Hey hey, it's Ikasu.

Apparently DOBERMAN, that band I have insane respect for, are going to be playing Fuji Rock this year.

Fuji Rock always gets such amazing bands!

If you have the chance, you should check it out. They are an amazing band. I'll be at Warped Tour, so I won't be able to go, which totally sucks!

But anyway, the show rocked yesterday. Thanks to anyone who came!
I know people were shocked at all the crazy bands that played, but they're all amazing people.

The event was run by people who's been helping me since way before Oreska began. As you can see from the fact that they do wrestling events as the opening of the show, they're pretty crazy!

They're awesome.

One of the bands we played with was a band called Inugayo. I love their vocalist/guitarist Jack! He's a big influence for me, so I was pysched to get to play with them.

But what made me the most happy was to see everyone who came to see us enjoying themselves.

It was so much fun!

Today I went to the CD shop and the music store. Being a guitarist takes so much money! I spend all my money on instruments and gear. Man...

There were tons of people in the music store. It was really noisy, with a lot of high school students in their uniforms. One girl had come to buy her first bass, and as I watched her leaving happily with her new bass, I couldn't help smiling.

I used to be that girl.

I never want to forget that excitement.

Things are always so simple in the beginning.

I'm starving!

Today we did pre-production. After I got home, I slept a little and then at about midnight we had a little meeting to talk about lyrics, and we got to talking and before I knew it, it was morning! I have so much fun writing songs!

I always worry about what to do before we start, but once we get going, I think of all sorts of things I want to say. The exhaustion and the emotional high make a nice contrast. I feel like I lose something every time I write lyrics. And something always comes to fill in that empty space. I guess the bigger the loss, the more I think I have to absorb something new.

April's almost over. That means we've already gotten through a third of the year. It's scary, I like the earth is spinning so much faster these days.

Anyway, have a good day, guys!

Today we recorded a song at the studio with a really interesting producer named Mori-san. When we were doing the song, Mori-san taught me about a chord called the Joe Hisaishi chord, which is used a lot in music. He also taught me the Spitz chord, which is a chord that the band Spitz uses a lot. It was really neat when I used it in harmony with the horns.
It made me realize I’ve still got a lot to learn, but learning is so much fun. Learning gives you a chance to grow. Mori-san gave me a chance to grow today.
It was a great experience. The way you use notes really effects the mood of the music. It’s so much fun. I can’t wait to go back tomorrow!

It was a really long day today! We finished recording ‘Asa’ (morning) the song I was talking about the other day. Yay!
We recording the vocals today, and it was the first vocal recording we’ve done since last summer in the US, and I was weirdly nervous.
But I think I was able to express everything I wanted to, so I’m really satisfied with how it came out. I can’t wait for you all to hear it!
One of my instructors once said, “Music, sound only lasts a moment. The moment you make the sound dies quickly, becomes the past. So it’s a very fragile thing. But it’s the transient quality that makes it so powerful. So went you make music, each moment is important.”
It really touched me.
I’ve been trying to be mindful of that when I make music lately.
Songs and instruments are really honest. Your emotions come out in them so if you’re hesitant, it shows in the sound. But the honesty in music is a reason it has soul.
We’re making a CD that has all of us in it. It’s going to be a great CD! I know you’ve waited a long time for it, but please wait just a little longer!

I’m going to write in the blog in a way that is true to me. Just write about myself in my every day life.
It’s really late right now! But I can’t sleep, so I’m posting.
Some friends from home are coming by to pick up some things they forgot. Look at the time!

Today I went to see the movie ‘Enchanted’. It was such a great movie. I felt so happy after it was over. I totally recommend it.
It was a really fantastical movie. It made me believe in the fantasy of movies. But then I returned to the reality of the parking lot.
Oh, also, a friend of mine is going to open a select shop. I think that’s so cool. It was a dream of hers, so I’m glad it’s going to happen. I can’t wait to go check out her shop.
Tomorrow we’ve got a show in Tokyo. We’ll be playing with Hoover-oover. It should be a blast!
We’re going to Tokyo at lunchtime tomorrow. At this rate, I’ll probably sleep on the bullet train.

So, it looks like my friends just got here, so I’m going help them get their stuff, and then go to sleep. Night!

