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