Tokyo Splendor 東京スプレンダー
10 years in the making, my journey to Japan as a Drum and Bass DJ, "Tokyo Splendor".10年ぶりに、ドラム＆ベースDJとしての日本への旅、「東京スプレンダーです」
I'll never forget where I was and what I was doing when the airplanes hit the twin towers in New York City on 9.11.2001. I had just finished dinner with Yujiro and some other people and I went to the internet cafe to check my email and see what was going on with my Selekta friends on AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). As soon as I logged in Dawn, wife of fellow Selekta DJ Dennis, messaged me, "Did you see what the fuck is going on!! We're under attack!". I didn't know what she was talking about. The internet wasn't are pervasive in our lives back then as it is now. Ya we had cell phones that pretty much only made calls and short text messages. Japan was a little more advanced and we could message people and look at rudimentary sites, but at the time I didn't have a cell phone.
飛行機がニューヨーク市の双子の塔に9.11.2001で衝突したとき、私がどこにいるのか、私が何をしているのか決して忘れません。 私はYujiroや他の人と夕食を終えていました。私はEメール（AOLインスタントメッセンジャー）でSelektaの友達と何が起こっていたかを確認するためにインターネットカフェに行きました。 私がDawnにログインするとすぐに、Selekta DJ Dennisの妻が私にメッセージを送ってくれました。「あなたは何が起こっているのか見ましたか？我々は攻撃を受けています！ 彼女が何を言っているのか分からなかった。 インターネットは私たちの生活の中で今も普及していませんでした。 ええ、私たちはかなりの電話と短いテキストメッセージしか出していない携帯電話を持っていました。 日本はもう少し進んでおり、人々にメッセージを送り、基本的なサイトを見ることができましたが、当時私は携帯電話を持っていませんでした。
So, I pulled up a browser and there it was, the twin towers were burning. Within a few minutes one of them would collapse and the messages on AIM started pouring in, people freaking out. I was in complete shock. It was surreal.
だから、私はブラウザを引っ張って、それがあった、双子の塔が燃えていた。 数分でそれらのうちの1つが崩壊し、AIMのメッセージが流出し始めました。 私は完全なショックを受けました。 それは超現実的だった。
Dennis, Dawn & Deka aka me. - デニス、ドーン＆デカ、別名私。
I remember rushing back to my house as quickly as I could. On the train a woman asked me if I was American. When I said yes she said sorry. It was really happening. America was attacked and I was living in a foreign country for the first time in my life.
私はできるだけ早く私の家に戻って急いで覚えています。 電車の中で女性が私にアメリカ人かどうか聞いた。 はいと言ったとき、彼女は申し訳ありませんでした。 それは本当に起こっていた。 アメリカは私の人生で初めて攻撃され、私は外国に初めて住んでいました。
When I got back to the house my roommate, Koi, had the news on. She began to say things like it's blowback, we shouldn't have been doing this or that and I was like I don't give a fuck, we're going to war with who ever did this and if I have to join up I will gladly do so. After listening to Koi go on I couldn't take anymore and went to sleep.
I got up the next morning and it was all still there, the towers had fallen, the Pentagon was hit and one plane went down in Pennsylvania. It was real and the world had changed.
私が家に帰ったとき、私のルームメイト、恋人はニュースを持っていました。 彼女はそれが吹き返しのようなことを言っ始めた、私たちはこれをやってはならないはずだったし、私は性交をしないようだった、私たちはこれまで誰がこれまで戦ったのだろう、 喜んでそうするでしょう。 鯉を聞いた後、私はもう寝ることができず、眠りにつきました。＆nbsp;翌朝起きて、そこにはまだ全てがあり、塔が崩壊し、ペンタゴンが襲われ、ペンシルバニアで1機が落ちました。 それは本当であり、世界は変わった。
Yujiro said he would come by and pick me up and we could go down to Shibuya. We ended up at Hot Wax, an old record store that used to be behind Manhattan Records. I shopped for records to keep what was happening off my mind. We also went promoting dropping off flyers at the record stores and handing them out to passers by. It helped, but when that was done the feeling of helplessness, anger, fear, stress was overwhelming. It would pass in a few days as we got closer to our first event, but those were some trying days for sure.
