#my friend said this during rehearsals and now the lyric is officially changed

[not-fuckmegentlywithaslurpee]

Crutchie’s calling me dumb crip’s just too damn SWOLE

[vlovers19]

Is it just me, or is Jimin really looking on camera a lot while interacting with Taehyung? Wasn't Vmin officially sleeping in a bed in the soop for the same reason? Vmin are the only members of the BTS who interact the least with each other and act unnaturally, but they are "best friends". What do you think about it?

Exactly. Isn't that suspicious? Why do they act different in front of the camera and then completely change off camera. Looking at this situation, which would you take more seriously. What you get on camera (scripted, sometimes even rehearsed environment) or what you don't get on camera (freedom of expression)

During interviews or Behind the scenes, we get less than twenty minutes screen time of the boys. What happened to the rest of time we never get to see.

We judge simply by what we see. It's normal to do so because we are humans after all and we can easily forget things but then what about the moments they do have. Don't they matter at all?

They say they are best friends but hold each other's hands whenever they can. They say they are best friends but they aren't satisfied with being just that. They just have to go further and label themselves soulmates.

They say they are best friends but Taehyung wrote a whole romantic song titled 4'O clock based on a moment he spent with Jimin in a park.

If we are going to look at the on screen moments what about the Bon voyage letter? Their moment at Malta?. People really forget things.

Honestly, we can't get much on camera because everything is still going round like a circle. One moment, you will see another ship sailing, then the next second, another ship comes up and pushes yours to the back burner causing a wave of confusion that makes people talk and the Internet to go on a frenzy.

But i want to explain to you the concept of a forbidden secret relationship taking one of the greatest female vocalist of all time, Celine Dion as a case example.

As we all know, Celine Dion had quite a long secret relationship with her now late husband who was her manager but was far older than her. It was a controversial relationship. However, many don't care to know the details or what they had to go through before legally becoming husband and wife. According to Celine Dion, she hadn't prepared to fall in love with him. It happened just like that. 'One day, a good night kiss felt different'

When rumors of her relationship with her far older manager started circulating, she was advised to hide it because it didn't look good on camera and many objected to the idea of her being in a relationship with a far older man, sometimes calling her all sorts of names, opportunist being one of them especially as she was too young at the time and her career was just taking off so Celine Dion had no other choice but to hide it for her own benefit.

In an interview, she said it was the hardest thing she ever had to do. Sometimes, she just wanted to shout out loud to the whole world how she truly felt but she knew she couldn't and that made her feel stifled. The only way Celine could make people understand her feelings was through her songs. Most of her evergreen love songs we enjoy today where all inspired from her relationship with her husband.

Why do I bring up this story? It's simple. If Vmin are in a relationship, they cannot under any circumstances reveal it especially on camera until they don't have anything to loose anymore or the situation in their country changes. It was very difficult for Celine Dion who was in a healthy heterosexual relationship talk more of a gay relationship between two boys from the same group. It will never be accepted at least not in the nearest future so we are just stuck with what we are getting right now. We just have to endure all these emotional rollercoaster Big hit and BTS are throwing at us, keeping people confused.

BTS go through so much in their personal lives but when you see them on screen, they look so happy when that's truly not the case. Let's take Jin for example, the eldest member who seems so positive and energetic, acts like nothing can ruffle him on camera. He's so full of sass people wouldn't have imagined that he was actually going through such a terrible time because he's all smiles on camera. He acts funny and jokes around. But the only way Jin could express his innermost darkest thoughts and come out as someone suffering from depression was through his song Abyss.

Let's look at RM's song Zero o clock which talks about depression. Jimin who looks so positive and happy on camera praised the song and said he could relate to the lyrics. Why would he relate to a song like Zero o clock if he hasn't had a personal experience. Literally all the members relate to that song but when we see them on camera, they are smiling, laughing while we the audience are completely unaware of what is really going on in their minds. In 2018, we were so busy enjoying what we were getting on camera unaware of what was truly happening behind the scenes, completely clueless that BTS were considering disbanding. Even till this moment, we would never have known had Jin not opened up about it in 2019 while receiving their Asian best artiste award. Even their reality show burn the stage didn't show us and till now, they don't open up about what truly caused them to consider disbanding because that is a sensitive issue which isn't meant for the cameras. They showed us the struggles they passed through as Artistes but not how that affects them as their true selves. As Namjoon, Seok Jin, Hoseok, Yoongi, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook.

Now, we can't blame Big hit. They are an entertainment company who have invested a lot in BTS image. It is normal for them to be extremely careful when it comes to them so you can't expect them to show us everything.

For artistes like BTS, the only avenue they can use to truly express themselves is not through the camera lens, it's only through songs. Their songs.

I have said it before but Friends is a full compilation of everything Vmin want to say us.

One day when this cheer dies down, stay (Ayy), hey (Ayy)

You are my soulmate

For eternity, keep staying here, stay (Ayy), hey (Ayy)

Almost like they are telling each other to hang on until everything is over.

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

some original nonsense

“I’m so glad I get to be here for this,” Eve practically flung herself onto the couch, bouncing slightly before settling. She’d just gotten dropped off after rehearsal and was miraculously still teeming with energy. 

Clara pursed her lips, an obvious attempt to cover up a smile. They’d spent the day helping Eli and Ann track down paperwork and somewhere between the borough hall and stopping at the deli for lunch had been seen by Oliver’s parents. Who forced him to introduce them to Clara and insisted she come for dinner. Ann managed to talk her way out of it by vague statements of “being with her family right now” that had the McNally’s cooing in understanding. Clara couldn’t manage the same without raising too many questions. At least not that quickly. 

So, she’d spent the evening at the farmhouse and then had herself talked into spending the night. The whole experience was odd, Clara settling somewhere between her true sharp self and the doe-eyed charming he’s seen her present herself as. Oliver had the sense that it was strange for her too and that Clara was navigating uncharted waters as she ate his mom’s chicken alfredo. 

But after dinner his parents retreated to the office that used to be the dining room, claiming to be going over paperwork but probably watching House Hunters or something. Leaving the living room to “the kids” which fit when Eve came barging in. 

“I was so worried you would be gone when I got home,” she told Clara, having latched on to the older girl a few days before. 

“I was somehow convinced to spend the night.” Clara narrowed her eyes, brows drawn low as she tried to puzzle out exactly how that had happened. It made her freckles scrunch up into an indistinguishable blur. 

Eve nodded sagely and began wrapping herself up in one of the afghans from over the back of the couch. “Yeah, they do that. It’s a weird quirk of being the ‘cool parents.’” Oliver knew by her tone that she was using air quotes but from the cocoon his sister had made herself it was hard to tell. 

Oliver finished tweaking the playlist he’d made, deciding to kill as many birds with one stone as possible, and pressed play. Rising from his crouch next to their entertainment center to go sit on the couch on Clara’s other side. The music began to play through the living room’s speakers and Eve giggled madly. 

Clara turned to give him the most suspicious look he’d ever seen, and that was saying a lot based on the past week’s events. “I know this song. Maybe. It sounds familiar.” 

Shaking his head, Oliver barely managed to contain his laughter. “Nope.”

The lyrics started and the look of baffled confusion that overcame Clara was the best thing he’d ever witnessed. She froze, shook her head slightly, narrowed her eyes, and then finally turned to him in betrayal. “When did this happen? I was just in Constantinople... When was I in Constantinople?” 

Eve squeaked, high and long as she inhaled. Unable to hold in her own laughter any longer. Oliver managed to remain silent though he was shaking and his stomach ached at the strain. 

“This isn’t funny,” Clara insisted. Her glare wasn’t that harsh though so Oliver didn’t relent. “Oliver!” she scolded. “It’s not funny!” 

“No, it’s hilarious,” he said between gasps of breath. “And it only gets better.” 

~

“Russia’s favorite love machine?” Clara looked like she was going to be sick. “I mean, I might have actually met Rasputin but honestly he was disgusting. And smelt terrible.” 

It was Oliver’s turn to look on in horror. “Of all the things you managed to miss, you met Rasputin?” 

“Possibly,” Clara said sheepishly. “It could’ve just been a drunk.” 

One day, Oliver would stop being shocked by things Clara said. But apparently not today. 

“Ok,” Eve interrupted, “but thoughts on the song?” 

“It’s... good?” 

The look of pure offense Eve gave her made Oliver want to whither and he was mostly immune at that point. Eve took a deep breath, seeming to recenter herself. “It’s a certified bop, Clara.” 

~

“Ok, I’m not an idiot. I know about the Battle of Waterloo. And I’ve read Les Misérables.” Clara was unimpressed by Abba. 

“You actually read Les Mis?” Eve clearly had her own priorities. 

Oliver might not really be into theater but Eve was and he managed to pick some things up. “Ok, hold on.” He tried to do some quick math, but just asking Clara would really be easier. “When did you just... stop following cultural events?” 

She shrugged. “I don’t know, some point after the second Great War?” 

Eve and Oliver shared a look, leaning forward so that they could do so. Eve’s expression said that either Oliver handle this or she would. And also, what the heck was he planning? 

“Ok, so World War II, not second Great War. Where did you even get that one?” he tried to be gentle. But honestly, what the heck?

Clara wrinkled her nose. “I’ve outlasted entire civilizations, Oliver,” she hissed. “Cut me some slack for forgetting some terms. English isn’t even my second or third language. And you people keep changing it.” 

Oliver lifted his hand in defense. “Ok, ok. Point taken. Still, did you not pay attention to the Broadway or West End theater scenes in the 1980s?” 

“No?” Clara turned to see if Eve might be any help. Her slightly manic look meant that probably not. 

“So, you didn’t know that Les Mis is a musical?” She gasped. 

Clara slowly shook her head. 

“Ollie!” Eve screeched, but he was already standing, going to shift through the many DVDs Eve had of various performances. 

~

“Bed,” their mom said, emerging from the office. Their dad had already headed upstairs sometime during One Day More and she was currently in her pajamas. 

Eve tilted her head up, shaking off the hand that Mom was combing through her hair. “But, it’s not over!” she whined. The drums of the finale refrain of Do You Hear the People Sing were starting up meaning that it would be over very shortly. 

“And you’ve seen it a million times and have school tomorrow. Bed,” she countered. 

“Clara’s never even seen Phantom!” Eve tried to counter, which they’d discovered when Eve began rambling about actors sometime during ABC Cafe. Oliver loved his sister, he hated that he knew the names of every song in Les Mis. 

“Clara can stay up and watch it with Oliver then. Or just visit another day,” Mom glanced to Oliver with an almost apologetic tilt to her smile. 

“I can come back,” Clara offered softly. The effect was immediate. Eve and his mom both had twin smiles of pure glee. Much like Ann a few years earlier, Oliver’s friend had been officially deemed another extension of the family. Well neither girl seemed to mind so far. 

Eve launched herself onto Clara in a hug, throwing her blankets to the floor and startling the blonde. Over Eve’s shoulder, he could see Clara’s pale eyes widen and it looked like she was trying very hard not to let her shock get the best of her. They’d managed to keep his parents in the dark about the whole “technically dead” bit but Eve passing right through Clara would kind of ruin the careful charade. 

“I’ll wait until next time for Phantom,” Oliver made it sound like a chore, but he knew Eve would be pissed not to be included. And the whole experience would be more enjoyable for Clara because the two girls had talked through the entirety of Les Mis about the characters and changes from the book. He was positive watching Phantom of the Opera would be the same. 

“You’re not a terrible human,” Eve said by way of thanks. 

Oliver shrugged and their mom rolled her eyes. She started ushering Eve towards the stairs as she said her goodnights. When it became clear that Eve was still occupied squeezing the unneeded air from Clara’s lungs, she gave up. “Don’t stay up too late you two. And Eve, your butt better be in bed by the time those credits stop.” 

Clara laughed and finally began to peel Eve’s arms off her. “You should listen to your mother,” she said kindly. 

“I’m going, I’m going.” 

“If you don’t leave now I will introduce Clara to Drunk Space Pirate without you,” Oliver threatened. 

Eve gasped and leapt to her feet. “You wouldn’t.” 

“I would.” 

The two stared each other down as Eve began backing towards the stairs, almost stumbling over the coffee table in the process. “I knew you like The Mechanisms.” 

Oliver smirked. “Space operas, Eve.” 

His sister huffed and ran upstairs. Clara started laughing softly. “What was that about?” 

“I’ll explain later. I think the novelty of being a ghost would be ruined if I became one too, which would happen if I explained without Eve.” 

“Your sister does seem capable of murder,” Clara agreed. 

“I feel like all the women in my life are?” 

“Yes.” 

Oliver started cracking up at that. Clara joined him. It felt cathartic in light of... everything. Then they remembered that the rest of the house had been going to sleep so they tried to hush each other. Only to laugh more. 

Finally, they sobered and Oliver went to go get his laptop. “Do you know literally anything about the band Nirvana?” 

Clara blinked. “Do you enjoy asking questions you know the answer to?” 

Barking a short laugh, Oliver came back over to sit next to her again. “Ok, fair. But I’m going to play an ironic critic of how people respond to the lead singer’s death for you now.” 

“Why?” Clara asked incredulously. 

“I really just want to see what someone so totally removed from the situation thinks of this song.” Oliver shrugged. 

“You are very strange.” 

“And you shouldn’t throw stones.”

[thisiswherewestart]

I Remember (1/?)

Today had started out like any other Tuesday. I had woken up, logged in to work remotely for a few hours and then moved to a café for a change of scenery and to grab some lunch.

