't have to be famous.
Learning from our history, we all know fame can be harmful. Once you get on the train, there is no way back. You will lose your freedom, you will lose your ordinary life.
With this "Painter" timeline, you can have your ordinary human life as much as you want.

So why don't you make music you want to make, without getting famous?
You don't have to hurry.
You can delay your fame 10 years, 30 years, or even after you die.
Or you may never be famous after all, but who cares?
Most important purpose of ART is, to touch the life of people around you.
I know many artists who can do that, even without fame.


So that is the reason.
That is the reason we are doing this crazy stuff with our own time plan.
Some people may think we are too slow.
But in our time plan, it's always "on time".






"Human Life First"

Now that you see our whole time plan, I can tell you, it's very important for us to have a decent human life. After all, ART comes from LIFE. Musician's art is an reflection of his/her actuall life. So we put our focus on make our actual life better.

Better doesn't mean rich in money. We try to make our actuall life spiritually better, emotionally better, and we try to be better human beings.

Spending time with your family, spending time with your loved ones, trying to be nice to your friends, and always trying to do a right thing. Those things we are trying to do, because we want to make our life better. As an artist, we have to make our life beautiful, as much as we make our art beautiful. That is the TRUE art, we believe. We sing what we believe in. And we LIVE what we believe in.

We want to make a TRUE art, which means, it makes your life better and it makes you happy. Even if music sounds good, if there is nothing to learn from it, then it has no meaning. Even if music sounds cool, if it doesn't make your life better, then it has no meaning. So we want to play POSITIVE music, with healthy message, which makes you HAPPY!

Even if it's outdated, even if it's not so cool, we want to play pure music from our heart.

So now does it make sense to you why we became a Christian band?

It's not because we wanted to do something funny.
It's because we wanted to make our life better with God's LOVE.
Because we knew we can be better musicians with God's LOVE.

Because now we live our life with MORE LOVE, we can play our music with MORE LOVE!!
That is the reason.

So, I believe, true success is not measured by the number of CDs/Records you sold. It's measured only by how truely you lived your life. That's the art we believe in.

After all, that's why I named this band "Imari Tones". It's all about your personal love. (Well, if you still don't know why it was named like this, please check our history page on our website....)

This is a project trying to make a personal love into universal love.


So let me say this.
If we have to make a choice between business success and personal life, we will choose "personal life". Off course, it's always hard to balance between these two things....





"Sustainability First"

Like I just said, it's always hard to balance life and music.
But hey, life is all about balance. Play, study, work, business, money, and love. We all try to have a good balance between these things.
It's the same for a band like us.

We don't put our goal on short term success.
Just like I said, we have a long time plan. In order to fulfill that long term plan, we have to keep going for a long time. We have a long way ahead.

Some rock bands put their goals on short term success. And when they don't reach that goal, they disband and quit. Off course it's case-by-case, but I often feel it's not a serious attitude about music.

Keep doing it for a long time.
Yes it's easy to say.
However, it's not that easy to actually do.
You need a real passion for music.
And you need to be really gifted.
And off course you need God's help.
But we believe we are one of few artists who can do that, who have Spirit, Faith, and Love for music.

Sometimes we don't chase the chance in front of us, because we choose this "Sustainability" over short term success.
Some of you may think it's frustrating, but I want you to understand it's all about balance and strategy.

We put our priority on Sustainability.
That's because we want to have as much fun as possible in a long run!




"Adventure First"

We don't put our goal on Money or Success. You know that very well.
So what are we doing all these crazy stuff for?
It's, I think, probably, for Adventure.

Remember your childhood dream. Remember the dream you had when you were a little kid. Did you love to go to Disney World? Or you still love POKEMON?
What every little boy wants....that is ADVENTURE.

Playing in an independent rock band, in my opinion, that is one of the greatest adventures man can have.
Probably that is why we do everything by ourselves independently.

Making records, making tour plans, booking gigs, all by ourselves.
For us, every gig, every tour, it's an adventure.
I tell you, that's what makes boys happy. (We are still little boys, I guess.)

When you really want something, God will give it to you.
When you really pray for something, God will give it to you.
So God gives us adventures, instead of money and fame.

I think that's the choice we made....and we are glad.






"Spiritual Prayer First"

Lastly, I tell you one very important secret of this band.
Why are we playing music in spite of all these tough things we have to face?

Are we doing it for fun?
Yes.
Are we doing it for love?
Yes.
Are we doing it for a success?
In a long run, yes.

But here is the truth.
We are playing our music to communicate with God.


Some people might say this is ridiculous, but we believe we can change something just by playing music.
When we play music, I often feel God's presence, watching from somewhere, somewhere in this universe.
I believe God is watching everything we do. And music and art is a tool to communicate with Him. That's why people play worship music at church, right?

So the reason we try to make our music beautiful is, to please God. We try to make our life beautiful, to please God. Our music is an offering to God. Our band is an offering to God. And our life is an offering to God.

We believe life is more than what we see. We believe this world is more than what we can see. We are just an unknown indie band from Japan, but we believe we can make a difference by playing our music for God. It's very difficult to explain, but we play our music for our country Japan, as well as for the entire world. Because God is watching everything. If we can communicate with God with our music, and our music is good enough to God's ears, He may do a good thing to Japan and the world. And this world becomes a better place.


For example, when we play a local gig in Tokyo, we think this way.
It may be a small local gig in Japan, but we can save the world by this single gig, if only God is watching.

Some people might say it's crazy, I know, but that's the way we think as a musician.



Basically, we believe in miracles. We believe in God's plan and His guidance.
Yes that's why we are doing this, after all.

We believe in MUSIC.



May God bless you all.

Tak "Tone" Nakamine / Imari Tones
22.August.2011
http://www.imaritones.net/

Summer time and BandCamp!

Hello, this is Tak from Imari Tones.

It's summer time!
It's very hot here in Japan.