裕二郎は来て、私を迎えに来て、渋谷に行くことができると言いました。 私たちは、マンハッタンレコードの背後にあった古いレコード店であるホットワックスで終わりました。 私は何が起こっていたかを記録するために買い物をしました。 私たちはまた、レコード店でチラシを落とし、それを通行人に渡すことを促進しました。 それは助けられましたが、それが行われたときに無力感、怒り、恐怖感が圧倒されました。 私たちが最初のイベントに近づくにつれ、それは数日で終わるだろうが、確かに試練の日だった。
Structure
Structure was the name I came up with for our event. We wanted to build our event into something, solid, organized and grand, hence the name structure. It was me, Yujiro, Jun, Asykaga, and Yoko who was our non-DJ member.
構造は私が私たちのイベントのために思いついた名前でした。 私たちは、堅実で組織的で壮大な何かに私たちのイベントを作りたいと思っていました。 DJメンバーではなかった私、Yujiro、Jun、Asykaga、Yokoでした。My memory of our first party is a bit vague. I think we had a guest DJ named Keisuke who worked at the super club Womb and with 06S, one of the biggest and best DnB event's in Japan, which is also still going strong! What I do remember though is how crowded it was. I was floored. The club was packed and people were dancing! I remember Yujiro telling me you have to meet this person and that person. Again people were buying us drinks, asking us to take shots, but I politely declined until after playing. I never drink more than 1 beer before playing. When you get behind the decks it's a serious endeavor, especially back then when we were still using 1200's and vinyl. No preprogramed CDJ sets. You had to have your wits about you and put on a show.
私の最初のパーティーの私の記憶は少し曖昧です。 私はスーパークラブWombで働いていたKeisukeという名のゲストDJと日本でも最大かつ最高のDnBイベントの一つである06Sを持っていたと思います。 私が覚えていることは、それがいかに混雑しているかです。 私は床が詰まっていた。 クラブが詰まって人々が踊っていた！ 私は、この人とその人に会わなければならないと私に言っている裕次郎を覚えています。 再び人々は私達に飲み物を買って、私たちにショットを取ってもらうように求めていましたが、演奏後まで丁寧に辞退しました。 私は遊ぶ前に1本以上のビールを飲むことはありません。 デッキの後ろにいるときは、特に1200年代とビニールを使用していたときは、それは真剣な取り組みです。 事前にプログラムされたCDJセットはありません。 あなたはあなたの知恵を持ってショーをする必要がありました。
So, after playing I hit the bar and partied with people I had just met, many of them fellow DJs and promoters.
When the night was over we settled up with the club. We had made $900!! On our first night! We were all shocked and jumping around! None of us thought we would make near that. It was a huge success and we had just hit the scene like a bomb.
だから、演奏した後、私はバーを叩いて、今会ったばかりの人々とパーティーをしました。彼らの多くは仲間のDJやプロモーターです。夜が終わったとき、私たちはクラブに着いた。 我々は$ 900を作った！ 私たちの最初の夜！ 私達はすべてショックを受け、飛び回っていました！ 私たちの誰もそれに近いとは思っていませんでした。 大成功だったので、爆弾のような場面にたどり着いた。
The following night we headed over to another party, I think it was called Infinity. This is the event were i met my wife. We were on cloud 9 from the night before so Yujiro, Jun and I rolled into the club like badasses. We felt like badasses as the event promoters shook our hands, thanked us for coming and gave us a bunch of drink tickets. I remember drinking a shitload that night because I kinda made an ass of myself. I had a few drinks in me and Jun introduced me to my wife who was sitting with some of her friends. I hit on her and she was not impressed, but I was already smitten. I did the gentlemanly thing and let her be. There were lots of other fish in the Tokyo sea and the dance floor was calling.