I usually frequented cafés close by my apartment, but my friend had highly recommended this quaint, newly opened one with an extensive pasta menu that was a half-hour train ride away. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for good pasta, and her rave review of their squid ink spaghetti had haunted me for the past week.

And so there I was on a Tuesday afternoon, after checking that they welcomed lingering customers. My laptop sat open across from me so I could monitor my inbox and I surveyed the simple decorations that created a homely ambiance. The fact that I was the only customer helped complete the serene scene. If this café were within walking distance, I would come again just for the atmosphere.

Ten minutes after giving my order to the waiter, my food finally arrived. The dark sauce coated the noodles beautifully, the seafood peeking out between the long strands making my mouth salivate in anticipation. As I picked up my fork, a tinkle of a bell sounded from the café entrance.

"Hello," a soft but confident voice greeted the approaching waiter. "One salmon aglio olio to go please. Thanks."

My fork stopped halfway to my mouth. My back was to the entrance but I would recognise that voice even in a noisy room.

"Tasha?"

And that confirmed it. It was him.

"Dongyoung," I greeted, standing and turning around to face the man. "It's been a while."

"When did you come back to Korea?" His tone was accusing now.

"How are you? How's Taeyong? How are the kids?" I shot out question after question, hoping he would forget the one he had asked.

"We're all fine. When did you come back?"

So much for that.

"Oppa…"

"Don't you 'oppa' me. We're basically the same age."

I sighed, dropping onto my seat and turning away from him. "I've been back for a year now."

He took the seat opposite me. Uninvited, but not unexpected.

"One year." The hurt in his voice made me wince. "A whole year and you didn't bother to call."

"Dongyoung, please."

His laugh was void of mirth. "So we're back to this, huh? The last time I saw you, you exclusively called me Doie."

I looked up at him.

"I guess that's what four years of silence does between friends."

*~*

"Five, six, seven, eight…"

The 7th Sense NCT U unit was made up of my favourite fellow trainees. 

Mark, who was the same age as my little brother whom I dearly missed. His naive sense of humour and bright eyed wonder had me growing fond of him in no time at all. Our shared love of story writing also brought us closer, as we encouraged each other to keep up with writing even as we were busy with idol training. He was my happy pill during our years as trainees together.

Ten, my fellow international school kid. We were different in that he came from money while I was the daughter of a diplomat. PSA: not all diplomats are wealthy! They are still government officers and don't earn nearly as much as you think they do. One of the perks was getting subsidised education, which made it possible for my siblings and I to attend international schools in non-English speaking countries we lived in. Ten and I hadn't known each other prior to becoming trainees, but he and I found that we just clicked. We even found several mutual friends in our international school networks.

Jaehyun and I took a little longer to warm up to each other. I was a fairly quiet person, only talkative around people I was comfortable with, so I was never one to initiate conversation. Jaehyun never approached me to start talking either, so a few months after we first met, our relationship had not progressed beyond a polite greeting when we bumped into each other. It took Taeyong to help us break the ice, but once we got to talking we found that our interests overlapped and they were the foundation to our pretty solid friendship.

Taeyong is the one trainee to whom I’m most grateful. I entered the company shortly after he did, and he seemed to decide to take me under his wing upon our first meeting. It didn’t matter that our training schedules didn’t overlap; he would always check in on me and help me when I struggled with getting dance moves memorised. In time, as Taeyong started writing and producing more songs, he would include me in his process and get me to record demos with him and Dongyoung.

Dongyoung was an enigma to me. I knew he had a kind heart because he would do things like invite foreign trainees home during holidays so they would have somewhere to go. I could see the warmth in his interactions with other trainees but he was only ever cordial to me, so I always thought he did not like me very much. It was, once again, thanks to Taeyong that we got closer. Dongyoung and I were both vocalists, but I dabbled in some rapping and Taeyong seemed to enjoy writing songs that featured the three of us. Studio sessions with the two of them became some of my favourite memories of my time as a trainee.

I was looking through the lyrics of the latest song Taeyong had written when the group finished their practice run and paused for a water break.

“Tash,” Taeyong greeted as he flopped down next to me, leaning his back on the cool mirror.

“You guys are looking really good,” I praised, handing him a water bottle. “The modifications you guys made last week improved the overall performance a lot.”

“Right? I’m so glad the choreographer let us do that.”

Dongyoung approached us, sitting on my other side. I passed him the last of my stock of water bottles. “Hey.”

“I’m beat,” he sighed. “But we look good right?”

“Yeah I was just saying that.”

The three of us sat in amicable silence for a few moments, the two of them gulping down the cool water as I finished perusing Taeyong’s lyrics. I shut my eyes as my thoughts turned to my own debut, or lack thereof, and my family’s increasing worries. 

“Hey, you okay?” I opened my eyes to find Dongyoung peering at me in concern.

I gave him a half smile. “I guess.”

“You’ll debut soon,” Taeyong assured me, guessing the subject of my thoughts correctly. I appreciated his vote of confidence, but we all knew that was a lie, at least if I stayed at SM. Having debuted Red Velvet two years ago, it was highly improbable that they would debut another girl group so soon. And besides, they were all tied up in NCT’s official debut, with two U units, 127 and Dream all training hard to perfect their debut performances.

“We should probably get back to training,” Taeyong said apologetically. His eyes were kind as he briefly grasped my shoulder with a comforting hand before standing up. “Tell me what you think of that song later,” he nodded at the printed lyrics in my hand. “I want your verse by the end of the week!”

Dongyoung sat studying my expression for a bit longer.

“I’m fine, Doie. Really.” I pushed his shoulder gently. “Go. They’re waiting for you.”

“We’ll go out to eat after this, okay?” he offered, standing. “We can get pasta. My treat.”

“Man after my own heart,” I proclaimed, clutching my chest in jest.

He grinned as he walked to his starting position. 

I watched as Taeyong counted the boys into yet another rehearsal. Meeting Dongyoung's eyes in the practice room mirror, I could see the nerves he increasingly felt but rarely showed for their debut performance, only seven days from now. I smiled as brightly as I could, hoping he couldn't tell my heart was breaking knowing I would be leaving in five.

*~*

The Doyoung that sat before me today was a fully fledged kpop star, hair perfectly coiffed and clothes fitting his comfortable but stylish lookbook. He had truly grown into his looks, and seeing him was making my heart ache. With pride? With longing? I didn't even know myself. I had just started developing maybe-more-than-friends feelings towards him when I had found myself back with my family.

"You look good. Healthy."

"Where have you been for the last four years, Natasha?"

His use of my entire first name hurt more than I expected. Was this how he felt when I called him Dongyoung?

"I went back home."

"As in back to your home country?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yes."

"Why? And don't tell me it's because you didn't debut with Red Velvet."

"You're kidding, right?" It was my turn to laugh humourlessly. "Has SM debuted another girl group since then?"

"Well no, but-"

"Don't say they might have added me to the group like they did Yeri. When I left, it had been one year since that happened and two years since they debuted!"

"But why did you have to leave?" Doyoung's voice was rising. "You could have moved to another company. You know you had the skills to debut."

"I just… had to, okay?" 

I guess he heard the pleading in my voice because he switched to another line of questioning after studying me for a minute.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” His voice was quiet. “Taeyong and me, especially,” he sighed. “We missed you. We still miss you.”

“I’m sorry. I know it was shitty of me but I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of me leaving.” I did not want to give you guys the chance to persuade me to stay.

There was a pause. “Did you miss us?”

Tears I thought had dried up years ago threatened to fall. “You have no idea how much,” I whispered, willing myself not to cry.

“Oh I think I do-”

“At least you guys had each other,” I blurted. 

“Excuse me?” Doyoung narrowed his eyes at me. “We were not the ones who stopped talking to you! I called until your number went out of service! And then we looked for you online but there was absolutely nothing. Why did you fall off the grid completely?”

I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted by the waiter bringing Doyoung his food. Doyoung thanked him and handed him a card. “I’ll take care of her bill as well.”

“Don’t,” I protested. We were in the middle of an argument and he still wanted to take care of me. “Just charge him for his food, please,” I asked the waiter.

“I’ll pay for her,” Doyoung insisted. “Thank you.”

The waiter left, an awkward smile on his face as he retreated.

“I have to go now, so we’ll put a pin in this conversation.” Doyoung stared hard at me until I nodded my assent. "Does anyone know you're back?"

I shook my head. "I work in software now. I don't run in the same circles anymore."

"You know we have these things called phones, right?" He gestured at his Samsung with exaggerated motions. "They're amazing. You can connect with anyone, anywhere. Even if they're in a different country." He looked at me pointedly.

"I'm sorry, okay? I know I could have, should have, kept in touch but I just… I couldn't."

"Why?"

A million reasons. "I don't want to get into it right now."

"Fine. But you know I'll keep asking until I get answers."

I smiled, thinking about his habit of persistently badgering us until he got what he wanted. "I know."

"In fact," he grabbed my phone, which had been lying next to my rapidly cooling plate of pasta. "I'm going to call myself so I have your number."

Before I could protest, he had held my phone up to unlock it with my face and was dialling.

"Wait, I-"

He clicked the dial button and automatically put the phone up to his ear, before slowly lowering it again, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"So you kept my number. This whole time. And you still never called."

I didn’t know what to say to that. All I could do was apologise again. “I-”

“Just save it, Tash.” He put my phone back on the table. “I’m going now. Pick up when I call, okay?”

“I don’t like talking on the phone. Can you text me instead?” I joked, trying to keep my tone light.

“Do not test me,” Doyoung glowered. “Answer when I call.”

“Okay,” I murmured, but he was already walking to the counter to pick up his card.

He left without looking back.

[mocarena]

post of Chu2 rambles and predictions

i realized i actually needed to make this now that S3 is knocking me down with anticipation

blabla this thread is long as heck and incomprehensible so aha good luck if youre actually trying to read thru it. i just wanted a place to write my predictions down to see how right or how utterly wrong i am! whole thing’s under a read more cuz its a lot

spoilers for S2, the RAiSe! manga, and small spoiler for Film Live

Exhibit: Songs

I’m starting off with talking RAS’ songs because they give me a good basis to talk on several things regarding the band & Chu2.

There might be mentions of other songs, but I will focus on 2 in particular.

Takin’ My Heart

Imo, the most important piece in regards to Chu2 and her character.

That is due to Radio Riot #7 having revealed that the song is literally about Chu2’s beliefs/feelings.

It is also written by her in the Bandori canon (as all RAS songs are since she is the producer, but we know for sure with the Radio confirmation & also how the song came out past Season 2 that this is a song written with Chu2’s perspective in mind).

Raychell even said that she once cried singing the song during her own practice time.

Information source: Iviachupichu on Twitter, a faithful translator who often talks about the contents of Radio Riot episodes. Link https://twitter.com/iviachupichu/status/1106469855757164544!

TL of the song taken from http://www.rizuchan.com/bang-dream-cardfight-vanguard-takin-my-heart/ !!

Long falling down again I’m immature, building up lies and distancing myself from others I feel all torn up; I hold my heart Try to fake a smile… hey, my cheeks hurt

Cry… I hide my rusted eyes Cry… I want you to notice Oh, Come here, Please…

Takin’ my heart Does my voice Takin’ my heart Reach you now…? Takin’ my heart I don’t want to vanish pathetically Takin’ my heart Into a sea of loneliness I’ll just keep crying out to you Today, tomorrow, and for a long time after (Without giving up) I hope my feelings reach you…!

^ not the full TL, just a taste of the beginning

Clearly I don’t have to point out how heartfelt that song is, the lyrics speak for themself and aren’t very subtle (which is very much the point since she’s asking for her feelings to be reached after all).

I’m stupidly annoying when it comes to talking about Takin’ My Heart, I absolutely need to emphasize on the fact that these lyrics are Chu2’s honest feelings.

Expect parts of this song to be brought up throughout this a whole lot.

2. UNSTOPPABLE

Now this song has no confirmation on being composed with Chu2 in mind, considering it’s a very early RAS song and has been sung before we even got the reveal of the RAS characters.

However, I believe it DOES hold significance:

-I have no doubts that the introduction of RAS characters together with the band were in mind early on already, due to how early Bushiroad plans things months in advance.

-RIOT, the first RAS original, has very clear tones of it having been written by Chu2 in Bandori canon (a very arrogant sounding song, sure of its music and it almost seems like it’s directed at Yukina). Thus I wouldn’t put it past the production team having formed Chu2’s character around RIOT and UNSTOPPABLE, or they already had her type of character in mind when first composing these songs.

-It’s not far-fetched to say this song might have some ties to Chu2’s feelings since we’ve got the even more blatant song Takin’ My Heart.

I won’t copy paste all of the lyric translations, it’s simply too long, but here are several parts that stick out to me:

———————

The emptiness springs forth like I'm helplessly thirsty

My back droops... I put too much hope in each day

(Hurry up)

「Don't let me down」, I'm always told

(Hurry up)

Cornered, mouth covered, difficulty breathing

I'm caught in a trap

Please indulge in my annoying ramblings

I just won't stop seeking approval every day

Me, I'm my own accomplice,

with a fake me, dance! Dance! (Lullaby)

Doubt and worry stick their tongues out,

pointing at and ridiculing me

Are you enjoying? Are you excited?

Yes? Do you really get it?

Then that's fine

———————

Please ignore my annoying ramblings

I'll just abandon seeking approval every day

———————

My belief of UNSTOPPABLE still having an intended Chu2 connection also lies within the lyrics:

“Please indulge in my annoying ramblings, I just won't stop seeking approval every day”

From what we’ve seen in the anime, Chu2 definitely seems very attention and approval-seeking, specifically when it comes to Yukina.