Because of the electricity shortage caused by the nuclear accident, all the Japanese people now trying not to use air-conditioner. It's officially hottest summer ever! But it's surprising how people trying to do away with Nuclear Power Plants. Yes something is about to change here in Japan! We really hope Christian situation in Japan also will change.


Today I want to give you 2 little annoucements.


1. Now all our songs & albums available on BandCamp

Have you ever checked "BandCamp"?
It's a very cool independent music website.
Many artists around the world now selling their music through BandCamp.
We love BandCamp too, and now all of our music catalog is available on BandCamp.

If you checked our history page earlier, you must have noticed we have so many songs & albums in our band history. Now all of them are available on BandCamp.

We love BandCamp, not only it sounds good, but also you can hear all the songs FOR FREE!!

It's our pleasure if you check our songs there.
(And it's great if you "like" or "tweet" our albums on facebook/twitter.)

Here you are!
http://imaritones.bandcamp.com/



2. A-Band Game

One nice little annoucement.
Our song will be included in a video game called A-Band by Flammable-Games.
I heard it is a music game like Guitar Hero.
I don't know if this is a big game by a big company, or a small project by up and coming artists like us, but we are totally glad and very proud to be included.

So check it out!
We will keep you posted about this.

http://www.flammable-games.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ABandTheGame




That's all for today!
We are playing monthly gigs in Japan this summer.
And let me tell you, miracles are happening in every gig!
We are giving out bibles and some people got to know Jesus through those events.
It's a great blessing to see God is working through our music.
We are very glad to work for God here in Japan!

Also we are working on a song for some internet video program.
We will let you know when it's done!


Riots in UK, ecomony in USA, and politics in Japan, now things are very tough all around the world.
But let's believe in God's guidance. He will make everything good! We can make a better world!

Thank you very much and God bless!


Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
"The First Christian Heavy Metal from Japan"
http://www.imaritones.net/

History of Imari Tones & "He's Still With Us" video

Hello!
This is Tak "Tone" Nakamine from Imari Tones, a Japanese Christian rock band.

After the tour in April/May, we are gigging constantly in Japan and thinking about a bigger vision of our future.
This may be the shortest message I have ever sent, but actually it has the longest and biggest volume of content.


Are you interested in the history of our band?
Maybe nobody cares, but finally I wrote our band history in English.

It's a story about why we started music and how we became a Christian rock band in Japan.

You can see many pictures and you can hear our old songs.

If you are interested, please take a look here.

http://www.imaritones.net/e_history.htm



Another thing is,
We uploaded many songs to YouTube, in order to place them on our history page I just wrote.

And I want to show you this particular one, because you probably will like it.

"He's Still With Us"


It's a song called "He's Still With Us".
We played this song often in our last tour, and we made up this video using photos and movies from our tours in USA.
Maybe it's too much of "USA" stuff, but we love this song.
I hope you will like it too!


That's all for today.
In Japan things are still not easy, we are again having some large earthquakes recently, Fukushima situation not good. Nobody is sure about future.

But still, we are going forward to realize the vision God has given to us.
I hope there is His guidance upon you, too!!


God bless, and Rock on!

Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
"The First Christian Heavy Metal from Japan"
http://www.imaritones.net/

"Shito Shinjo" (使徒信条)

Just a little update.
It's just a little song in Japanese.
Just uploaded a song called "Shito Shinjo"(使徒信条), which means Apostles' Creed in Japanese.
Yes just like "Creed" song by Third Day and Petra. Not sure if any Japanese band did this before but I wanted to do in in Japanese.

It's been a while since we did a song written in Japanese language.
It's just a simple bonus track type song, easy production with programmed drum track, but hope this can reach Japanese people.

-Tak


使徒信条という曲をアップしてみました。
アメリカあたりのクリスチャンのバンドがやっている、「使徒信条」(Apostles' Creed)をそのまま曲にする、というのを日本語でやってみた曲です。簡単でシンプルなオマケトラックですが。

USA Tour finished. Thank you!!

Hello, this is Tak from Imari Tones, Japanese Christian rock band.

(Sorry if my English is funny here and there, since this time I wrote it in Japanese first and then translated it into English.)
(And it's gonna be a long letter.)


I can't believe it.
It's almost 1 month since we came back from USA tour.


Thanks to you all, the tour was so much successful.
Recording at CFNI Dallas TX, concerts at churches, club gigs, and the showcase in Nashville TN, everything went very well.

(Here is the movie from our Nashville showcase)


Now we are back in Japan, organizing our thoughts, organazing videos and photos, and busy with everyday life here in Japan.

Before this tour, we were wondering what everything would be like after finishing the tour. We had no idea what it would bring, and we had no idea where we are going.

And let me tell you this.
Now we feel like the limit is gone.
It's as if we were in the small room and all of a sudden the roof is gone.
Now we can see the blue sky ahead of us and there is no limit.

I think this is what we call "breakthrough". And that is the most important thing we got through this tour.

Now that the old limit is gone, we have to take a new step and go for a longer journey in a bigger world. That's tough, it makes us dizzy, but it's a joy at the same time.


At the end of this tour, we attended a Christian music convention called The Objective. It was hosted by the people from "The Extreme Tour", and these guys were really great. I think they are trying to show what Christian musician really is, and trying to show the direction for musicians in this difficult age of music industry.

This year, we could not join their Extrem Tour further than The Objective convention, but in a future we really want to join their tour.

Also I was so inspired by the "outreach" they are doing.
Now I believe in the power of music, power of prayer, and the power of healing.

So now I really want to do this kind of "outreach" here in Japan.
(Off course it would be in a little bit different way, since in Japan things are very much different.)


In our 2010 East Coast Tour (which was last year), I prayed so that our country Japan would change. It was a great discovery for me, to find a heart for my own country inside me, to find out what I really wanted.

And now in 2011, we all know Japan is changing. However, the price was very high.

So my prayer during this tour, is like this.

"I want to see a miracle happen in Japan."

"I still believe in miracles."

Now we know God answers our prayer.