次の夜私たちは別のパーティーに行きました、私はそれがInfinityと呼ばれたと思います。 これは私が妻に会ったことの出来事です。 私たちは夜前から雲9にいたので、ゆうじろう、ジュンと私はバースのようなクラブに入った。 イベントのプロモーターが手を振って、私たちに来てくれてありがとうと私たちにたくさんの飲み物のチケットをくれたので、私たちは悪い気分になりました。 私はちょっと自分のお尻を作ったので、その夜はお酒を飲みました。 私は私の中でいくつかの飲み物を持っていました。そして、6月は友人の一部と一緒に座っていた私の妻に私を紹介しました。 ＆nbsp;私は彼女にぶつかり、印象づけられませんでしたが、私はすでに殴られました。 私は紳士的なことをして、彼女をさせてください。 東京の海には他にもたくさんの魚があり、ダンスフロアには電話がありました。While on the dance floor Yujiro introduced me to another promoter who wanted us to play his party next month in Roppongi. It was a massive space, 3 floors and we would have our own room for DnB. We said yes right there and booked another gig. These kinds of offers started to roll in every weekend we went out, but the one that came the following day was unbelievable. I was asked to come play at Womb at 06s' event in October!!!! The fucking super club of Shibuya and the baddass DnB party. This was the opportunity of a lifetime and I was going to go into that club and burn the fucking dance floor down!
ダンスフロアにいる間、裕次郎は次の月に六本木でパーティーをしたいと思っていた別のプロモーターに私を紹介しました。 3階建ての巨大なスペースだったので、私たちはDnBのための部屋を用意しました。 我々はそこにはいと言い、別のギグを予約した。 私たちが出かける毎週末、このようなオファーが出始めましたが、翌日に来たものは信じられませんでした。 私は10月の06sのイベントで子宮で遊びに来るように頼まれました!! 渋谷のスーパークラブとバッドダンスのDnBパーティ。 これは生涯の機会でした。私はそのクラブに行き、クソなダンスフロアを燃やしました！Next Next DJ Wednesdays #22: Djing At Womb, Meeting Klute In California.
次のDJ水曜日＃22：WOMBでのDjing。 カリフォルニアのクルートとの出会い
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"Easy now Selektah!! "
Hey RT, I'm really glad I came across your post. I'm a (former) DJ and promoter and was hugely into DnB back in the day! Hehe, I still love it actually, just don't have much a scene for it here in Philly any more. Back in the day though...wow.
I've never been to Japan, though when I get there hitting some clubs is at the top of my list of activities. So reading your stuff is exciting, to get an insider's perspective. A couple of Japanese artist are some of my favorite - Naoki Kenji and of course Ken Ishii.
I'm looking forward to your next post in this series.
Thanks and "RRrreeeeewwwiinnnnndddd!" :)
Ya dude, my old DJ friend, Bagel, was from Philly. I think DJ Dennis was also based over there somewhere. We were part of an online magazine called "Selekta" based out of Chicago.
What were you playing? Did you know Dieselboy, Damian? I brought him and POTD to Japan. One of the nicest guys along with Messinian.
I haven't heard of Kenji, but of course know of Ken. Ever hear of Makoto? He is a bad man.
Just checked out your meetup post. Followed and upvoted, resteemed for a fellow DJ. Thanks!
That's awesome, I really appreciate it.
Like most Djs I love all kinds of music, but mainly I was playing house and old-school hiphop.
It's cool you have people from here, it's a city with a lot of DJs for sure.
I wasn't directly connected with Damian, though I had friends who were and met him a few times. Definitely a good guy. Before starting POTD and touring a lot, he had a weekly here called Platinum which was amazing, really something special. A combination of raw local talent, plus big DnB headliners every week mostly from the UK. Super-cool to hear that you brought those guys to Japan. I can only imagine how great that must've been.
Kenji is more a producer I think, puts out good atmospheric DnB / breaks. I have heard to Makoto, I think I have one of his Good Lookin' mixes. It's very good indeed. :)
Sneaky Ninja Attack! You have been defended with a 4.09% vote... I was summoned by @rt395! I have done their bidding and now I will vanish...Whoosh
Very cool thanks for the info
ありがとうございます。
Heck yeah dude, I love this pic of the record shop. I love me some dark record rooms I can dig in.
Unfortunately both of those records shops are gone. So glad I have pictures of them.