I will talk about more specific parts of these songs (+ other one-liners from RAS lyrics) within the rest of this big time ramble.

————————————————

Exhibit: Chu2’s Past….?

A big emphasis on the question mark at the end, as we barely know anything about her past. One thing we know is that due to her excellent grades, she is in her first year of high school despite being only 14 & she studies/studied(?) in an international school, explaining her use of English.

However, based on RAS songs + some bits of the anime I can try to theorize on her past. It might be completely wrong, or I might just get it right, who knows, this is just for fun & speculation.

Family Situation

The anime made a point of how luxurious of a building the studio Chu2 works and has band rehearsals in, there’s even a ~50 seconds scene of Tae just staring at the building and the insides of it in awe.

Now whether or not that building entirely belongs to Chu2’s family, or only the studio, or it’s only being rented out, it still is clearly very expensive either way. The studio is often being used after all, too.

What that very glaringly hints at is that Chu2 is wealthy. Well, not Chu2, but moreso her family, who we know virtually nothing of.

Now that could mean that her family situation isn’t of significance at all like how it is with a lot of characters in Bandori. But that could also not be the case, considering that Bushiroad does dip into family stuff with a few characters (Saaya, Ran and Yukina come to mind).

Chu2 is 14 years old, so having her lyrics be based off of feelings regards her family/overall social situation isn’t that far fetched.

I’ll go ahead and say that personally I theorize that this might fall into the tropey category of “Kid of rich parents gets practically anything but barely gets attention from their parents”.

I can easily believe that Bushiroad would want to take a route different from this, but there’s a lot of freedom for theorization and I think going with the common route is a pretty safe bet for a theory.

Unlike Betadori they don’t dip into territory that is too angsty, it seems, but it’s not like they’d need to be blatant about something like that either.

「Don't let me down」, I'm always told

———

Please indulge in my annoying ramblings

I just won't stop seeking approval every day

———

Please ignore my annoying ramblings

I'll just abandon seeking approval every day

^UNSTOPPABLE lyrics

I think it’s important to point out the difference between the last two bits. The lyrics first start out as a plead for listening to her and approving of her achievings, later in the song that part changes to ‘just ignore me please’.

Those lyrics also explain Chu2’s personality pretty well, in my opinion.

Even after being rejected by Yukina she kept trying to get her to watch her band, basically asking for approval from someone whose talent she looks up to.

I also believe that Chu2 might be an unhealthy perfectionist, which seems like a thing that might rise the tension within the band, but more to that later.

————————————————

Exhibit: Chu2 in the Present

The childish child who won’t let herself be a child

Now if that ain’t a mouthful of a title, but hopefully I can explain my thoughts well enough so it’s somewhat understandable.

Chu2 clearly has a bratty personality and throws tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants, but to me it doesn’t seem as shallow as that.

The official website describes her as a professional who is arrogant at times, but not rude.

Need I remind you that this girl���s just 14?

Here’s what I think:

Chu2 is a child at heart. But she doesn’t want to let that part of hers show too much due to how she wants to be treated: like a professional.

But she’s clearly an excitable child, as it was shown with how excited she got over the studio when she came to talk to Popipa in Arisa’s basement. For that moment she lost herself and probably could’ve gone on for a while Maya-style if Pareo hadn’t reminded her of her “official greeting”.

What I think is that Chu2, due to wanting to be treated with high respect   as a producer, doesn’t want to appear childish, so she holds herself back unless the heat of the moment gets her or she feels like she can express her excitement without it damaging her ‘professional’ manners. Like when she got pumped after a RAS live, for example.

A quote that could be overlooked but might actually have a little bit of relevance if the words were carefully chosen was the following:

“She thinks playing “band” like a bunch of kids is better than being in my group?!”

Tbh this literal child using the phrase ‘like a bunch of kids’ for something like…well, a band of friends being a band, just makes her seem like she wants to take herself incredibly seriously compared to other bands. To show that they’re not “kids” like the others.

In addition to that, she skipped a grade. In an international school. She seems to be really set on providing the best grades and world-changing music to appear worthy without letting herself indulge all that much in living a childhood. I could totally be exaggerating things, but I think it’s not too far-fetched of a thought.

Tantrums

Not a subject I’ll talk long about, but I think there’s things worth pointing out.

She’ll wait until whoever she’s angry at is out of her sight.

With Yukina she started yelling once Roselia was completely gone.

With Otae it’s a bit of a different case. This time she verbally even told her to get out of her sight before letting off steam, though Popipa weren’t completely out of hearing reach either.

2. She looks genuinely distressed.

The purpose of pointing out #2 is that she seems to have deeper reasonings as to why exactly she’s this desperate to have the perfect band/band members. Especially paired with the line of “I finally found what I’ve been looking for…”, she clearly isn’t doing this stuff just for fun and has got some sort of inner turmoil dealing with the fact that things aren’t going her way to which she responds, well, like that.

She’s not entitled to any bands or like anyone else obviously, and she needs to deal with that fact more maturely in the future.

But still, something HAS to be the root of exactly why she feels like this, to finally have found something.

It’s of importance to her, but why…?

I’d throw out the theory of seeking for approval again. She wants the perfect band that could make impact on the world. Maybe she wants the approval of someone (not Yukina, as she’s been searching for a while and clearly already felt this way before even seeing Roselia), probably someone older and personal to her. So I’d bet it on parents again, it IS the easiest answer after all, but who knows. There just seems to be someone (or more) she wants to impress.

Probably related to her bc it seems personal, if not maybe someone else she looks up to.

---------

Exhibit: I wrote all the above way before I’m writing this part

I genuinely haven’t revised the above at this point of time, the 7th of January. So some stuff might be outdated, but I kinda wanna leave it like that, to see what past me has come up with. I vaguely know and have skimmed, but I wanna write more beyond this point now without knowing the details.

Aka I might repeat a lot of things here now!

CHU2 is actually very much in tune with people’s feelings & desires...when they express them through music.

Now I’m pretty sure this is something I haven’t talked about (or at least not much). Chu2 doesn’t strike one as a very empathetic character, as one has seen with how she was still willing to get Otae back into her band, despite Popipa’s deep bond.

But hear me out. This girl actually can understand other’s feelings well, under specific circumstances. And the RAS manga “RAiSe!” proved that.

With each RAS member, it seems like she just knew their desires upon hearing them play. It’s not yet confirmed with Pareo due to Pareo’s 2nd chapter not having been published yet at this point of time, but chapter 1 already leads up to what I think is Chu2 confronting Pareo (online invitation first), and understanding that Pareo holds her true self back.

With Layer she knew she was unhappy- she knew she didn’t want to keep playing support. She knew she didn’t look very happy, especially for someone who played at Budokan. And through that knowledge she was able to persuade her to listen to her music and to imagine what it’d be like in a band together with other members who’d give it their all.

Very much the same with Masking. Masking’s drumming is intense, and she feels like she cannot express herself well outside of drumming. Her desire was to have fun in a band with others on her level, where every member gave it their all on their instruments. Once again, Chu2 was able to convince her to join her band, she let her listen to her track, and Masking did improv drumming on it, in turn also impressing the producer.

Pareo’s desire is to be accepted for who she is. Since she was small she hid her true self that loves cute things, and kept her distance from classmates, pretending to be the perfect student in the eyes of them, her teachers, her parents...and when she first saw Pasupare on TV, she cried due to seeing how much support they got, something she didn’t feel like she received. She found joy in uploading videos of her doing keyboard pasupare covers online without showing her face. The simple prediction here is that Chu2 finds her covers, meets with Pareo in one way or another, and is able to tell that she hides her true self. Somehow she convinces her to change that and embrace her true self, and that she’ll be supported by the band.

RAS songs often are about going against the norm- RIOT for example symbolizes a rebellion. Masking heard the demo song Chu2 gave her, and got the impression that it made one feel like you want to declare war against the world. That it seemed like “that girl” was trying to raise hell itself with her intense music. Even short bits like in DRIVE US CRAZY, one lyric line goes “Never Say Never Crazy”. RAS is a band about expressing your true self. And Chu2 very much could be putting those kinda desires and feelings into these songs.

A little thought here about Chu2 watching Popipa performances on two occasions with very different reactions. When Popipa played a supporting band at Roselia’s self-sponsored live, Chu2 was shown to be very disinterested in them. Whilst Popipa was great, Chu2 might’ve felt the anxiety that Popipa had in them at that point of time and thus had that disinterest. At the Popipa self-sponsored live at the end of S2 however she showed a completely different reaction, dancing happily along to Dreamers Go! and being embarrassed upon Pareo noticing. Maybe at this point she truly felt Popipa’s real confidence, and the bond that they share.

Not to mention she admitted to having felt moved by Popipa later on.

Chu2′s got something big coming. Hopefully in S3. Maybe later on. (Cough RAS in game COUGH)

There’s just a whole lot of signs pointing to that. Especially since Lock, the future RAS guitarist, really is an opposite to Chu2′s own ideals. All Lock wants to do is have fun in a band with anyone at any level of playing instruments, as long as she feels the dokidokis. Chu2 is very profession-oriented. It also has a great potential to be a little bit of a Roselia parallel, since that was the band Chu2 originally wanted to be the producer of. And Roselia had their struggles with the just-pro approach, learning that forming strong friendships within the band very much are beneficial.

A little step towards that I feel is already hinted with the Film Live, in which she appeared backstage with the rest of RAS, bringing flowers together with Pareo.

Even if she is huffy about it and it’s hard to admit for her that she does want to be nice and that she had been in the wrong regards past issues, it’s a step in the right direction.

Chu2 will have great development, and a lot of depth behind her character will be revealed.

[disinvited-guest]

3/9/2020 Detroit

The venue staff were much better for this show, primarily because they were able to chill out just a little.  I’m not sure if they had gotten a sense of how harmless tmbg fans were from the night before, or if Flans, who had seemed a bit peeved at how uptight they were, gave someone an earful.  Either way, they still were a bit strict about some things, but much more relaxed than they had been.

As with the previous night, I was able to hear all of the soundcheck while waiting in line in the bar.  They were practicing a bunch of songs I hadn’t yet heard on the tour, all of which they did play during the show.  I heard Authenticity Trip, Memo to Human Resources, Number 3, and Man It’s So Loud In Here, and I just got more excited for each and every one.  The soundcheck changed to just individuals trying different things out for a while, and then that stopped and they started soundchecking With the Dark.  

The rest of the wait was relatively uneventful, and soon we were let inside.  To change things up, I found a spot squarely in front of the drum riser.  I think the security fence was set slightly closer to the stage than it had been the day before, but the added distance actually worked to my advantage today, as I could see more of the other side of the stage.  I always forget how much I enjoy shows from this side of the stage until I actually get there.  It’s different from over on the larger side of the stage, but that just makes it another type of wonderful.

Once again, the first set was the same Flood set from the last several nights, so the recap of the first set will be slightly shortened.  I have a few general notes before I begin. Fresh was wearing neon doce socks, and once again had his hair in pigtails.  This show was the first since Milwaukee where Dan was able to get through the first set without switching to his backup guitar.  Marty was absolutely on fire the whole set.  There were also a series of cold breezes coming from multiple directions towards the end of the set.

Coming onstage, Linnell was doing his wavy-armed walk to get up to his keyboard. During The Might Be Giants, Flans was apparently having a problem with his guitar, and desperately trying to get the crew’s attention while singing.  Eventually, towards the end of the song, he started singing “John Carter look at me” in place of the actual lyrics (the repeated “they might be giants” at the song’s conclusion).  It must have worked, because Flans stopped wildly gesturing offstage after that.  

After We Want a Rock, Linnell took the task of welcoming us to the show, before Flans made it up to the mic to tell everyone that it was an exciting day for him, “If you came to the show last night, you’ll notice that I just got a haircut.”  He called it one of the few perks of staying in the same city for two nights before launching into a detailed account of the event.

Apparently, his barber asked him what he was doing in town, “and, reluctantly, I told her the truth.”  He then told us that usually he lies, and that when a cab driver sees his guitar case and asks if he’s in a band he tells them “Yes, I’m in Fountains of Wayne.”  

He continued, saying that he has a “whole fanfiction thing going on” to explain why he doesn’t show up in photographs.

“When it turns out the cabbie is a Fountains of Wayne fan who’s like ‘I didn't see you on the album cover’” Linnell interjected.

“Yeah,” Flans agreed. “I’m just covering my tracks for the inevitable Google Search after.”

Getting back to his haircut story, Flans said “I told this woman I was in a band.  She did not ask me the name of the band but she did tell me the entire plot of the movie Queen.”

This got a huge laugh from the crowd, but Flans wasn’t done yet telling us his story.  The plot of the movie “lasted just about the entire haircut length.  Which was great.  I’ve gotta see that movie.”

He then moved to to explain the setup of the show, telling us they had put two songs from Flood in the second set “so that the friends that you dragged here will stick around.”

When Flans asked Linnell about his day, Linnell replied promptly “I’ve just been goofing off.”  He then told us that every other time they come to Detroit, he checks up on the city, and this time he found a lot more “boutique-y” stores downtown “and we’ve been informed that that is both good and horrible.” He concluded that he was “excited and disgusted” to see how Detroit comes along.

Flans told us that they were “standing in judgement” from 450 miles away.  Linnell agreed, but said the crowd was welcome to judge New York as well.“

But only from 450 miles,” Flans told him. “Those are the rules.”