But in the first place, we have to be the "miracle" ourselves.

(By the way, here is the movie of Tak talking before concert)



So I want to tell you what we are going to do now.

One thing is, to contact industry people.
We met many music industry people at The Objective, the Christian music convention in Nashville.
Since we did our showcase very well, we made some little "buzz" among them in Christian music industry (hopefully, haha...).

So now we have to contact them, so that we can go further, aiming something big which we can't do by ourselves.


One issue we always have had is, to move and get based in USA.
Because we are playing a kind of music which is more for oversea market rather than Japanese domestic market, it's obviously a good thing to move to USA for our future success.

However, we know it's not so easy. For example, we have Visa issue and budget issue.
At the same time, we still have things to do here in Japan, especially because now Japan is going through a tough time.


One question here is whether or not we should follow success and glory.

As you know, people in this world are chasing their success and glory. However, we are a Christian band. Are success and glory necessary for Christian band? Should we really follow success and glory? Is there some other thing we have to do?

If we don't follow glory and if there is still something we can do, then I think we can say we are a Christian band.

So we are going to leave it to God's will, knocking every door and ask for His will.


Yes I know, it's almost 1 month passed since we came back from the tour. Maybe I should have contacted those industry people sooner.

I confess I have been suffering from kind of "burnout syndrome".
I needed some time to organize my thoughts and situation.
I could not think of doing anything for a while after the tour.
(Actually editing video took me so much time.)



So, here are things I'm going to do.


*Throwing Bible (in Japan concert)
Yes, bible throwing performace which was made famous by Stryper!
We are going to do it in Japan! At our concerts!
I wonder why we were not doing it before, maybe it's good time to adopt this pretty gimmick to our show. Also we will place some Free Bibles on our merchandise table so that people can see them. We will do each of our gigs as an "outreach" in Japan.


*Podcast
Some of you may know I was doing a podcast, together with my wife in 2008. However, it's not updated for a while since the band became very busy.
I'm thinking about starting it again, because I feel it's something I have to do now.
It's just a small output for an indie band like us, but I want to deliver some messages which I have to deliver in this time.
This time I'm going to do it by myself, because it's more personal and quicker.
Basically it's in Japanese language. I'm not sure if I'm gonna do English version.


*Side Project for Outreach
Like I just said, now I'm willing to do some "outreach" activity here in Japan, something like what I saw in Nashville TN. That's because I want more people to experience the power of music, power of prayer and healing power of God.

I can't say anything big, like big open-air event or benefit concert in Tohoku region, since we need some backup from organizations to do that kind of thing. But I'm thinking about doing some small stuff.

However, in fact, Imari Tones is not for these kind of local outreach activity.
Because our music is not for Japanese domestic market, and we need a decent venue and sound system to play, and our band members are not so flexible schedule wise.

So I'm thinking about starting a side project band for outreach purpose. Maybe with our church friends. And it's not gonna be a heavy metal like Imari Tones. It will be something easier to understand for Japanese people.



*Recording - Mid term plan
During this tour, we were selling CDs called "Living Water EP" at some venues. It inclueded 4 songs and 2 demo tracks.
During this tour, we recorded 2 songs (+1 remix song) in Dallas TX. So now we have 6(+1) songs.
We are planning to record 3 or 4 more songs during 2011, and make it a full album and release it in 2012.


*Recording - Long term plan
Also, we are thinking about making a "concept album". A concept album about Japanese history. It's gonna take time, it will need study and research. It's gonna be a biggest challeng for us. I don't know it's gonna take 2 years or 3 years. However, I promise, no matter how the situation is, no matter if we are successful or not, we gonna finish that album. At least that far, we can promise.



That's the list of things we are going to do.



I don't know how it's gonna be about our oversea touring plan.
Maybe we gonna do another tour soon, maybe we gonna play some festival, or visit certain city for a short tour, anything can happen.

But there is also a possibility we don't do any tour in 2012.
Because in these 3 years, we have been working hard and used up our energy and resource. So we may need some time to prepare and get rest, just to do a bigger thing in a future.

So we leave our next tour plan to God's will, while we are knocking every door.



Lastly, but most importantly,
We want to say big THANK YOU to all the people.
All the people who support us
All the people who made it possible
All the people we met on this tour
All the people who cares for us

And we thank God for huge blessing on this wonderful tour.

Thank you JESUS!!


Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
"The first Christian heavy metal from Japan"
http://www.imaritones.net/


p.s.
Check our footage from this tour on our YouTube channel.
http://www.youtube.com/imaritones

USAツアー報告

さて、やっと少し気持ちが落ち着いて書くことができるようになってきました。


もう戻ってきてから一ヶ月がたちましたが、
4月半ばから5月いっぱいにかけて、
Imari Tones（伊万里音色)、
3度目となるアメリカ遠征に行ってきました。

おかげさまで、
ツアーは願ってもないくらいの成功でした。

ナッシュビルでのショウケース、各教会でのライヴ、そして各地のバーやクラブでの演奏、どれもこれ以上ないくらいに成功しました。

ナッシュビルで行われたショウケースでは、いくつものクリスチャンのバンドが集まって演奏する中で、最大の評価と賛辞をいただいて、大いに盛り上がりました。（日本から来たというものめずらしさのアドバンテージもあったと思います）



クラブでの演奏は、どれも小さなバーなどの会場ですが、昨年、または一昨年に見に来てくれたお客さんが、何人もまた来てくれたり、非常に手ごたえのある演奏ができました。各地で支えてくれた人たちに、本当にお礼を言いたいです。



このツアーを計画しているときから、
これが終わったらどうなるだろうと
思っていましたが、

今の気分としては、
「天井がなくなったような気分」
です。

まるで、小さな部屋の中にいたのが、突然その天井がなくなって、広々とした青い空が見えているような、そんな状態。

それまでそこにあった古い限界が突然なくなって、そこからちょこっと顔を出している状態。


ブレイクスルー、壁を破るというのは、こういうことなんだろうと、思い、
これこそが今回のツアーの成功によって、一番大きな成果なのだと、僕は思っています。


逆に言えば、今まであった壁がなくなって、より大きな新しい世界が広がっているぶん、これからは、そのより大きな世界に踏み出して、長い長い道のりを歩いていかなくちゃいけない、そんなことを感じています。
それは、気が遠くなるようですが、同時にうれしいことでもあると思います。