It’s the same pattern as always. I’m writing about what I’m excited about.
I think that life is really just a succession of todays. Lately my body and the laws of the earth teach me how to life.
For example, in the past, I was really affected by different thing, and influenced by different people’s words, and I used to wonder where the real me was, and worry that maybe I didn’t even have a real me. And then someone told me that our cells regenerate every single day. They said that there’s no such thing as your ‘original’ self, and it’s okay that way. We’re always changing and that’s what life’s all about.
The me of today only exists today, and those todays form a chain, and become a road.
And I’ve gotten strength from so many different people lately, and someone told me again that I should own all my emotions. All of your emotions are part of who you are.
Tae-chan and I were talking about that the other day, and how it’s like eating, if you can swallow all the parts of ourselves we don’t like, even if it makes us sick sometimes, they’ll eventually be digested and disappear, and become something that nourishes us, part of our blood and body and energy. And the parts we don’t need will be expelled as waste.
And that only after we’ve done that can we understand other people’s pain, and says ‘Yes, it hurts, doesn’t it.’ If you don’t eat something, you can’t know what it tastes like, and it won’t nourish you.
Our hearts don’t rest to keep us alive, summer follows spring, and winter follows fall, everything is born, and everything dies.
And in the midst of all of that is ‘now’, the present moment. My stomach hurts. I’m hungry. I want to do that. I can do this. Where are you now, and what can you see?
I got depressed, comparing myself to others but I finally realized: what I should be comparing is myself of yesterday and myself of today. The answer was inside me all along. It’s true, just like you said.
Thanks to all these people, my case which was empty is filled with energy.
I’m sure everything has something like that. The same place that they come to a stop, the same point they get stuck on, time and time again. But it’s alright. You’ll be okay. You’ll always be able to get up again. Even if it isn’t now, someday your case will be full of energy, and you’ll be ready. And you’ll be able to stand up again, and this time, you’ll be able to help someone.

I can’t write down everything I want to write. But I guess that’s a good thing. I feel so much more than I could ever put into words here.
Just like Tae-chan said in her post, Terry has ask us to post more, but that’s not why I’m posting. I’m posting because I have something to say. And I want to post because you are all reading my posts.
I posted because I thought it was important.

Lately, well, for a while now, the staff have been telling us to update the blog as much as we can. Apparently we don't get that many hits. I've never thought of the blog as a chore, and I don't plan to think of it like that, but it does make me kind of unsure. I'm really glad they let us write whenever something strikes us, and I'm glad people read out posts. I like to have the chance to think about things before I go to bed.

We basically finished preproduction today. It was a relief. I'd been really nervous about it. When we play old songs it moves me to look back on the songs that we've written. A lot of them still have a long ways to go, there's a bunch that don't have lyrics yet, and once they do we might rearrange them a little, so the fun is just beginning. But it will be a while until you guys get to hear them.

Are you guys still listening to WAO? I listen to it a lot. We walk with our faces forward, but I think that we can only know where we're going if we know where we came from. And that's behind us.

'If you get lost, go back to your roots.'
Someone said that to me once, and I still think it's a wonderful expression.

Today I've been thinking about how Terry said that when she finds something good, she buys one for herself, and one for someone else.

I'd never thought like that before. I'd always just bought one for myself, and been satisfied with that. If I did ever buy something for someone else it was always something to eat. And my mother would always say I didn't need to go to the trouble.

So I thought, 'Wow, she thinks such wonderful things.'

It was kind of an epiphany for me. When I think about my own happiness, I always want to imagine some feeling the same way. This 19 year old still has a lot of growing to do, but I'm trying.

Today (the 17th), I'll be in the studio from noon until evening. I'll be doing preproduction with the engineer who's worked with us since
we did our mini album WAO, recording songs and listening to the recording, over and over.

It's looking like this is going to be quite a CD.

I'm getting kind of stuck, but I want to do my best.

The part of my brain I use for imagining things and the part I use for thinking things are different. Lately I create with my thinking side. I've got to start using my imagination again.

I haven't posted in forever!!

Here's what I've been up to:

Working on songs

Hanging out with my friend from home. (We went cherry blossom viewing)

Working on songs

Watching anime (I just finished 'Rosary & Vampire')

Working on songs

I also did a lot of thinking. It was a great way to spend my days.

I've been smiling to the whole time. I'm so happy...

To change the subject, I've been thinking about how we close our eyes a lot. I think we need to open our hearts more. I know it's not easy, and I think that's why it's easy not to do it. And I haven't really thought about what my conclusion is here, but anyway.

I just wanted to write down what I'm feeling. I hope you guys get it.

If it makes you think about opening your own heart, that'll be a good thing.

Yesterday I went to the last show ever of a friends band. The band was called Anko, and it was an all girl band.

They played at the second date of an event called the Hesei Salad Competition that we put on. It was right after they'd debuted, and it was such a good show I almost cried.

They played a song called 'Kirin' that touched me really deeply. Ever since then, Anko's music has been an inspiration to me.

They always said what I wanted people to hear.

I wish they could have gone on forever, but last night it all came to an end.

During the show I remembered all sorts of things, and I could feel how the girls in Anko felt so strongly it made my heart ache.

As I listened to 'Kirin', which they played as their last song, I thought about how this would be the last time I could ever hear it. I hadn't seen them for a while so there were a lot of songs I didn't know, but they were just as powerful as ever.

I felt like they put all the power they had gained into the show, and it was a great day.

An end always brings a beginning.