Introducing the next song, Linnell told us it was off the Flood album, and that it was probably the second shortest song on the album.

“No spoilers, John!” Flans interrupted.

“No?”  Linnell continued “And here’s another spoiler: it contains unlicensed samples.  OOOH!”

“Now I beg you to shut up!”

“You guys ready for this?” Linnell asked, and they launched into Minimum Wage.

I think it was during Particle Man that Danny, backing up towards the drum riser while playing, bumped into it and sat down with a bit of a thump.  He stayed sitting there for a few measures before he got up again.  

After Hearing Aid, Flans came up to the mic and, without preamble, told us “So, then Queen fired their manager, and they had the opportunity to do Live Aid.  Which changed everything for them.  Because they rehearsed.”

Moving on to introducing the next song, Flans repeated his preamble from the day before about playing songs backwards, then told us they were embarking into uncharted territory “where the entertainment value is very low,” and that he hoped that our “thresholds of pleasure are set very finely tonight.”

He explained that they weren’t just flipping the chart, but playing what the sound recording backwards would sound like. “So if one was to reverse the live performance in front of you right now-if you could do that-it would reproduce the actual song, incredibly effectively.  If you could do that.  But you can’t, so we’re just gonna tell you that.”

He concluded “We’re not sure why we’re doing this, but we practiced it, and we’re committed to it, so we’re going to play it.”

He then introduced the members of the band individually.  We were asked to scream for Marty, and then for Danny, who Flans pointed out especially to the ladies. He introduced Dan as “on the electric guitar, with his eyes glued to the chart he made himself.”  While we cheered for Dan, Danny lifted his bass and pointed the neck of it at Dan as Flans continued “perhaps the finest electric guitarist in They Might Be Giants.”

“This song is called… Well it doesn’t really have a title,” Flans told us, and they started  Stilloob.  Maybe it was that they were getting more confident with it, but I do believe that this was their best performance yet!

Afterwards, Linnell responded to the crowd’s applause by saying thoughtfully “We should get you guys applaud before we play it, if we’re doing this correctly.”

“That was really the best applause that song has gotten thus far,” Flans decided. “You are really on the vanguard.”  He then predicted that in the future, when all songs are backwards, Stilloob will be seen as the ‘Rock Around The Clock’ of the movement.  He then imitated a person form the future explaining their musical tastes “I’m not into songs, man.  I’m into songs that are played in reverse.  I like digital, I like CD’s.  I like the sound of CD’s in reverse.  It’s got digital harshness, that’s what I like.”

Someone in the crowd shouted something, and Flans answered back that “I want to hear every word you’re saying, but part of me is saying we should resist that.”

Linnell introduced the next song as being the fastest sung in their entire repertoire (Letterbox), and Flans agreed, saying that they had officially entered the “stunt part of the program: stunt songs.”

After Lucky Ball and Chain, Flans admitted he was curious how many people had been to the show the night before.  Finding one person who had been he said directly to them “I just want to tell you that the second set is almost completely different.  But this part is music under glass.  We’re gonna tell the Queen jokes…” 

“As you know,” Linnell continued when Flans trailed off, “we’re doing the exact same raps, including what I’m saying right now. As we said last night.”

“I’m getting my hair cut every day,” Flans agreed.

Apparently this reminded Flans of their conversation from the start of the set, because he asked Linnell if he really hadn’t gone to a museum or something that day.

Linnell responded that he really had just goofed off but “A mystical thing happened to me.”  He then explained that he had a can of Faygo “my very first can of Faygo.”  This got laughs and cheers from the crowd, and Linnell responded “I know. I can feel the clown makeup just starting to grow on my face.”  

He tried to continue with his story, but Flans had gone upstage and grabbed a can of Faygo that had been sitting there, which he was now holding up, causing the crowd to start cheering once again.  He started to say something about it, but Linnell interrupted him “Let me finish the story, before you start in with your jokes.”  

“It’s taking too long, John,” Flans argued, “It’s taking too long.”

Linnell replied “Alright. Let’s just play the next song, forget it.  Nevermind.  It wasn’t that interesting anyway.”  The crowd reacted instantly, demanding the rest of the story, so Linnell finally got his chance to continue.  He had set the can of Faygo on a table and fallen asleep, then “I was awoken by the sound of it falling to the floor, but it was still upright.  And I thought, ‘I don't’ know what just happened, but there’s something special about this beverage.’”

“Do you think it was the ghost of Insane Clown Posse?” Flans asked, finally free to ‘start in with his jokes’, “Reaching out from before the grave?”

Linnell responded that, from what he knew, ICP wasn’t reluctant to spill Faygo so that didn’t seem likely.  Someone in the audience asked him what flavor it was, and he responded that it was Root Beer.  

This got some cheers and a lot of shouted responses from the crowd.  Flans, trying to get things back on track, seemed slightly annoyed by the shouts, and responded sarcastically “please, talk amongst yourselves for a little while.”

They played Hot Cha, then brought the topic right back to Faygo, with Linnell announcing “Hot Cha, ladies and gentlemen, sponsored by Faygo Root Beer.”

“I always thought that Fayo was like a cocktail put together by the Insane Clown Posse,” Flans admitted, once again holding his can of the stuff. “Then when I saw this I was like ‘Man, they are ripping them off!’  Lawsuit!”

He put the can down and then continued “But I guess it’s just… they really like soda.”

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say in Detroit.  A few people in the crowd cried out “Pop!” “It’s pop!���  Other members of the crowd took up the cry, until the room buzzed with it.

Nobody on the stage had any clue what was going on, but realized the crowd was upset.  Flans tried to smooth things over, obviously confused “Understand...understand…”

“We are on the outside of this discussion,”  Linnell chimed in, coming to his aid.  “You guys know what it is…”

Flans, inspired, thought that the anger might be some sort of defense of ICP. “I just want to make it clear,”  he said, in a misdirected attempt to smooth things over, “that we are down with the clown.”

This got a laugh from the crowd, and a visibly relieved Flans continued “After that whole FBI thing, I was nervous they didn’t have enough representation.”

That might have been the end of the Beverage Wars, but a few determined people in the crowd started up the “Pop!” cry again, with a few people even beginning to chant it.

Flans, interrupted once again, looked out over the crowd and determined “It seems like fights are breaking out in the audience now, John.”

This stirred up the crowd even more.  Flans tried again to calm the crowd while still not sure what they were angry about “Guys, guys, guys…”

He was interrupted by Linnell, who had finally grasped what was going on, “Okay, okay, I get it!”  He explained to Flans “They say pop, we say soda.  It’s a different language.”  As soon as Linnell said the word  ‘pop’  emphasizing the final ‘p’ as if it was completely foreign to him, a huge cheer rose from the crowd.

Flans immediately turned this new information into a joking lecture on the cultural differences “We’re from New York City, that means we’re gonna get on stage late.  That’s the way it works!  People are different, everybody’s got their own thing.” This was all said in an overly-patient voice. “We would change, if we knew how to.”

Linnell, who seemed genuinely amused, chimed in with his thickest Boston accent “But you’ll be cryin’ when we’re havin’ our victory party later on.”

This got laughs from the crowd and Flans cracked a smile, replying in the same voice “At Boston Garden!”

“That’s right!”

“When I put my thumb in my eye.”

Linnell responded with a stadium-organ style scale from his keyboard.  There was a beat and both looked a shade embarrassed.  Eventually Linnell, recovering, said “Alright, here we go.  Another song,” and started them into Women and Men.  Linnell switched the words shipwreck and beachhead, singing them in the other’s place.

After Someone Keeps Moving My Chair, Flans stepped up with the picture disk in hand and asked Saul for a “big white spotlight you can throw on me.”  He told us he had forgotten to do this yesterday, but was reminded by their new t-shirt person and he promised us that if we bought the picture disk “you could make your money back on ebay right away.”

“We have been asked on social media if it’s  true that picture disks don’t sound as good as regular vinyl records,” Flans continued.  “And my first thought to write back is like ‘well what do you want it to sound like?’”  He admitted that picture disks didn’t sound quite as good but “they have PICTURES on them, which is I think the larger point.”  He then introduced the zoetrope on the back, saying they had sweetened the pot with it and promised us “a beautiful visual effect that will remind you of psychedelic drugs.”  He concluded by promising that this was “the best sounding zoetrope you will ever see.”  

After Whistling In the Dark, Linnell stopped them from moving on because “I just have something to say about that last song.”  He told us all that they do a lot of Flood songs slightly different from how they are on the record, and “I was reminded on this song that we completely changed where the big smash sound happens, ‘cause I saw someone in the audience doing it where it happens on the RECORD, and I was like ‘Oh NO!  Eugh, no!’”  

He then assured us that the live version was the correct one “We did it wrong on the record, and now we’re doing it the right way.”  

Flans chimed in with his own observations on the live version of the song, saying that playing familiar songs “at less 4-cup-of-coffee-in-the-studio tempos” gives him “the distinct impression that people just think we’re tired.  But there’s no explaining it.”  He then did his best impression of the part of the song in question “But it goes ‘Whistling in the dark BOMP, whistling in the dark-”

“It should do that, yeah,” Linnell interrupted.

“It’s a more musical way of doing it, that’s our best explanation” Flans continued.

This reminded Flans of the difference between the album and live versions of another Flood song.  Without telling us the title of the song, he explained that they had left out a verse when recording and “didn’t have enough juice, or whatever the term is, to tell the producer people, like ‘we have to redo it.’”  Explaining that he sang the missing verse in the live version of the song, he told us that during shows “People will be singing along and then when it gets to that verse, they just stop. ‘Cause nobody knows those words.  But we will, uhh-”

Flans had been distracted by a guy in the crowd shouting out the song’s title (Road Movie To Berlin), and responded “No spoilers, man! No spoilers!”  The end of this scolding was muffled as Flans lost the battle to keep from cracking up, then moved away from his mic stand for a moment. 

Linnell gave him time to recover by promising us “Just bear in mind , we’re older and smarter now than we were then, so this is the right version.”

“You came to the right show, people,” Flans agreed. “We know it’s disorienting when the bass drum is on the opposite beat.”

After Birdhouse, Flans turned Linnell’s accordion mic around to face the crowd.  “I just realized the song I was talking about is coming up next,”  he told us all.  “So I’ve turned the microphone around to you so we can slightly amplify the parts you can sing along to, to which we encourage!  And then don’t be afraid of the parts you don’t know.  It’s just a little bit different.”

People really took the invitation to sing along to heart, which made it all the more hilarious when, of course, they petered out during the King of Liars verse.

Nothing too noteworthy happened between sets, although I finally was able to successfully pinpoint the end of the new cue song.  They used the Godzilla Intro once again, with Linnell speaking over the end of it in his best creepy-TV-narrator voice “Hello...And welcome back.”

Flans introduced Marty on the electronic drums “nothing says unplugged better,” and then made the claim that “In the world of drummers, Marty is Faygo.”

 Flans was about to start the first song of the set, when he stopped and decided it needed a better introduction.  At this point, I was expecting the Quiet Storm to be identical to the others so far on the tour, so I was completely shocked with Flans explained “This song is the full-length version of a song that a fragment of it was on the album The Else, and we’re gonna perform the entire song called With the Dark.”

And then they performed it.  Even though I’d heard strains of them soundchecking it earlier, I hadn’t known it would be this version, or that it would be so beautiful to witness firsthand.

Moving back to more familiar ground, they played 2082 and then Flans introduced Wicked Little Critta, “Ladies  and Gentlemen we are now gonna move to the place where John and I first met.  It’s a song about New England and it features the Keyboard Stylings of Mr. John Linnell.”

Finishing out the Quiet Storm, they left the stage to a projection of the Gudetama’s Busy Days video, which was a welcome change from Underwater Woman, which they’d used at the last three shows I’d attended. The guys were all onstage before the video ended and Dan, who was apparently raring to go, started Damn Good Times the moment after the last note of the video had finished.  Flans didn’t make us sway along to Dan’s solo this time, but he did introduce him as the “King of Pop” beforehand, and demand a “sea of hands” midway through.

This began a truly amazing set.  The guys were all at the top of their game, and clearly enjoying themselves as well. They also played a lot of songs I hadn’t gotten to hear yet on this tour, starting right after Damn Good TImes as they went straight into Man It’s So Loud In Here.

Afterwards, Flans started to introduce the next song, claiming that it was on a compilation album of things they’d done during their 2015 Dial-A-Song year.  Pausing, he decided “No, it was before that.... It was on an album…that we made...What?”  This last bit was directed at Danny, who had come up next to him.  Danny said something urgently into his ear, likely the song listed next on the setlist, and Flans responded with a quiet “Oh..”  As Danny returned to his spot, Flans grabbed the mic with both hands and whispered into it “Fuuuucck.”  Raising his voice out of the whisper, he continued “I don’t even know what song we’re doing.”

Recovering his stage presence and pivoting topics, Flans said, as if he was picking up a story he’d just stopped telling a moment ago, “So, at a certain point Queen realized that if they wrote songs they could do WITH the audience, that it would be like a whole new way of getting everybody involved.  And that’s why this song was written.”

This was clearly meant as a graceful exit into the next song, but Linnell had more to say on the topic. “Except… I think he wasn’t wearing the fake teeth in the real story, right?  I’m pretty sure.”

“That mustache didn’t look real,” Flans told him.

“I saw the movie, actually,” Linnell admitted.