これからやらなければいけないことに話題を変えましょう。

ツアーの最後に、ナッシュビルで行われたクリスチャンミュージックのコンベション、The Objectiveに参加しました。
僕たちにとって、本格的なクリスチャンミュージックのイベントに参加することは初めての経験でしたが、このイベントを主催しているThe Extreme Tourの人々が、本当に素晴らしかった。

彼らは本当にクリスチャンミュージックの業界における良心として、これからのミュージシャンが進むべき道を共に模索し、道を指し示していると思います。

ですから、今回は参加できませんでしたが、彼らが行っているThe Extreme Tourにも、ぜひいつか、参加したいものです。

そして、彼らが行っているアウトリーチにも感銘を受けました。

音楽の力、祈りの力、それらがもたらす癒しの力を、僕は信じています。

ですから、僕はこういったアウトリーチを、日本でもやりたい、と強く思うようになりました。

もちろん、条件や土壌の違う日本では、少し違う形になるかもしれませんが。



昨年2010年のアメリカ東海岸遠征の際、僕は祈りました。日本を変えたい、と。
それは自分にとっても大きな発見でした。

そして2011年になり、今僕たちは、日本が変わっていくことを知っています。しかし、その代償はとても大きかった。

ですから、このツアー中の僕の祈りはこうでした。

日本に奇跡が起こるのを見たい。

僕はまだ奇跡を信じている。

僕は、今、神が僕たちの祈りに応えてくれるということを知っています。

ですから、まずは、僕たち自身が、その奇跡にならなければいけないのです。





ここに、これから僕たちが行うべきことを書いておきたいと思います。


まず最初はビジネス的、事務的なことですが、

ひとつには業界人へのコンタクト
ナッシュビルのコンベンションThe Objectiveにて、
僕たちはたくさんのクリスチャンミュージックの業界人の人たちと知り合いになりました。
そして、ショウケースの演奏を絶賛してもらったことで、僕らは今、クリスチャンミュージックシーンの一部で評判になっていると思います（笑）

そこで、僕たちだけではどうにもならない、次のより大きな展開を狙うため、これらの業界人の方々にコンタクトを取っていかなくてはいけません。

それはひとつには、活動の軸足をアメリカに移すということもあります。
明らかに、このインディーズ時代において、海外市場向けの音楽をやっている僕たちにとっては、活動の拠点をアメリカに置いた方が、将来的な成功のために良いのです。


しかし、アメリカに拠点を移す、というのは、簡単なことではありません。
そして、同時に、僕たちには明らかに、日本でやるべきこともあります。

もうひとつ言うのであれば、バンドが栄光を追うべきか否か、という問いもあります。

世の中の人々は、栄光を追い求めるものですが、
クリスチャンのバンドであれば、むしろ「栄光は要らない」と言うべきではないか、
栄光を求めない活動をするべきではないか、そういう考えもあります。

成功や栄光を求めるのとは別に、ここ日本でできることも、確かにあるからです。


ですので、アメリカへの移住、拠点を移すことについては、急ぐことなく、神様の御心にまかせて、その上で扉をたたいてみたいと思っています。


本来、この知り合った業界人さんたちへのアプローチを考えると、
ツアーが終わってもうすぐ一ヶ月、もう少し早くやっておくべきであったとも思いますが、
以上のような問いが自分の中にあったこと、

そして、正直なところ燃え尽き症候群で、この一ヶ月弱の間、ほとんど何もできなかったこと、そして考えを整理するので精一杯だったことを、正直に告白しておきます。
（実際のところ、ビデオの編集と整理で、かなり手間取っていましたが）



そして、以下が、自分のバンドImari Tonesで、またそれとは別に、僕がこれからやろうと思っていることです。


聖書を投げる。Stryperがやっていた、コンサートにおける聖書を投げるパフォーマンスを、Imari Tonesも行う。物販席マーチャンダイズテーブルには必ず新約聖書を置いておき、人々の目に触れるようにする。そして、Imari Tonesのギグはひとつひとつ、アウトリーチとして行おうと思います。


これは中期プランです。
今回のツアーにおいて、一部の会場で"Living Water EP"と銘打ったCDを販売、配布しましたが、そこに収録されていた4曲、そしてダラスでレコーディングした2曲（+リミックス1曲）があり、合計6曲(+1)ですが、それに加えて、３，４曲ほどのレコーディングを2011年内に行い、フルアルバムの形にして、2012年度に発表しようと思います。


そして、さらに長期のプランにおいて、歴史をテーマとしたコンセプトアルバムのアイディアが私の中にあります。それはたくさんの調査や取材を必要とするもので、音楽的にも、今までで最大のチャレンジになると思いますが、2年かかるか3年かかるか、しかしその作品を完成させるまでは、バンドの状態がどうであれ、成功を収めるにせよ収めないにせよ、そこまでは必ずやり遂げようと思っています。ここまでは、皆さんに、約束します。


ポッドキャストを行う。
以前、うちの嫁さんと一緒に、初心者クリスチャンと銘打ったポッドキャストをやっていましたが、バンドが忙しくなるにつれて、更新できない状態が続いていました。
今、やらなければいけないこととして、また新たに、ポッドキャストを始めたいと思っています。
無名のインディーバンドが行うこととしては、本当にささやかな発信ですが、
今この時に、伝えなければいけないメッセージを、本気で伝えてみようと思っています。
自分ひとりでやるつもりです。その方が、作業が早く、かつパーソナルな内容にできるから。伝えなければいけない言葉を、今こそ伝えます。基本的に、日本語で考えています。英語版をやるかどうかは、わかりません。