No doubt, that is my biggest regret. Loosing all my rave era pics, smh.
アナタはＤＪが得意なのですね！
だとしたら最高です！
なぜなら私はダンスが得意だから♪
4月にパーティーに来てください！
Epic! Something about a good party can really make the magic. I had no idea there was good DnB in Tokyo! I just left Tokyo a few days ago and I was hoping to find some good shows but wasn't sure where to turn haha I run a weekly event in Sacramento and I always make sure to DJ some DnB or have my buddies play some, it doesn't get as much love as it should these days! If you have some good resources for events in Tokyo I would love to know, i plan on going back again soon!
Oh man, I saw you were over there, but I had no idea you like DnB. There are plenty of parties and I will be throwing one called Crypto Night starting in April. It's gonna be a crypto educational event plus breaks & dnb.
What is your event's name? Do you have a site?
The best parties in Tokyo are 06S at Womb. Hangover at Rlounge and SOI where ever they are doing their event at. Keep in touch and let me know when you are going back over. Followed.
Oh that's awesome! Still at it! I was considering going back in April as its my birthday and I hear the cherry blossom festivals are fun to attend.
I have 2 weeklies I run currently, they are silent discos and its been surprisingly fun! We are calling the production company "Silent Nights" since it is based around silent disco. Every Sunday is "Silent Sundays" and every Wednesday is called "Deep Cuts." We don't have a website launched yet but that is on the way and we are starting to do more private bookings with the system. I'll be doing a gig in San Diego on the 23rd of this month actually and it's one of my first big bookings.
I will definitely make it a point to check out 06S and Hangover next time I am in Tokyo which I hope is sooner rather than later. My time in Tokyo was really wonderful and I have been considering moving to Tokyo for 3-6 months to study and hang out. Im hoping to get my ducks in a row these next few months in the states and then I will have the freedom to go spend the time I want abroad. A week in Tokyo was far far too short.
2 weeklies is a lot of work! I've always done monthlies and thought that was a pain in the ass booking, flyers, etc. I can't imagine doing 2 weeklies!
Shoot me a link to the SD party. I'll see if I can make it down there. My good friend is in SD and he has been DJ & producing as long as I have, 23 years! He teaches Ableton for a living.
I forgot to mention I also use to play house/deep house so I can appreciate a lot of other music besides DnB, but DnB runs through my veins.
So what you are thinking about doing is what I did, went to visit Japan for 2 weeks, fell in love with it and moved over. The city draws you in and everyday there is an adventure in living. If our event takes off I will be doing it monthly and you are welcome to play.
4/14 is the date of our first event. It's a smaller club, but I didn't want to go too big right away. I'd rather ram the place and have energy & everyone talking about it than have it be half empty with less energy. Some of the Steemit-JP people will be speaking with me for the first hour about Steemit & Crypto so should be a great night. Let me know if you will be in town.
You know, I thought 2 weeklies was going to be crazy as well but it has ended up being fairly straightforward. I started out in the rave scene 10 years ago and everything I learned came through that scene. Now my events don't use any of the typical techniques I am used to seeing all the other events do and I sell out almost every event. We have some great DJs we work with that no one knows really and we rarely book out anyone all too well known yet somehow its been amazing. In fact none of the people I know from the rave scene come to any of my events, it is all a different group of people which has been a huge surprise.
The party in SD is a private gig for a black tie event at the Hilton so nothing special there haha they are just using my system for the night and having us run it and DJ for them.
I definitely enjoyed my week in Tokyo and I met some amazing people so I already want to come back. It also helps that I have been studying the language a bit so it felt really awesome to be able to talk to people even if it was just a little bit. My life is a little crazy right now and I have some things to take care of for a bit but once that is out of the way I would like to seriously consider spending some more time in Japan. I still have only been to Tokyo so I would like to visit other places in Japan before I decide to move anywhere lol That being said if it does work out I was planning on coming back to Tokyo in April as its my birthday and cherry blossoms and better weather. If that manages to work out I will definitely hit you up and try and attend the event! It sounds like it is going to be really cool and I have enjoyed meeting more and more steemit people. Everyone has been incredibly friendly and and interesting!