“Ohh,” Flans was a bit disappointed.  “How was the mustache?”

“I-You know- That guy’s a good actor,” Linnell replied, evading the question.

“And he’s a REALLY good singer,” Flans added.

Missing the sarcasm in Flans’ voice, Linnell said “He’s a good singer.  You’re not joking around.”

“I actually was joking around,” Flans told him.

“No-no, he’s good.”

“It’s Freddie Mercury,” Flans said flatly.

“But I think the guy can sing,” Linnell insisted. “The robot… The robot guy.”  This drew laughs from the crowd, which Linnell stoked by declaring “The robot guy!”  once again.

“My acting friends thought that the Oscar should go to Freddie Mercury,”  Flans said, as the crowd quieted.

“Oh really?” Linnell asked, “ To the��.the robot guy, or to the real Freddie Mercury…”

“No, no, ‘cause he’s lip-synching along to the thing,” Flans clarified.

Linnell answered with a non-committal ‘oh’ and then, after an awkward moment of quiet, brought up that “I hate movies where you’re instructed to like something because members of the audience in the movie are going ‘This is good.’”  He completed his impression with a thumbs up and a nodding head.  “It drives  me crazy.  I don’t need a proxy on the screen,  I can decide for myself if something is good or not.”

This got a cheer and applause from one solitary member of the crowd.  Linnell pointed him out and thanked him for applauding, then Flans declared “This show is dedicated to that guy applauding,” they then finally got around to introducing the next song: Wearing a Raincoat.

From there they played Authenticity Trip, which is always an amazing song to watch live,  with Flans roaming around the stage to sing.  Introducing Curt as he came on the stage for the next song, Flans told us all “During the break, Curt informed us that in Oklahoma, where he grew up, they refer to all soda-pop...all cola... they refer to everything as Coke. So you just say, like ‘You want a coke? What kind? Orange?’ That’s how it works there.”

This got a reaction from the crowd, who grumbled at the term coke, and even started yelling out a few states where they used the word that way.  Flans concluded “There are regional differences everywhere ladies and gentlemen.  We’re just ambassadors of disinformation.”

“Which is a way of saying, you were hurting our feelings when you were yelling at us before,” Linnell explained, amused.

“When we saw there was a clamor, we just assumed it was Insane Clown Posse fans,” Flans confessed, “Your mind jumps to that in rock music.  We didn’t realise it was the whole pop versus soda thing.”  He then started growling deep in his throat in what I can only assume was an imitation of what the upset crowd had sounded like to them.

After watching Flans do that a few times, Linnell moved on with another story about crowds and pronunciations.  “I can’t remember if I’ve told you this,” he said, looking over at Flans briefly before addressing the crowd “but I had a solo act about twenty years ago and I had a song.  The name of the song was ‘Oregon is Bad’ and I played it in Oregon and people were not offended by the title of the song. They were really offended that I mispronounced the name of their state.  That was the- that’s why I had to leave in a hurry.  So, you know, I get it!”

“Somebody threw a bottle of Faygo through your windshield,” Flans added.

“Yeah, yeah,”  Linnell agreed with a laugh.  “So here’s another song not off of Flood.”

This led into Turn Around, and from there straight into Spy.  I absolutely love the intro to this song, especially during shows like this, where Curt feels like showing off a bit.  The ending was pretty standard for this tour.  Linnell used his ‘Take It to the Limit’ sample opposite of and over the band, at normal and slowed down speeds.  Flans did a bit of stuff with playing his guitar pressed up against his mic stand opposite the band, and worked in the crowd relatively successfully.  At one point, Flans started to indicate the band, but changed his mind part way through and stopped his hand.  Marty played anyway, which made some other members of the band play with him.  Everyone soon realized what had happened and all looked over at Marty, who must’ve been a bit distressed, because Flans indicated it was his bad at the time and actually went over behind the drum riser after the song to apologize to Marty. 

While Flans was dealing with that, the crowd became a bit restless and a few people started to shout out songs.  Flans, coming back up to the front, let them go on for a bit. Once the crowd had gone quiet, he commented sarcastically “I was just gonna wait here until someone requested the next song.”  This led to another flurry of requests, which Flans quashed with “Guys, guys, guys.  We really are from New York City.  People don’t- that whole request thing…”  

People were still shouting out requests, but Flans ignored them.  “It’s like, you know, feel good to a certain extent and then you draw the line.  Here’s a song about that.  It’s called Memo to Human Resources.”  Confession time:  I actually cried a little during this song.The song holds a very special place in my heart, and the live experience of it is overwhelmingly emotional for me.  

They followed up with Don’t Let’s Start, which is always super fun to watch Flans and Danny spin around during.  Dan and Curt returned to the stage and Flans, introducing them, tried on his announcer voice “CAESAR’S PALACE IS PROUD TO PRESENT…”

“That was the thing we did in Chicago, where the guy was like ‘I’M COMPLETELY SINCERE!’”  Linnell explained, “I’VE NEVER HEARD OF ANY OF THESE ACTS!”

“I’M YOUR DAD’S ALCOHOLIC FRIEND!”  Flans shot back “PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR HEY MUST BE GIANTS!”

This got a mix of laughter and applause from the crowd, which Flans responded to, still in the voice “KEEP IT GOING!  FOR AIN’T THEY GUNS.”

Seizing on the moment of quiet after that pronouncement, Danny began the intro to Museum of Idiots.  Four songs from Spine in one night!  Afterwards Flans briefly introduced Dan, and everyone else stepped back to let Dan begin his intro to Istanbul.  After a few fake endings, with some of Dan’s electric and a lot of Curt’s amazing everyone, Dan and Marty left the stage.  Flans thanked everybody for coming out and introduced the final song of the night as “the song I thought ended the first set for the last four nights,” Theme From Flood.

(Note:  I had no idea of this at the time of course, but Flans’ goodbye had a bit more emotion in it than is typical, and I’m guessing that at this point they were already rescheduling the rest of the April shows.)

Coming on for the first encore, the crowd was a bit rowdy, and Flans made the comment that “I once saw a guy defeated by a mic stand,” before they started the first song of the encore: Number Three!  During this song, Marty just plays his kick drum.  Danny, coming to the side of the drum riser, looked over at what Marty was doing and began copying his leg movement. It looked more than a bit silly, especially since Danny was grinning hugely up at Marty so he would notice.

“Mr. Dan Miller will be playing the keyboard on the next number,”  Flans announced

“Mr. Dan Mil-Ler,” Linnell repeated, with a bit of a call back to the announcers voices they had tried out earlier.

“YOUR DAD’S  ALCOHOLIC FRIEND IS ANNOUNCING MR. DAN MILLER ON THE KEYBOARDS,” Flans added, liking the idea.

“MISTER DANNY MY-LER,”  Linnell claimed.  Dropping the voice with a bit of a laugh, he started to ask “What was that thing where-”

Flans cut him off with a “DANNY MY-LER PLEASE MOVE YOUR CAR!”

Undeterred,  Linnell continued telling us about their sometimes trombone player Dan Levine.  Apparently, when he was playing in Frank Sinatra’s orchestra “he played that famous trombone solo in You Make me Feel So Young at which point Frank Sinatra said- this is the only time he’d ever called out our trombone player- ‘JOHNNY LEVINE!’”  Watching the crowd react, he concluded quietly, “you know, it’s the thought that counts.”

They finished out the first encore with “a song that we do”  Doctor Worm.  I think Dan finally had the keyboard settings figured out!  Just before the trumpet's final bit that ends the song, Linnell called out “Johnny Ramm!”

Coming back onstage for the second encore, they went right into She’s An Angel.  I hadn’t realized before, but Marty puts a tambourine on top of his hi hat for this song.  They went from Angel to The Guitar without any more of a pause than it took for Linnell to switch from accordion to keys.  Flans sang “is it Johnny Levine/ I don’t think so” during the first verse, and introduced Johnny Linnell and Johnny Ramm for an especially interesting and extended Future of Sound.  Everybody onstage was really going all out the whole song, including Dan doing what I can only describe as prancing while he played, and as they finished Flans thanked us all for coming one more time before leaving the stage.  

The rest of the band quickly followed him as the house mix began playing.  Except Danny that is, instead of leaving right away, he grabbed his setlist and walked over to me.  He had to step out onto the amp and lean across the aisle for me to reach it. I took it with a big smile, which he returned before heading offstage.

[mccartneyandwings]

Interview: “Denny Laine talks Wings, ‘Wild Life,’ Linda McCartney and more”

Denny Laine had a short interview with Mark Hinson from Tallahassee Democrat on September 21, 2017. The original link is here.

Before Denny Laine joined Paul McCartney & Wings in 1971 for a solid decade of hit singles and albums, he and the poodle-eyed Beatle had been pals for several years. 

After all, Laine was a member of The Moody Blues in the early days before the band shifted into symphonic art rock. In 1965, Laine sang lead on The Moody Blues’ hit “Go Now,” a cover of an American R&B tune originally recorded by Bessie Banks.

“I knew Paul,” Laine said during a recent phone interview from California. “We used to go out and see people. We’d go out and see Dylan or Jimi Hendrix or The Lovin’ Spoonful or whatever. We’d go see American bands that came over to England just because we were curious. So, I had pretty much [of] a friendship with him because I was in London at the time. And that’s how I got to know him. George Harrison was also our neighbor when I was in The Moody Blues. ... They(The Beatles) used to come by and play us their demos and their acetates. We were pretty close with them. We were both fans of each other. ... We all started out together as kids, really.”

Expect to hear plenty of Laine’s work with Wings, as well as The Moody Blues, when he performs on Friday night with The Cryers at The Junction at Monroe Street.

“We take a modern approach to the songs,” Laine, 72, said. “I’m not trying to sing like Paul, I don’t like copying people. I don’t like to live the past too much.”

Even though Wings racked up some of the biggest hits of the ‘70s — “My Love,” “Silly Love Songs,” “With A Little Luck,” “Live and Let Die,” etc. — the group got off to a rocky start with the critics. The spare, stripped-down Wings debut album “Wild Life”(1971) was dismissed by Rolling Stone magazine as “rather flaccid musically and impotent lyrically, trivial and unaffecting.”

Laine thinks “Wild Life” has stood the test of time.

“People like it a lot more now because of its rawness,” Laine said. “The point was we were just trying out the band on that album. It was just a case of let’s just rehearse a few songs and go in the studio. Let’s not get too big time about it. I like that album.”

To get into the back-to-the-roots spirit, Wings rented a bus and dropped in on various universities around England to play surprise concerts for the students. No press. No hype. No expectations. Just let it rip.

“The reason the critics knocked it(‘Wild Life’) was because they were expecting a big production,” Laines said. “But you know, you have to understand that when a band is just starting you’re not in the mood to go in and do that. We were not trying to follow The Beatles or The Moody Blues, we were just trying to do our own thing. The fact that we went out and started turning up at universities just to play meant that we needed to play live to an audience to get into the feel of the band. Get into the confidence and the rest of it. So that album really was a result of that band where we were at that time. You know it was a take-it-or-leave-it type of attitude.”

Plenty of critics and Beatles fans also scoffed when McCartney recruited his wife to join Wings. Laine is quick to defend Linda McCartney, who died of cancer in 1998.

“Well, I liked Linda a lot,” Laine said. “She was a great influence on him, so that made it easy on me. I didn’t know Linda until I was in Wings. She was very good for him at that time because he was going through a lot of Beatles’ legal problems, the whole Allen Klein situation. It all made him literally retreat to the hills of Scotland. She was his support system. I liked her for that alone. But I also liked her because she was very honest about things. She was not trying to be some big star. She got pushed into that more than she wanted to be. She was not a musician and she was the first one to own up. She didn’t want to be in the band. But he got her into it. ... She wasn’t trying to be a rock star.”

He added: “She was misjudged by people a lot, I think. Really deep down, she was a good lass. She had his back, which was great. It wasn’t an easy time for her at all.”

In 1973, Laine and the McCartneys headed to Lagos, Nigeria, to record Wings’ official masterpiece, “Band on the Run.” 

“Paul had his cassette of the rehearsals stolen, so we had to start from scratch,” Laine said. “It was a very badly equipped studio (in Africa). We made the backing tracks there and then came back to London and finished them off. That’s about it, really. ... It was just me and Paul, really, in the studio. We just wanted to do something really raw and get the feeling right. It was what worked.”

“Picasso’s Last Words” from “Band on the Run” featured Laine singing the opening lines and a little percussive help from Laine’s old friend, drummer Ginger Baker. Before the Wings stint, Laine performed with Ginger Baker’s Air Force band (as well as The Electric String Band). Baker is notorious for having a hot temper (please see the documentary “Beware of Mr. Baker”) but Laine did not share any red-headed horror stories.

“I don’t have problems with Ginger,” Laine said, and that was that.

McCartney always encouraged Laine to write and co-write songs for Wings, such as “No Words” and “Again and Again and Again.” In 1977, Laine and McCartney hit pay dirt with a sing-along song called “Mull of Kintyre.” The collaboration became an instant classic.

“He had an idea for a song,” Laine said. “I went around to have breakfast with them up in Scotland. ... I heard the chorus and I said that’s a potentially hit song. So the next day we went and finished it off. We sat down and wrote the lyrics and put it together. Then we brought in the Campbeltown Pipe Band and they were all excited. It was the first time they’d ever been in a studio and it was fun. We recorded the pipes and drums outside so we got the echoes off the mountains. It came out at Christmas and it was a big hit (in England). It was a B-side over here.”