アウトリーチ用のサイドプロジェクトを始める
先述したように、僕は今、ナッシュビルで見たようなアウトリーチを、日本でも行いたくてしょうがありません。
音楽の力と祈りの力、そして、神の癒しを一人でも多くの人に体験してもらいたいからです。

大きなアウトリーチイベントを行うとか、東北地方を訪れるとか、そういった大掛かりなことは、教会や組織の支援が必要なため、確実なことを言うことはできませんが、僕はまず足元の小さなことからやっていきたいと思っています。

しかし、Imari Tonesは、こうした小規模なアウトリーチの行動には向きません。日本の土壌に向かないハードロックであること、演奏するにはきちんとした音響設備が必要なこと、バンドのメンバーもフレキシブルな活動があまりできないこと、などの理由があります。

そこで、私は、教会として、教会の仲間と、アウトリーチ用のサイドプロジェクトのバンドを始めることを考えています。
それはイマリトーンズでやっているようなハードロックではなく、ワーシップや、もっとわかりやすい音楽に焦点をあてたものになるはずです。



以上が、今やりたいと思っていることです。



今後のイマリトーンズの海外展開がどうなっていくかはわかりません。

また程なく海外ツアーに出かけるのか、フェスティバルに出演するのか、
あるいは地域を絞って訪問する小さなツアーに出かけるのか。

来年1年はツアーを一切やらない可能性も十分あります。
いろいろな意味で、もう余裕ありませんから（笑）

来年以降に大きなことをやるために、来年は充電するという可能性も、十分にあります。

しかし、そのあたりは、すべての扉をたたいた上で、神様の御心にまかせようと思っています。



最後になりますが、今回のツアーを実現するにあたって、支援していただいた皆さん、応援していただいた皆さん、いろんな方法で、いろんな面で支えていただいた皆さんに、心からのお礼を言いたいと思います。

なかなか、お礼のメッセージをお送りするのが、遅くなってしまっていますが、少しずつ、皆さんに感謝の気持ちをお伝えしていきたいと思っています。


そして何より、今回僕たちに大きな幸運と、最高のツアーを祝福してくれた神様に、感謝してお礼を言いたいと思います。


サンキュージーザス！

Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones （伊万里音色）
The first Christian heavy metal from Japan

Nashville Showcase date confirmed

Just in case, our showcase at Rocketown, Nashville Tennessee, is now confirmed on May 24th Tuesday, 9:20PM.

Location, a venue called Rocketown.
http://www.rocketown.com/

And it's a part of the event called "The Objective".
Some other Christian bands will be there.

It's only a short performance for showcase, but we are sure it's gonna be exciting.

So check it out!

-Imari Tones

Now touring!!

Hello, this is Tak from Imari Tones.

We are doing our updates on our facebook and twitter, but really sorry we have no time to give you an update here on Kickstarter.
After all, you are the ones who made this happen. So thank you very much. We can't be thankful enough.

We are now in the middle of our tour now. We did 3 shows in Texas, did 3 songs recording in Dallas Texas, played 2 shows in Tennessee. Now we are in Delaware, East Coast.


Tour has been going very well so far. So much blessing we can't be thankful enough. We are thankful to people who made our recording session in Dallas TX possible. We are thankful to all the people we met in Texas, we are thankful to all the people we met in Nashville TN, and we are thankful to all the people we met at Hamilton Pointe Church, Hixson TN. It was a blessing.

But most important thing we had so far, is a message from God. Believe it or not, we are doing this tour for our country Japan. I always say, Japan is an almost perfect place, but only 2 things are missing which are Rockn'Roll and Jesus. Last year, we did East Coast Tour and that's when we knew our mission is to change our country Japan. That was our prayer to God.

And 1 year later, now we know Japan is changing. It was not easy. It is a tough thing. I think everyone knows what happened in March 2011 in Japan. The earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Crisis. Many lives were lost. Cities, Towns, lost. It has changed everything. I think it has changed everything forever in Japan. People, especially young people, they started talking about things like politics, energy policy, changing society.


I think it takes time, because in Japan society and system is mostly fixed and older generations take control. But I believe our country Japan is going to change little by little, into what it really is, something more than just a economic capital in the world. We believe what we are doing, is a part of this change, an action to make our country new. Every song, every note we play, that is our prayer to God. We now know God answers our prayer.

It was our joy to hear the news today, that Prime Minister of Japan, has ordered to stop the nuclear power plants in Hamaoka. Things are not easy, not simple, but we believe it is a step ahead, one great step ahead. So please keep praying for Japan. So that God will work on this country and so that we can change Japan, despite all the hardship we are going through.


We are trying to prove that we can change. Another important thing during this tour is, our spiritual growth. We, Tak, Hassy, and Jake, all are ordinary Japanese persons who grew up in ordinary Japanese culture background. We are not smart, we are not even the best in music skills. But we are trying to break our limit. Hassy&Jake, just for your information they are not baptized yet, their faith getting very stronger during this tour. They are growing fast spiritually. Every problem we have, that is a chance for us to push ourselves further and grow in spirit.


We prayed, and we are getting the answer. So journey goes on. At the end of this tour, what answer will God give us, and what can we bring back to Japan? Each day, every moment, every breath we take here in USA, that is our prayer and that is our searching for answer.

So THANK　YOU　VERY MUCH for making this happen.


Here is our show dates after this.