There's a big cherry tree outside the apartment building I live in. It's been there ever since I can remember. I seen it in full bloom every year, but this year, before I knew it, the flowers had mostly faded. This year is going by so fast.

Which no one cares about, right? Hey, it's Leader.

A friend I've been close with from the time we formed Oreska recently told me about a great band called Dry&Heavy. I was telling our staff member named N-san about them, and they told me about a band called ROCKING TIME.

Toshiya Mori, who we've been working with lately, used to be the drummer for ROCKING TIME. (Mori-san is the one who played with us at the show we had with RICO. He played keyboard. It was amazing. LOL)

The keyboardist for ROCKING TIME was one of the members of my favorite band RISING TONES. Heh heh. I'm going to listen to them non-stop. But really, Sam Cooke is amazing. I just learned the name, but I knew most of the songs.

Today we had all kinds of meetings in Tokyo. I can't say anything about it yet, but if the plans we made today go off as planned...heh heh heh.

You never know what will happen in life. I wonder what will hapen tomorrow? If nothing elss, I've got a show and studio time.

You never know how you'll feel after a meeting: tired, pumped, stressed or relieved. LOL But today's meeting all left me pumped. I wish they all did!

A long time ago, a friend of mine said, 'A man should do one great thing in his life!' And I thought, 'Well then, I've gotta do something too!', and I decided that I would be in the history books.

But now I'd rather be in people's hearts rather than the history books. I want to be music. Hmm. I guess my music will become part of history, huh? LOL

I'm off to bed. Moriko's been telling me I've been a huge ditz recently.
Hah.

Bye bye!

You know, lately I can never think of a title for my posts. I feel like I have to think of a name for today, and it makes me feel like I do when I have to think up song titles. I'm sure I get stuck because I try to make sure the title says it all. And of course that's impossible. Like, my name's Taeko, but that name doesn't tell you everything about me.

But anyway, the show was really good. I feel like the thing I was stuck on finally gave. Or disappeared, I guess. The important thing isn't what's ahead of us, but what we've got right now at this very moment. This is kind of a long winded explanation bu I feel like because I can't see what's ten meters ahead of me, I was scared even to take one step forward. So I've made up my mind.

As long as I enjoy today, I don't care tomorrow may bring. I feel like
if I can just enjoy today every day, it'll turn into enjoying every single day I have.

I really feel that way. I wanted to tell everyone that, because it was the show that made me feel like that.

I can't wait for next show. I wish you could all come and see it.

Hey, it's Leader.

First off, I want to say thanks to everyone who came to our shows the the 30th, 31st and the 1st! Thanks so much!

The most important thing about a show is having heart. I really felt that this time. I feel like I was able to regains something I'd been losing.

Thanks so much to everyone who came to see us!

I also got to see a lot of great shows. Jitterin' Jinn's show was amazing. They were so cool I almost cried. They had so much soul. I'd love to play with them again.

They made me realize how wonderful and amazing it is to keep on going like that.

I've been kind of down lately. I was losing confidence in myself, and I just had a really bad couple of months. It's really sad not to believe in yourself. In the past I was full of confidence, even though I had no real reason for it. But I felt like the things I've gained were really fragile and pale and I started to lose that confidence. But I realized that confidence is a heart that believes in yourself.

It's a deep dark place. And it happened over and over. But I think that's what it means to 'continue'. It was easy to run away. But if you keep running, you're shocked to find that you end up somewhere completely different. 'Wait, this isn't where I wanted to be.' That's what happened to me.

Heh heh. But I'm okay now. A lot of people gave me their support and helped me.

Thank you. Thanks for everything!

We're making good songs. I can't wait for you to hear them! I can't wait to go crazy to these songs with you all at a show!

Keep on!
Move on!
Give it all you've got!

Keep on!

Hey, hey, it's Ikasu.

I just wanted to say one thing. Thanks so much to everyone who came to the show!

We've been in the US for so long, we thought maybe you'd all have forgotten us, but so many people came to see us! It made me so happy!

And it was a lot of fun doing a show with JITTERIN'JINN.

Taeko's a big fan of their's, and she was always making me listen to their stuff, back in middle school. I've thought they were cool since then, but I never imagined we'd get to play with them!

They've been around for so long.

We were with them for two days, and they're just great people. We promised to play together again. I'm super happy.

We played 'Present' together in Nahoya, but I'd love if we could do that in Osaka.

Of course I've been listening to their album non-stop.

Anyway, thanks everyone!

Hey, it's Moriko. How are you all? We've mostly been writing songs lately.

We've been doing a show, or writing songs, or chatting.

Yesterday I went with Ikasu to the restaurant I used to work at when I was in high school.

I hadn't been there since I quit, but it was just as good as ever. (Oh, it was a sushi place. The kind with the conveyer belt.)

I've been loving TOWER OF POWER's album. I bet they're even more soulful live. I'd love to see them! They're my favorite! The sax is amazing!