McCartney’s infamous pot bust in Japan took the wind out of Wings at the dawn of the ‘80s. Laine took off to pursue a solo career. He just released a new single, “Meant to Be,” on vinyl and he has an album, “Valley of Dreams” on the way. In 2016, the University of Fredonia in New York state presented the United States premiere of Laine’s musical “Arctic Song,” which focuses on climate change and environmentalism.

[aryanarecords]

INTERVIEW WITH KO NARTER

I met Ko Narter during my NYU summer program (shocking, I know. I’m not sorry that I got to meet some of the coolest most artsy people over the summer, though.  Even better, I can show them to my readers, which is so dope.) I had just moved into my dorm and I was about to unpack when Ko and a few other girls knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to hang.  That was such a relief because I didn’t know what I was going to do until class the next day.  I was planning on sitting in my room?? Lol.  I thought that was really nice of her.  Anyways, I guess it was her cool Bay Area aura or the fact that she tried to break a world record for wearing Paul Frank shirts for 187 days in a row in the third grade, but Ko and I have very similar tastes in music, and our writing styles are very similar, so we connected pretty fast.  It wasn’t one of those famous jam seshes without her! When it came time for our student showcase at the end of the program, another girl in our group and I were paired up to harmonize with Ko for her song “Remnants,” which is actually on her brand new EP!  Unfortunately, I lost my voice and didn’t get to perform with her, but every time I listen to “Remnants” it reminds me of NYU.  Anyways, here is my interview with Ko! 

Give us some basic facts about yourself !

Birthday: 1/24/2000 Zodiac Sign: Aquarius Favorite Food: Carne Asada Burrito from Cactus (sad because I am a recent vegetarian) Favorite Color: to wear - black, to look at - some sort of forest-y green Currently Based: Oakland, CA Nicknames: Ko is a nickname! My full name is Koyuki which means “little snow” in Japanese! Fun Fact: My high school has a bird calling contest, and I won 2nd place in both 2016 and 2017.

How and when did you start making music?

When I moved to California in 2006, a lot of the friends that I made were in choir, so I  decided to try it out. That’s really where my deep love for music began. I seriously started making my own music in middle school, when I joined a band called “the Bystanders” that some of my friends had started. Throughout middle school and into Freshman and Sophomore year, we transitioned from doing mostly covers, to writing our own music. Throughout the course of the band, I went from drummer, to lyricist/lead vocalist. I didn’t write my own completely original song until Freshman year, when I had just recently learned G Em C D on guitar, and ran with it. That first song I wrote is now “You’ve Already Won” off my EP.

Who are some of your musical influences?

A huge part of my creative drive is seeing artists around me create music. There are some other artists and bands at my high school, and though we have completely different styles, I love supporting them and seeing people my age trying to do what they love doing, just like I am. As for some bigger musicians, right now I’ve been listening to Maggie Rogers, Khalid, Gavin James, Daniel Caesar, Stephen Day, and SZA. Some long time faves are Sylvan Esso, Kodaline, and Childish Gambino, and Us the Duo. My music taste is pretty eclectic but I really value strong vocals and lyrics which seems to be a common thread among most of my favorite artists. My all time favorite band is Thirdstory.  If anyone reading this has never heard of them - you MUST check them out. I have cried listening to their music a couple of times because I am so blown away by the emotion and thoughtfulness that emanates from their music.

You’re also in a band, Power Beez, how did you guys get together?

My bandmates, Maggie and Kay, were also in that band “The Bystanders” in middle school, so we’ve been friends since middle school, and have been making music together since middle school. We really became a trio when we all took Dance PE during our Junior year, and spent a lot of time together either choreographing or just hanging out. We are also all in the student run a cappella group in our town, the Troubadours,  so when someone asked for performers at a charity event at Dress Best For Less, we thought we’d take a crack at it. It all started with us covering “Who Says” by Selena Gomez, and “Fireflies” by Owl City, but as we arranged more music, we found that we had such a special sound, and because we had been making music together for so long, we knew what sounded good in each of our voices and how to divvy up parts. Our love of tacky 2000s Disney bops and passion for three part harmony really solidified us as a group.

What’s the story behind your band name?

Maggie, Kay, and I all took Dance PE, as mentioned in the previous question, and for our winter dance concert we were trying to think of a title for our dance. All the dances in the show seemed to be about power or puppets so we were toying with names with the word “power” in it. We were sitting in the theater when our dance teacher kind of blurted out “what about Power BEEEES” and said it in this very comical voice. Honestly our entire dance class career was a meme. Our first dance was called “Power Beez,” (“z” instead of “s” for comedic effect) our dance for our April dance concert was “Power Beez: the Squeakquel,” a la Alvin and the Chipmunks, and our final dance was called “Power Beez: Road Chip” (or maybe Chipwrecked - I can’t remember). When we started performing as a vocal trio, we were going to perform at our first official gig and when asked for a band name I guess “Power Beez” was the only thing that really made sense. What all started as a joke has now become our trio’s official name.

What was your inspiration for your new EP, KONA?

I don’t know if I should name drop in this because who knows who’s reading so -  this EP is almost entirely about one person, with a few lyrics being inspired by frustrations I was having in other relationships in my life. The easiest way to describe my relationship with this one person between Freshman through Junior year is “it’s complicated.” I mean we are still tight to this day but between being tight 4 years ago to today, our relationship has changed a lot, and you can hear the relationship shift on the EP. In chronological order, I wrote You’ve Already Won spring of Freshman year, and it’s about how I was foolish to think anything could last between the two of us. After our fleeting fling, we remained friends through my Sophomore year. In the summer between my Sophomore and Junior year (his summer before college) we worked at a summer camp together, and afterwards had another fling, but this fling was definitely much more emotionally involved and we were much closer. When he left for school, I had a lot of sadness and frustration, but we still talked even though we were no longer romantically involved. When I started seeing pictures of a girl on his Instagram, I wrote Her vs Me about how this girl was obviously more his type than I was. As I got deeper into Junior year, I wrote Remnants when people kept bringing him up, and all I was trying to do was forget him. I go to a small high school in a small town, so Continent of Conquests is about how he left me with nothing whereas he got to dive into a new city and new school and got to move on much faster than I did. Dead End was a bit of a backslide, when I realized I was always gonna hold a special place in my heart for him, and lastly Expiration Date tells the story of how I finally moved on, but also analyzing and criticizing his actions in our relationship. To get back to the question you actually asked, I don’t know if it’s fair to say he was the inspiration for the EP, but without him I wouldn’t have been able to write and create the way I did.

How long did it take you to write and produce KONA?

I wrote the music in a span of a few years, from Freshman to Junior year, arranged the music with Kay and Maggie (from Power Beez) in a few three hour rehearsals, and then recording took 15 hours and mixing probably took another 10 at least. My dear friends Kay, Maggie, and Emmett all volunteered their time, talent, and equipment to make this all possible.

What was the production experience like? 

I learned so much through making this EP. There was always another bump in the road whether it was having to re-record a guitar part, or getting sick and not being able to record. Everyone I worked with is a teenager like myself, and we all still have so much to learn in the music making world. For example, Emmett had mixed all the music and I was reviewing it for upload, when I realized that all the songs had been mixed in stereo, and the harmonies were coming through different sides of my headphones. I’m glad Kay and I caught the mistake, because that is not the way I had intended on releasing my music, but it was an artistic choice that Emmett had chosen. Not that stereo is wrong in any sense, but it wasn’t what I was going for. Little miscommunications like that definitely made the process longer, but I have a much more solid grasp on what I want my sound to be, and I know how to direct people to help me get there.

What’s the story behind your cover art?

This one’s kind of funny. The guy that all the songs are about also did the cover art! I sent him a text that straight up said “would you be willing to do album art for an album about you?” and he was totally down. I love that we are still homies, and he was so chill about it.

What’s your favorite song off the EP?

That’s like making me choose a favorite child! I guess I will always have a special place in my heart for You’ve Already Won. It was definitely most fun to record. Kay, Maggie, and I recorded the three-part harmony bridge live, unlike most of the harmonies on the EP in which we recorded tracks one by one and layered them in production. There is nothing better than locking in on some SICK three part harmony, and getting to put that on the EP was super special. It’s definitely not the most complex song, but there’s something about those lyrics and harmonies that continue to resonate with me every time I listen to it or perform it.

Can we expect new music?

Yes! This EP is actually half of an album, “Kona,” that I wanted to release, but I decided to divide the album into two EPs: “Pt. 1: You,” and “Pt. 2: Me.” It made sense for me to divide it this way because “Pt. 1: You” is all about how this one person (and a few others) affected me, and really is more about them than it is about me. “Pt. 2: Me” however, is much more introspective, and though I reference other people in the songs, it is definitely centered around my internal monologue and my thoughts on friendship and leaving for school next year.

What’s your dream venue to perform at?

I would say the Fillmore in San Francisco, and then the Fox Theater in Oakland. I have seen shows at both of these venues, and the Fillmore is pretty spacious, but definitely super intimate. Anywhere in that room has a good view, and I feel as an audience member that it is so easy to connect to artists at the Fillmore. The Fox is a way bigger stage, and eventually I would love to be playing to as many people who will listen, but for now I’ll stick to a more intimate and dedicated audience.

What genre would you define your music as?

Uhhhhh maybe Alternative? Easy-Listening? Is that a genre? I feel like my music isn’t necessarily happy or sad, but it is good in any mood. It’s definitely not super hype as in there isn’t a pounding bass or an intense beat drop, but it’s very calm music with a bit of a sarcastic/sassy kick if you listen to the lyrics :). Good for studying, good for a good post-breakup cry, and good for a just chillin’!

Anything else you want to add!

I tell this to everyone I know that likes music, but making music is SO EASY and there is no risk at all! I’m not saying writing, arranging, recording, producing, and releasing music is easy, but who is stopping you from jamming out with your friends to some song that you all know the lyrics to? Who is stopping you from posting a Soundcloud cover of whatever artist you have been listening to recently? Who is stopping you from writing lyrics that you may not have a tune for until months later? I always encourage people to create and to collaborate because it has been so joyful and gratifying in my own life, and I wish for everyone to have such a great experience with music as I have.

You can listen to KONA on Spotify and Apple Music!

Rock On,

Aryana 

[depechemodespiritera]

Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan is having a wistful moment of gratitude, gazing out the picturesque window of his Beverly Hills hotel room at the sunshine that radiates like a golden blanket over steadily swaying palm trees and dreamy, magazine-ready homes in the hills beyond.

"L.A. has been there for us from day one, really," he says of his band's Angeleno fan base. "We were playing smaller places, but there was a cult aspect to the way people came to our shows and knew our music, before they even knew who the band was."

It's late April, and Gahan and his longtime partner in Depeche, Martin Gore, are doing interviews in their rooms at the Four Seasons as they gear up for a secret fan show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery's Masonic Lodge, a warm-up gig for an international tour in support of their latest album, Spirit. (The band's third member, Andy Fletcher, was not present.) Both speak enthusiastically about their love of L.A. and their fervent fan base here, which helped them sell out a record-breaking four nights at the Hollywood Bowl, something no other group has ever done.

Much has been made of L.A.'s Morrissey obsession, but it could be argued that Depeche Mode, who play those sold-out Bowl shows starting this week, enjoy an even more fanatical following here. There are club nights devoted to them and a popular DM convention held here every year, and the band's hits have never left rotation on L.A. radio, not just KROQ (where they got their first airplay) but mainstream pop stations as well.

Many Angelenos who came of age in the '80s and '90s feel a kinship with Depeche Mode and their songs' themes of sorrow and struggle, shameless romance and eternal outsider-dom. It's the same reason the goth scene is so popular here. Depeche Mode's music speaks to those of us who have always felt that the stereotypical image of sunny SoCal — wherein everyone is blond and beachy — is false and at odds with our true depth and dark proclivities. In an ironic way, dark music like Depeche's connects in L.A. more than anywhere else in the world. And you can dance to it.

Gore's ability to write emotive yet edgy songs with infectious hooks, and Gahan's visceral interpretations of them, have made them one of the most potent pairs in music. Personality-wise they could hardly be more different — Gahan the outgoing, dramatic frontman, Gore the quiet, sensitive songwriter. But they have much in common, too, including an obvious fondness for L.A. Gore lives with his wife and two baby daughters not far away in Santa Barbara. Gahan, who resides in New York, says his 18-year-old daughter, at the time of our interview, was considering attending USC. Still, their connection to L.A. runs even deeper than most people know.

Gore recalls the band being more of an underground phenomenon when they first came to L.A. during the "Just Can't Get Enough" era circa 1982, and how the crowds swelled when they returned around '85. "That was when it blew up," he says. "It seemed like alternative radio had taken hold of the country, but especially here in L.A. ... We went from playing small theaters to big ones, playing to 15,000 people. That was incredible for us at the time."

Gahan has a soft spot for early days, too, recalling the smaller shows when they were unknowns playing the Roxy and the now-shuttered Perkins Palace. He peers intently out his window once again, this time as if he's looking for something. "When I first came here, I was like, 'I wanna live here!'?" he says, pointing at the skyline.

In 1989, Gahan left his first wife and moved in with the band's PR director, Teresa Conroy, whom he later married. His second wife is a big link to Gahan's L.A. story, one that many fans don't know much about. (Full disclosure: I have been friends with Conroy since 2008, after I profiled her in L.A. Weekly's 2008 People issue. Gahan brought her up during our interview unprompted.) What little they do know has, for the most part, been negative, with stories painting her as the scapegoat for Gahan's well-documented drug problems. With our conversation spotlighting L.A. and its influence on the band, the frontman seems eager to set the record straight.