May 7 Saturday, Mojo13, Wilmington DE
9pm or later
http://www.mojothirteen.com/


May 8 Sunday, Crossroads Church and Ministries, New Castle DE
10am
Church service, we will give our testimony and play 2-3 songs.
http://www.crossroadshome.net/


May 11 Wednesday, The Wonderland Ballroom, Wahington DC
9pm
http://www.thewonderlandballroom.com/


May 13 Friday, Clash Bar, Clifton NJ
10:30pm
http://www.myspace.com/clashbar


May 14 Saturday, Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn NY
somewhere between 8pm--11pm, needs to be confirmed
http://www.goodbye-blue-monday.com/


May 15 Sunday, Gloryzone Ministries, Deer Park NY
Church concert, all ages
Concert is at 6pm.
http://gloryzone.org/


May 21 Saturday, Blue Moon, Seattle WA
10:30pm
http://bluemoonseattle.wordpress.com/

On this day we also may be helping this event in University District.
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203537306335565


May 24 Tuesday, Rocketown, Nashville TN
We play 9:20pm slot. Showcase in front of music industry people.
http://www.rocketown.com/



I think that's all for now. Lastly but most importantly, the reason we came to The United States to tour is, we (still) believe that we can find "Rockn'Roll" here in USA, and we can find "Jesus" here in USA. This is our continuous quest for "Lost Rockn'Roll". And we strongly believe that we can find it in Jesus. After all, that's the very reason we became a Christian rock band.


p.s. Don't forget to visit PAZ Japan. We are giving out flyers to people for them during this tour.
http://www.pazjapan.org/



At pastor's house in Elkton Maryland,
2011 May 7th, 3am,
Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
"The first Christian heavy metal from Japan"

p.s.again.
The reason we call this tour "Yes we are okay, we rock tour" is, because after March 11th so many people asking us if we are okay and if we are still touring. So we decided to answer before asked. But after coming to USA we realized that rock band saying "we are okay" is kind of funny. That was funny, yes.

Imari Tones in USA, "Yes we are okay, we rock" tour

(This is a newsletter sent on April 21st)


Hello, this is Tak from Imari Tones, Japanese Christian rock band.

Now we are in USA.
We are now in Dallas TX, and we are going to start our tour from here.
Still having jet lag, today I just want to let you know we are on tour.

We decided to team up with PAZ Japan to ask people help for Japan earthquake relief during the tour.
We gonna give out flyers which saying "Help Japan through local churches".
We decided to do this because, 1: We want to help through local Christian organizations, 2: We have some friends in PAZ Japan. They are so nice people.

Donate online or also you can send a check.
http://www.pazjapan.org/


Tour was so dramatic and troublesome since the first day.
On the day of the departure, our drummer Jake called me and he said "Hey I lost my passport. I can't find it anywhere. What are we going to do!?"

Well, we prayed, and I told him to come to Narita airport anyway, even if he can't find his passport.
And 3 hours later, we were all at Narita Airport (Tokyo, Japan).
We were wondering if we should cancell everything, because we can't tour without Jake.
But somehow, we were positive and we felt we should go on no matter what.
We prayed, but we could not find his passport.
I told Jake to have his passport re-issued, even if it would take a week.
But Hassy said, "I'm sure you will find your passport. Even if you can't fly with us, I believe you will come to USA 2 days later."
That's when I knew Hassy's faith was so strong.

We said 'See you soon in America" and I and Hassy flew to USA without Jake.
And, we first landed at Minneapolis MN, and I checked my email, and I got a email from Jake which says "I found the passport in my room. I thought I checked everywhere but....anyway I booked a flight flying on day after tomorrow."

God answers our prayer, even if sometimes it takes a while.
We experienced that again. And probably we learned our little lesson from this.

Jake arriving 2 days late, actually that's tonight. He arrives in Dallas TX tonight. (I'm writing this 5pm April 21st)
And our first show of this tour, is tomorrow night in Austin TX.
So it looks like we made it. We are not gonna miss a show.

I'm wondering what I'm gonna say when I see Jake at the Dallas Fort Worth airport.
It looks like Hassy got something to say on his own.

But we believe God's guidance.
Hope we can have this whole tour done, without any accident, and we can see as many people.


Here is our show dates.


April 22 Friday, Headhunters, Austin TX
9pm or later
http://www.headhuntersclub.com/

April 23 Saturday, The Moon Bar, Fort Worth TX
9pm or later
http://www.themoonbar.com/

April 26 Tuesday, Super Happy Fun Land, Houston TX
9pm or later
http://www.superhappyfunland.com/

April 29 Friday, The Music City Bar, Nashville TN
We play 8pm--10pm slot
http://musiccitybar.com/

May 1 Sunday, Hamilton Pointe Church, Hixson TN
Our concert at 6pm, Also some worship song and testimony at morning service 10:30am
http://hamiltonpointechurch.com/Map.html

May 7 Saturday, Mojo13, Wilmington DE
9pm or later
http://www.mojothirteen.com/

May 8 Sunday, Crossroads Church and Ministries, New Castle DE
Time and detail not confirmed yet.
http://www.mojothirteen.com/

May 11 Wednesday, The Wonderland Ballroom, Wahington DC
9pm or later
http://www.thewonderlandballroom.com/

May 13 Friday, Clash Bar, Clifton NJ
10:30pm
http://www.myspace.com/clashbar

May 14 Saturday, Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn NY
somewhere between 8pm--11pm, needs to be confirmed
http://www.goodbye-blue-monday.com/

May 15 Sunday, Gloryzone Ministries, Deer Park NY
TBA, probably around 5pm
http://gloryzone.org/

May 21 Saturday, Blue Moon, Seattle WA
10:30pm
http://bluemoonseattle.wordpress.com/

May 23or24, Rocketown, Nashville TN
(Showcase gig in front of the music industry people. Wow that's gonna be an important gig. Detail TBA)
http://www.rocketown.com/


Japan is still having some major aftershocks, we're not sure if we can even call them aftershocks.
After all these disasters and nuclear crisis, we all know we have to change, repent, and re-born as a nation.
Please keep praying for Japan. Please give us power to rise up again, as a new nation, changed by Jesus Christ.

Thank you very much and God bless,
Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
"The first Christian heavy metal from Japan"
http://www.imaritones.net/

Internet Radio April 11 evening

Hi this is Tak from Imari Tones,
Japanese Christian rock band.

We're leaving Japan next week, to tour in USA.
We're still busy preparing and doing rehearsals.