"I fell in love with her during tour," he says. "We just connected and at the end, I told my wife in England I was not coming back. ... I showed up on Teresa's doorstep on Sweetzer and Fountain Avenue with my little suitcase and said, 'Hey!'

"We ended up getting married. We lived near Santa Monica, in Nichols Canyon and Benedict Canyon for a while. We moved around, but what brought that all down for me was I just wanted ..."

He pauses for a long moment. "Substances?" I ask.

"Yes. That's what I liked to do most," he admits, "and it tore us apart, so that was the end of it. I moved to New York around '97 and changed my life. My behavior was not gonna change in L.A.

"Some of what people thought about her might have been my doing, just blabbing my mouth off. I realized after being clean 10 years later, it was like, wow ... at the time, as long as I had what I needed, I didn't give a fuck about anybody else. And I didn't think I was that person, but I was that person."

Gahan, now 55 and married to his third wife for 18 years, has been clean and sober for more than two decades. He looks healthy and trim in a black T-shirt and dark-rimmed glasses, with hints of gray on his chin and temples. But back then, he nearly died a few times from heroin overdoses, once at the Sunset Marquis where the band rented a villa on a frequent basis. Today, however, he seems to associate L.A. and his second marriage not so much with his addiction but with inspiration.

"I haven't talked about it enough, but that time in L.A. was wonderful. The few years I did spend here when we were just hanging out and I didn't work for a couple of years, there were all these great bands playing, like Jane's Addiction, Guns N' Roses. Going to clubs like Cathouse. There was this great music coming out of L.A. There was an energy in some of the new music coming up that I was feeling and seeing here."

Gahan's personal style at the time was influenced by the L.A. rock scene (more tattoos, longer hair, leather), and he sought to steer Depeche's music that way, too. When he went back into the studio to make Songs of Faith and Devotion after 1990's Violator, the career-changing album that included worldwide hits "Personal Jesus," "Policy of Truth" and "Enjoy the Silence," Gahan says, "I was like, 'Guys, we've gotta change it up! This is just too clean, too neat!'?" But Gore and the rest of the band "didn't like at all where I was coming from."

Gore, the band's primary songwriter, was the more provocative dresser in Depeche's early days. He fancied lots of guyliner and became a fan of bondage getups — often purchased, he says, at Trashy Lingerie, not far from the Four Seasons. It gave the band an androgynous edge that "the girls seemed to like," and complemented Gore's sensitive lyrics and rhythm-driven compositions. Depeche were huge after Violator, so it's no surprise that Gore didn't want to change the winning formula, even if music in general was having a heavier moment.

Looking tan and content during our conversation (the bondage attire is long gone, replaced by a fitted black ensemble not unlike Gahan's), Gore, 56, concedes that letting go of creative control has always been something of a challenge. He describes how the early dynamics of the band evolved, putting him "behind the wheel" in terms of writing the songs and shaping the band's sound.

"When we first started we were 18 and 19, and the main driving force behind the band was Vince Clarke. He was the main songwriter, and we were just along for the ride, really," Gore says. "And then he announced to us that he was leaving before the first album was released. So because we were young and didn't really think too much about anything, we just booked some studio time and went in and carried on laying down with a three-piece, as you would at 19 and 20. We never expected it to be a huge commercial success, especially at the time. But then we grew up a little bit."

With Clarke moving on to other projects (notably Yazoo with Alison Moyet and Erasure with Andy Bell), Gore just naturally took the reins, and his talent for songwriting grew as he did. "By the time we got to the third album, we'd traveled the world quite a lot and seen a lot more," he says. "I started to get, not exactly dark by the third album [Construction Time Again], but a little bit more worldly, maybe."

Though Gahan felt like he "wanted to take it to another level," after his time in L.A. in the '90s, he didn't officially contribute to actual Depeche songwriting until 2005's Playing the Angel. It was all Gore until then. Still, the edgier aesthetics and more visceral performance style Gahan honed did steer the band into grittier territory, which fans (particularly female fans) found dramatic and sexy.

Both Gore and Gahan admit their relationship has had its tempestuous and trying moments over the years. But Gore says that after working on their latest, highly political album, Spirit, it's "as good as it's ever been."

For this tour and the Hollywood Bowl shows, Gore promises to take lead vocals on the tender numbers fans have come to expect from him, plus lots of groove-driven guitar work on songs both old and new. Depeche's massive catalog of memorable, emotionally charged music aside, their live show is why they continue to sell out stadiums at this point in their career.

I was lucky enough to attend both a rehearsal at SIR Studios in Hollywood before our interviews and the warm-up "secret" show at Hollywood Forever, and the band are as good as they've ever been onstage. With stellar production (including visuals by famed photographer and video director Anton Corbijn) and support from a solid backing band, Depeche Mode are almost certain to deliver the transcendent experience their fans expect. The Global Spirit Tour is aptly named, and Gore and Gahan hold nothing back, complementing each other in the kind of caustic yet comfortable way that only the most iconic duos do.

"Sometimes a band needs to have a bit of friction. ... The best stuff sometimes comes out of this need to be heard," Gahan explains. "Creatively we're old enough to realize that we respect each other's differences, and we know that we need each other. That's what Depeche Mode is. It's a weirdness between the two of us."

DEPECHE MODE: GLOBAL SPIRIT TOUR | Hollywood Bowl | 2301 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood | Thu., Oct. 12; Sat., Oct. 14; Mon., Oct. 16; Wed., Oct. 18; 7:30 p.m. all shows | $45 and up | hollywoodbowl.com

[driveneed17-blog]

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SINOATH (SALVATORE FICHERA)

(Comrade Aleks rejoins us with the following interview of Salvatore Fichera of the Italian black/death/doom band Sinoath, whose latest album in a career which began in 1990 is 2018’s Anamnesis.)

This band has a long and complicated story and a pretty short discography containing only three full-length albums. Having started in 1990 in Catania, Sicily, they recorded their first album Research in 1995 after two demos — Forged In Blood (1991) and Still In The Grey Dying (1993). It’s hard to categorize this material but it’s done on a converging of death, black, and gothic metal, with some Italian dark prog influences.

The band was finished in 1996, but seven years later it was restored with Sinoath’s initial drummer Salvatore Fichera. The new album, Under The Ashes, turned out to be darker and heavier than its predecessor, but the band didn’t aim to strengthen their position from there and laid down again after that. After 11 years of silence in terms of album-length releases, Sinoath returned again in 2018 with their third album, Anamnesis, which combines doom metal with some other influences. I’ll try to sort out everything in this story with Salvatore himself.

Hi Salvatore! Thanks for your time and an opportunity to spread the word about Sinoath. The band was formed in 1990. How did it start for you? What were your influences?

We formed in 1990. We often met at the rehearsals of friends and we noticed that we had the same taste — Morbid Angel, Obituary, Grave, Mercyful Fate, Death SS, Black Sabbath, Goblin, Celtic Frost. And these are our influences.

Sinoath recorded the demo Forged In Blood in 1991. Do you remember how you worked over this material? What kind of sound did you want to get?

We recorded on the volcano Etna at the bassist’s house in the middle of the woods, and we used Fostex analogue coils. We wanted a macabre death sound to the height of the foreign bands, and we managed, spending 1000 euros in 1990.

You also wrote the lyrics for the demo. Was the Sinoath message really important for you? What was it about?

I have always fought the Catholic Church and always tried to understand the human soul, and therefore myself.

Almost all members left the band in 1991 besides Rob (guitars) and Adriano (keyboards). What happened back then?

The usual differences of opinion on the musical direction to be taken.

Salvatore, how did it happen that you brought Sinoath back to life after a few years of inactivity, with a completely new lineup? What made you resurrect it in 2003?

I wanted to re-do a record with the original line-up in 2003 and bring the sound back to its origins, but it was not possible because the old members had taken different paths of life, so I had to find completely new people, and in my city the scene is not so great; it’s difficult

Your first full-length album with the band (and the second one for Sinoath’s official discography) is Under The Ashes. I see that it took some time to finish it. How long did you write this stuff?

For the reason that I said, it was complicated to find people and try to do this. Under the Ashes consists of 53 minutes of music with articulated pieces, but it was not difficult to write them, but rather to record them.

Sinoath – Messenger

  It’s said that during the recording you only used original instruments from the ’70s. How did you manage to get these instruments? And how did you work at the studio?

Yes, Frank and I are ’70s sound enthusiasts, so we bought some original ’70s instruments. I own two Ludwig’s from ’74 and 1969.

Did you write the album in collaboration with Frank Tudisco or was it completely your creation? The album is an original amalgam of doom and some kind of blackened metal. How did you reach this balance?

We wrote the album together and you notice his influence, and his style of voice is more black, so this influenced the final result.

You recorded the Meanders Of Doom EP in 2015, and with a new lineup. Why did it take so long?

As mentioned before, in my city there is not a big scene, but one evening in August I met the old bass player and we were completely drunk and we decided to make a new album, also because we were approaching the 25th anniversary of the band’s career.

How would you sum up the main differences between Meanders Of Doom and Under The Ashes?

The difference with Under the Ashes is that in Meanders there are the definitive bases for a sound of macabre heavy doom.

Sinoath’s most recent album, Anamnesis, was released a few months ago by Black Widow Records. What’s the story behind this work?

The Black Widow listened to the promo and was immediately interested — it is a cult label for prog doom.

It seems that the new material is more doomy than anything you played before. What influenced this change?

The new album is completely doom heavy, because we have always liked the doom side of us and finally we could write a dark doom album that is our natural evolution. Of the rest our favorite bands in absolute are Black Sabbath.

Sinoath – Anamnesis (teaser)

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The album’s cover and those creepy artworks in the booklet are pretty remarkable. Why did you choose these pics? Are the songs united with some concept?

There is not a real concept behind the album, but rather a common thread — that is, the search for knowledge and the human soul. The figure on the cover and in the booklet are works of an underground artist who recently disappeared and represented perfectly what we wanted to express.

You have a new vocalist and bass player on Anamnesis. How did you recruit them? Did they contribute in the songs’ composing process?

Francesco Cucinotta is the brother of our old keyboard player and was already part of Sinoath, but he had not recorded anything. He played and loved Black Sabbath, Death SS, etc. His contribution to vocals and the keyboard and second guitar was fundamental. The bassist is the only real new member and he is younger than u. He plays a more gothic dark style, and he has contributed all this to the new direction of our sound.

Do you play live more often now that you have a new album? How important is it for you to play gigs?

We love to play live, but unfortunately we never have stable formations, and therefore it is often not possible.

https://www.facebook.com/SinoathOfficial/

Source: https://www.nocleansinging.com/2019/01/07/an-ncs-interview-sinoath-salvatore-fichera/

[darlingnisi]

My Time With Prince By Dez Dickerson Pt. 2

Here was part 1!

With Lisa Coleman joining the lineup to replace Gayle Chapman, we’re now into the Dirty Mind Era.

The Trench coat look was inspired by Sting from the movie Quadraphenia.

Prince insisted that the home recorded sessions be the record instead of going into the studio. He won out.

Rehearsals were still long jam sessions and experimentation 

This time, though, the results of the group’s creative output in rehearsal would often find its way onto tape in Prince’s one-man sessions. He would tape our jams in the warehouse on a boombox, and take them home as work reference tapes. As a result, the line between who actually came up with ideas and who got credit became blurred. This issue would come back to haunt in the future.

The title track, “Dirty Mind” actually came from a synth riff Matt came up with in rehearsal. “Uptown” was built on a bass groove that Andre played in rehearsal. The most clear-cut “borrowing”, though, came in the form of the song “Party Up”. That song was originally written by Prince’s friend (ever-present in the summer of ’80 rehearsals) Morris Day.

Morris had written the tune. Prince heard it, and loved it. He cooked up a deal – give me the song, let me rework it as my own, and I’ll get you a record deal.

Dez himself was tapped as the de-facto band leader when Prince was out. P would leave and have the band keep working with Dez in charge. Dez also had greater license to give honest feedback to P than the other members.

On their SNL Appearance

During the song, Prince used the pseudo – vulgarity “frickin” in the lyrics (“…fighting wars, is such a frickin’ bore, Party Up…”). On the set, through the monitors, it sounded to me like he and actually dropped the “F” – bomb on live TV. Afterward, it was a topic of serious discussion – did he, or didn’t he? I was convinced I had heard it.

That night, Charles Rocket made live TV history – thinking that Prince had already uttered the profanity once, Rocket clearly, purposely dropped the bomb. This made our goodbye an even more unique and memorable moment than I EVER expected. I don’t know what the aftermath was at NBC, but Rocket was gone the next week…

On Prince getting the offer to be let out of his contract

Later that night, we hung out in Hollywood. Prince wasn’t with us. Someone told me something that shocked me – the label folks had offered to let Prince out of contract earlier in the day…Sales of “Dirty Mind” were falling short of the labels expectations…This, combined with what some in the company felt was a too – radical change of sound and image, made for some skittishness on the part of the company regarding their investment in this mercurial young star. So, I was told, based on these factors, the label tried to convince him to walk away and sign with someone else that, perhaps, understood his vision a bit better. Prince, once again showing grit and wisdom beyond his years, didn’t bend; knowing that they couldn’t drop him – he had a guaranteed 3 record deal!

Despite the concerns, Dirty Mind was well received critically. They also specifically positioned him as a New Wave artist, having the tour stop at New Wave Venues and circulating the project with rock critics.