1. Internet Radio tomorrow night
Here is one thing,

Internet Radio Interview: OnlineWithAndrea
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onlinewithandrea/2011/04/11/imaritones-music

April 11th Monday 7:30pm Eastern Time
(Oh, it's tomorrow night. Sorry if I could have notified earlier.)

You can listen at URL above.
We will play some newly recorded songs as well as our old songs.
Tak also talks about Japan situation update after the earthquake and tsunami.



2. Kickstarter Reward

Again, thank you very much for helping us on Kickstarter.
We can't be thankful enough.

We are now(still) trying to send out the rewards, downloads, CDs, and T-shirt.
Though we will send it out this week for those we already know their mailing address, we have not got reply from some people yet.
We want to know your mailind address, T-shirt selsction / T-shirt size.
We will contact you via kickstarter/email again, but please tell me if you have not been contacted yet.



3. Tour Date

So, again, here is our tour date.

April 22 Friday, Headhunters, Austin TX
April 23 Saturday, The Moon Bar, Fort Worth TX
April 26 Tuesday, Super Happy Fun Land, Houston TX
April 29 Friday, The Music City Bar, Nashville TN
May 1 Sunday, Hamilton Pointe Church, Hixson TN
May 7 Saturday, Mojo13, Wilmington DE
May 8 Sunday, Crossroads Church and Ministries, New Castle DE
May 11 Wednesday, The Wonderland Ballroom, Wahington DC
May 13 Friday, Clash Bar, Clifton NJ
May 14 Saturday, Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn NY
May 15 Sunday, Gloryzone Ministries, Deer Park NY
May 21 Saturday, Blue Moon, Seattle WA
May 23or24, Rocketown, Nashville TN (Showcase gig in front of the music industry people. Wow that's gonna be an important gig. Detail TBA)


Honestly, we are busy and overwhelmed with preparation and other stuff we have to do.
We have just recorded 4 songs in Yokohama, Japan last month.
We gonna record 2 more songs in Dallas TX.
We have been preparing for the donation project for Japan teamed up with PAZ Japan.
Many things going on in our band, we talk about so many things, there is always a spiritual battle and inner struggle.

But we, Tak, Hassy&Jake, all know this tour is going to be very important for us.
And still we believe in God's guidance.

So we are looking forward to seeing you on tour, on internet, and everywhere else.


I said we are busy but don't hesitate to talk to us on facebook, twitter, YouTube, or Mixi. Those quick communications work very well during busy time. You can also simply reply this email:)


And if you have not checked yet, this is one of the new songs we recorded. This song is already our favorite in live performance.
http://soundcloud.com/imaritones/jesus-train


Thank you and God bless,
YOU are loved by God and YOU are so precious to Him.
Please remember, we are all children of God and He loves us so much.

In Christ,
Tak / Imari Tones
"The first Christian heavy metal from Japan"
http://www.imaritones.net/

We are alright! We don't stop!

Hi this is Tak from Imari Tones, the first Christian heavy metal from Japan.

Thank you for all your messages and concern about the huge earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. We are okay, our band okay, our family okay. Fortunately we are living in Yokohama region and damage is not so serious here. However, things are very serious in other regions, especially Northeast part of Japan. Japan needs your prayer. And Japan needs your help.


Today, I want to tell you 2 things.

1st thing is our fundraising project on Kickstarter.
Thanks to all the people, we made our goal. ($1200)
We are so thankful and we want to say thank you very much for all the people who made "pledge" on Kickstarter.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/imaritones/japanese-christian-rock-to-tour-usa

It was on March 9th Wednesday we reached that $1200 goal. And I was going to send out a newsletter to say thank you and going to raise even more.


However, the huge earthquake happened on March 11th Friday, and everything changed.

So here is the 2nd thing.

Instead of trying to raise more money for our Kickstarter project, I ask you to donate for the Japan earthquake relief.

And I recommend this organization called CRASH.
http://www.crashjapan.com/

They are an Christian organization in Japan. They have an English website. And some people working there I know of personally.


We are still living in some major aftershocks happening everyday. Nuclear power plant crisis still going on and people are living in fear. People in Tohoku regions are deadly in need for food, water, energy and everything.
Certainly, there is a spiritual battle going on in Japan.

So we really need your prayer.

As being a Christian, I've been thinking about the reason and why all these things happened. The answer God only knows but we still have a faith in Jesus.

And we are trying to figure out what we can do for our nation Japan.


Yes, we will go on to our USA tour in April/May.
We don't stop. We will go on.
At the same time, we feel like the meaning of this tour has totally changed as well.
We are now trying to see what we can do during the tour to help our nation Japan.


Tour Date

April 22 Friday, Headhunters, Austin TX
April 23 Saturday, The Moon, Fort Worth TX
April 26 Tuesday, Super Happy Fun Land, Houston TX
April 29 Friday, Music City Bar, Nashville TN
May 1 Sunday, Hamilton Pointe Church, Hixson TN
May 8 Sunday, Crossroads Church and Ministries, New Castle DE
May 11 Wednesday, The Wonderland Ballroom, Wahington DC
May 13 Friday, Clash Bar, Clifton NJ
May 14 Saturday, GoodByeBlueMonday, Brooklyn NY
May 15 Sunday, Gloryzone Ministries, Deer Park NY
May 21 Saturday, Blue Moon, Seattle WA
May 23or24, Rocketown, Nashville TN (Showcase gig in front of the music industry people. Wow that's gonna be an important gig. Detail TBA)


I think this is going to be a mission trip to ask help for Japan. If you have any good idea, please let us know.


In Christ,
Tak / Imari Tones
http://www.imaritones.net/

Thank you for supporting our fundraising project!

Hi, this is Imari Tones, Japanese Christian rock band.

Today, I'm going to make it simple. Very simple.

Please support our fundraising project on Kickstarter.

We are going to tour in USA and we need YOUR help!!


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/imaritones/japanese-christian-rock-to-tour-usa

http://kck.st/f8woin


We have raised $750 so far and $450 more to go!

Watch the video and "make a pledge"!!


We will give you free downloads, CDs, T-shirts, and write a song for you!

Hope see you on the tour.


Thank you very much!
Tak / Imari Tones (Japan)

Newsletter - Tour Plan and Fundraising Project

Hi this is Tak from Imari Tones, Japanese Christian rock band.

How are you doing?

We are very busy working on our recording and touring plan.
Today, I will tell you about our current plan and also, our Fundraising project on Kickstarter.com.


Believe it or not, we have come to a very important point in our music endeavour.

Now we are planning our 3rd USA visit / touring.
We have to make it successful and we have to get some chance to open the next door in our music career. And it looks like we will have some opportunities there.
Those are very rare opportunities for Japanese bands like us.
So I guess we are lucky. We thank God for that:)


Here are things we are planning.


1:Recording
Recording plan is under way between us and our friends in Dallas TX and we are going to record some songs there when we visit Dallas in April. We are going to do it with a notable Christian music producer, which will be a great opportunity for us. Fingers crossed!


2:Presentation/Showcase
We are planning to attend some Christian music seminar/conference in Nashville. An independent Christian tour organizer gave us that opportunity. It will be great if we can get together and connect with some music industry people and fellow Christian musicians there. At this point not sure yet but we may also have a opportunity to play a showcase there. It will also be a great opportunity, if it happens.
It reminds me of the last scene of the movie called Wayne's World, back in early 90s, in which Chinese girl sings at an audition that her boyfriend has set up. Something like that, yeh? (Mmm...maybe I'm wrong.)


3:Fundraising at Kickstarter.com
Actually this is the thing we want to tell you most in this newsletter.
We started a "Crowdfunding" project on website called Kickstarter.com, to raise money for this upcoming tour.

Yes, we need your help, honestly.

Kicsktarter.com is a very interesting, new way to connect musicians and fans through fundraising project. If we reach the goal we recieve the money but if we don't reach the goal then no money transaction happens.
We can give you free downloads, CDs, T-shirts, and we will even write a song for you if the fundraising is successful.

So please check it out here on Kickstarter.com!!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/imaritones/japanese-christian-rock-to-tour-usa

Watch the video and "make a pledge"!!



Honestry, it's a kind of hard decision for us to give a try to this kind of fundraising project. However, whether this fundraising itself would be successful or not is not so important for us. Most important thing for us is to connect with you and reach as many people so that more people will get to know about us and Japanese Christian situation.

So please help us and SPREAD THE WORD, even if you will donate or not.

And if you pledge as little as $1, we really appreciate it. It's a big help for us!

For the detail of Kickstarter and Crowdfunding, please see this page.
http://www.kickstarter.com/help/faq



4:Tour schedule

Okay, so here is our exciting tour schedule!
(Though some things need to be confirmed yet.)

(And booking process still under way. If you know some good place for us to play, pleaes let us know!)

April 22 Friday, Headhunters, Austin TX
April 23 Saturday, The Moon, Fort Worth TX
April 26 Tuesday, Super Happy Fun Land, Houston TX
April 29 Friday, Music City Bar, Nashville TN
May 1 Sunday, Hamilton Pointe Church, Hixson TN
May 8 Sunday, Crossroads Church and Ministries, New Castle DE
May 13 Friday, Clash Bar, Clifton NJ
May 14 Saturday, GoodByeBlueMonday, Brooklyn NY
May 15 Sunday, Church concert in Long Island area NY (TBA)


Well, that's all so far.
We are still talking with some other venues.
We have to book some more shows here and there....
(Mmm...I have to work on it next week.)


Life is tough for everybody.
It's even tougher if you are an independent musician by any chance.
Recently I talked with our friends and fellow Japanese Christian musicians about Japanese Christian situation.
Hope we have a chance to share it with you.
Well, if only we can translate it into English....


Thank you very much, keep in touch, and God bless!

Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
"The First Christian Heavy Metal from Japan"
http://www.imaritones.net/

"Only One Wish" music video

Hi everybody!
Hope you all are doing fine.
This is Tak "Tone" Nakamine from Imari Tones, Japanese Christian rock band.

Happy new year and hope you have blessed 2011!

For us, 2010 was a good year.
We had a great experience in USA East Coast Tour in February and we grew up as a band, musically and spiritually,
we recorded a album called "Victory In Christ" and released it on iTunes and other outlets,
in the latter half of 2011, we connected to Christian communities around Tokyo and played with several gigs with Eikogo (the very first Christian rock band in Japan).

On Dec 31, new years eve, we had a concert at Misono Baptist Church, Kanagawa, Japan, together with several other Christian acts.

Here is the movie from that concert.



We played with a guest singer Kurojun.
Some of you may know we played with him in 2009, this is the 2nd time we play with him.
He is a great heavy metal singer. Much better than me (I admit).
When we play as a 3-piece band, we are somwhere between heavy metal and garage/indie rock. But when we play with Kurojun, we can play more like real 80s heavy metal band style. So it's fun to play with him in concert.



Today we have a video we want to share with you.


"Only One Wish" Music Video



This is a home-made music video for the song "Only One Wish", which is on the album called "Welcome To The School".

This song "Only One Wish" is one of the 1st worship type song we wrote and we often play it at church concert opportunities.

We made it with our church friends and some fellow Christian musicians and we are all praying for our contry Japan.

It's been a while since we made this kind of "home made" music video.
We did several songs when we were playing at Doctor Manzo's studio (our ex-drummer). Some of them are still on our MySpace, but this time we wanted to do it more Christian way...

Hope you will enjoy it and spread the word.



We are planning USA tour in April-May this year.
Some shows are already booked in several cities and churches, but please allow us some more time to annouce officially.

Hope this year will be a great blessing for everybody and we really thank you for supporting us, an independent band from Japan.


Also don't forget to add us on facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/imaritones


Thank you very much and God bless you mightly this year!

Tak "Tone" Nakamine
Imari Tones
http://www.imaritones.net/