On their trip to Europe

In London…

As we were walking, just taking it all in, a young black man on a bicycle did a double take as he was riding by and just about crashed. He turned about, pedaled up and said, “Are you Prince? I’m coming to your show! Are you going to play ‘Sexy Dancer’? If you do, you’d better play it properly!”

We were taken aback, not so much by the rapid-fire questions, as the proper English accent coming out of this brother! As provincial as it seems now, that was a bizarre and surreal experience for these Midwestern kids who had never been outside the United States before.

Trouble with customs…

After their show, Dez had to get back home as he was getting married to his long-time sweetheart. Prince decided to come home early too and traveled with him. On their return to Chicago, they were tagged as suspicious, coming from Europe, seeing they were musicians…and other things…

They took us away, and proceeded to place us in separate holding rooms…I asked them what this was all about. The officer was very frank – he told me we fit a profile they used for identifying those likely to smuggle drugs. When they finally let us go, I found out they had actually gone as far as to strip-search Prince!

On Andre’s exit from the band

If my entering into a management deal was perhaps the very faint beginning of tension between Prince and I, tensions between Andre and Prince had developed into a full-blown meltdown. The issues that arouse surrounding The Time’s album (the publishing, the uncredited recordings and writing, etc.) had all piled up as far as Andre was concerned. Technically, he had quit at the end of the US leg of the “Dirty Mind” tour. He officially split after the European jaunt. I was bummed about it. Andre had been a musical and visual anchor for the band, and we had gotten to be friends.

[Not to be THAT PERSON but there are two chapters about the Rolling Stones incident. There’s no way I can summarize the way it was written here…it really is play by play. Please try to get your hands on this book or check your local library to see it for yourself!]

Trouble with planes…AGAIN

The Time is in the mix now. They were on the Texas Air plane heading to their next tour stop excited and rowdy. A “particularly cranky chief flight attendant” brought Sky Marshals on board to escort them off….well all of them except Monte Moir, the only white member of the band. Dez called the flight attendant and asked “Why did you kick the black guys off, but not the white guy?” She glared at him and walked away.

An Iranian passenger across the aisle from Dez was also upset by the situation. He called flight attendants back as well to voice his displeasure, “even going as far to set his food tray in the aisle in protest at one point.” The “Hair Lady” (head attendant) kept looking at Dez “as though I were part of the other gentleman’s campaign” though Dez never said anything else regarding after the first question.  Other passenger took it too far though when he grabbed the arm of one of the attendants.  Both Dez and the passenger were arrested (though again Dez didn’t do anything but ask the initial question). As Dez was led off the plane, his wife saw him and handcuffs and was upset. Head attendant lady blew a gasket (Dez’s wife was white) and it was just all bad.

They did have the benefit of being on home ground though as people recognized Dez and let him go (though he did have an outstanding warrant for parking tickets on a car that he’d sold).

On Little Red Corvette

The guitar solo is Dez and is ranked #64 on the 100 Top Guitar Solos of all Time by Guitar World Magazine. It was 4 different solos that Prince edited down to 1.

On 777-9311

It was Dez’s phone number. And people called it all the time.

*** Part 3 …the unraveling of the early Revolution…and the beginning of the Purple Rain era of Revolution…

Buy it here for lots more stories! (Again sketch website, but they do send it!) 

[sambart93]

2017.01.23 Tegami - Yanagishita Tomo Verson [Review!]

This is the THIRD Tegami stage, the first one in 2008, then the musical in 2016 and now this one is the rerun of the 2016 musical... Also it is originally a book written by Higashino Keigo (a hugely popular mystery/thriller/crime author here in Japan so explains why it’s gotten so many adaptations) in 2003 and there is movie adaptation of it too from 2006 (available on UK Netflix at least!). So safe to say this story is popular.

Official Site here. Official Twitter here. Dress Rehearsal Video here and here and here. Press Coverage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

This was my first Tomo play since, well his last one, September so it was great to see him again! I'll admit I was nervous because it's technically the first time I've heard him sing (Tenimyu and the D-DATE CD doesn’t count!), and it's definitely the first time I've heard him sing in person and live. But more on that later! First let’s get the cast list out of the way:

CAST

Yanagishita Tomo / Ota Motohiro (Double Cast) as Takashima Naoki (Younger Brother) Yoshihara Mitsuo as Takeshima Kouji (Older Brother) Fujita Rei as Terao Yuusuke Kato Ryousuke Kawaguchi Tatsuya Someya Kouta GOH IRIS WATANABE Igarashi Kae Wada Kiyoka Okonogo Mari Yamamoto Sayaka

Some PreShow Stuff:

I was in the first row and my seat was the FIRST one!! I was Row A-1!!! How weird is that!! I still needed my glasses but not much. I was a little nervous when I first showed but because the first 30 minutes loads of kankeishas turned up and were picking up their tickets so I definitely felt out of place. And then the guy ROLLS into the theatre with this loud rolling suitcase and tight jeans and sunglasses and he takes them off and it was so actor-like that I almost laughed right in front of his face. I didn't think actors who acted like they're actors and all actually exist! It was hilarious to witness xD 

 Anyway, so there was I was in the front row and one of the first in and obviously everyone's looking but I've learnt to deal with it but this I felt like it was more than usual. 

Ooooooh! Before I go on I must talk about the very angry moment I had before the play started. So I put all my stuff on my seat, grabbed my letter for Tomo and instead of looking around embarrassingly for the 'Present' section, I decided it was safe to just go to staff and ask 'where do we give stuff in for actors?' and he's like 'you want a blanket?' um... 'No, which staff person do I hand stuff into for the actors?' 'The goods are here' seriously... 'no! I WROTE a LETTER, WHO do I give this to?' 'Oh, over there' 'Thank you....' and so I made more of an embarrassment of myself that way anyway! Seriously though, my Japanese ISN’T that bad and I KNOW it. Maybe it's because I speak SUPER fast (even in English people can’t catch what I say sometimes) but like, it really was a blow to my confidence that I had to say the same thing about 4 times and in 3 different ways and even had to slow down to a ridiculous level and emphasis before he understood me. I get that you don't expect me to speak Japanese and at first hearing me speak Japanese when you expect English is jolting but come on!! It made me super pissed. I obviously bowed a thank you to him but the last 15 or so minutes before the stage started, I was just sat in my seat super pissed and embarrassed and filled with not nice feels.

ANYWAY!! 

Now to the set:

The stage is set out in sections thanks to the use of box platforms and they used these platforms to look either like rooms or like cages/cells, as well as there being a flight of stairs and then there's two high platforms at the top just under a cloudy sky backdrop. It's a good set up. 

Now to THE STORY: I’m going to try and be as concise as possible because, as I said, this is like the 3rd/4th adaptation of this story so you can easily watch the movie (available with subs on the UK Netflix btw! So I assume other netflixs have access to it and I doubt the story has changed much.) 

One day Naoki gets a call and it’s from the police; his older brother has killed someone will breaking and entering the victim’s house; he now faces life in prison. This affects Naoki’s life multiple times and in negative ways over the next 10 or so years, and the only thing that keeps Naoki and his brother, Kouji, connected is through writing letters to each other, that Kouji can only receive and send once a month.

Simple enough plot line right?

NON-SPOILER:

Overall: I cried my heart out. And it wasn’t just me. The entire crowd were balling tears from about 10 minutes into the stage until it finished. I could even hear whimpers some were crying that hard. This was a touching story and it hits you in the feels. I am very pleasantly happy with Tomo’s singing ability and I did enjoy myself. But I feel the first half was much more engaging, interesting and more enjoyable (enjoyable isn’t the right word when it’s something this sad but you get the jist). The second half I personally didn’t like because I’m personally very tired and bored of ‘Japanese salaryman having a hard time’ story lines. The story was very predictable too when it comes to the friendship and romance plotlines in this, and again I personally don’t like being able to predict stuff correctly. My only serious negative is the constant repetition of songs in the second half/part of this play. Nevertheless I enjoyed it, I cried my heart out completely, I’m definitely getting the DVD, and I feel bad not having the money to go and see it again for Tomo’s sake and so I could see it from further back.

Rating: 7/10

SPOILERS:

Entering spoiler and all details territory so you’ve been warned.

PART ONE

The first part covers the murder, Naoki being told (at age 17/18, in his last year of high school) what his brother has done and then we see the repercussions of what his brother did affecting him in daily life up to his early 20s. 

The first affects of his brother’s crime is; he loses his apartment, he gets sacked from his part time job, his school want him to graduate quietly and not go to the ceremony, and universities don't want him, so in the end he has to go to work any random job he can get. There he meets a girl (played by Okonogi) who tells him he can still go to school and should do it part time and it gives him the strength to do it the year after. He ends up in the same uni as his best friend (Yuusuke played by Fujita Rei) who had stayed by his side even when everyone at school was abandoning him. Yuusuke is super happy to see him again and invites him to his live. Naoki goes and falls in love with the singer who performs before Yuusuke as well as her voice. After the band’s gig, Yuusuke asks him to join. Naoki is hesitant at first but he opens up to the two other band members about his past but they accept him anyway. 

Half a year passes and he's in his final year of uni and dating the girl he fell for, and living happily, so much so that there's months apart before he writes letters to Kouji who waits patiently and excitedly that one day every month. The band finally has a chance to debut as a group, but just before they do the scouts announce they looked into the boy's history; the other two band members ask Naoki to leave the band to give the other three a chance to debut, as well as ask him to not to tell Yuusuke the cause of his leaving, naturally Yuusuke has turned up and overheard the conversation, as well as Naoki’s girlfriend, and while Yuusuke protects Naoki to the end, his girlfriend is shocked to hear about his past and can’t accept him. Yuusuke begs Naoki to stay but he leaves the band.

Naoki is left to his thoughts and decides to cut his brother off and never send another letter.

END of part one. 

Did I write too much of the plot? Maybe I shouldn’t write so much because you can just read the book and the movie but... oh well it’s written! So now to the non-story sides of the stage:

There were so many tears from everyone in this. The girl next to me and the girl two rows over were wiping their tears more than me which is surprisingly because the amount I cry is ridiculous so I can’t imagine how quickly their tears were flowing. We were all wrecks. During the break all you could here were sniffles of people trying to pull themselves back together, which was all in vain because the tears just kept rolling in part two.

I really enjoyed how when Naoki is first told over the phone about his brother’s crime and arrest of how all the other actors come out and in a circle they start to surround him as they’re singing and Naoki does this manic dance as they enclose him and are singing ‘brother of a murderer! From a murder family!’ and stuff like that. It’s very disorientating and strange, but it works. OH! During this scene actually Tomo breaks out of the circle and runs to the right in a manic frenzy before being pulled back into the circle but at that moment of him breaking away and looking out manically, his eyes and mine met 10000% cos I was first row, first seat, right next to one of the lights too and I got so nervous! Although a little embarrassed because the tears had already begun to fall xD

I enjoyed watching Naoki’s life crumble (not in a sadistic way) and then seeing him take control again and getting chances to live again and enjoy life. The short and small happy moments are so worth watching and heartwarming.

When Naoki sees the girl sing for the first time, the smile on his face is freaking adorable!! I couldn’t not smile! It’s really a contagious smile - or maybe it’s because I’m Tomo’s fan). The next part when Yuusuke plays and Naoki is clapping and being happy and THEN he realises the lyrics of the song ‘Are you happy as you are now? Is this who you are?’ and just seeing him realise what the lyrics are saying and seeing his face and body language go from happy and full of life to this dark, gloomy, almost existential crisis-like Naoki. It’s an amazing transition; kudos to Tomo on that switch!

I also really, really loved Naoki and Yuusuke relationship; the way they have each others back and how they look out for each other and even small things like patting each other on the back and especially Yuusuke being like ‘I don’t care about what your brother did, I know you. I want you to stay in my life. You’re my friend no mater what’ and the support he gives Naoki is amazing. I really, really do love their dynamic and relationship. Yuusuke never gives up on Naoki and constantly cheers him up and throws him so many opportunities to become happy and stuff and ooooooh it’s beautiful!

They make Naoki do a solo before he joins the band but it sucks that they don’t let the audience hear it, instead we had him playing (in silence) in the background (with a low light on him) and then in the foreground we have Kouji doing some solo-monologue thing - I wasn’t paying attention to him obviously! - and I was annoyed because I wanted to here Tomo really sing and have a solo. I don’t think he has a solo at all in this *checks pamphlet* he has one. ONE!

Speaking of singing:

Pretty much everyone’s singing is very, very good. I didn’t seen Mokkun’s version so I can’t tell you how he is (although I’m sure upcoming TouMyu videos and reports will tell me if he can sing or not xD) Especially, Yoshihara, his singing very much surprised me and he even had big long note holds and stuff; clearly he’s the star of the show even though Tomo and Mokkun have been the ones promoting it and are the ones in the center and the main characters... not that I doubt his acting; wait til part two to see my praise for Yoshihara.

Like I said right at the beginning I was nervous about hearing Tomo sing (and live!)  but I was pleasantly surprised that he could actually hold a note. He was definitely the weakest singer BUT he has the soft, light singing voice that's easy to listen to ^_^ it was cute and I was happy and impressed by his singing. Just me being biased xD

And one mean thing on my part: I couldn’t stand Kato Ryousuke, especially when he was singing. I guess its just one of those cases where you see/meet someone and you know straight away you two would never get on in a million years and I felt that from him. Sorry bro but you annoyed me and so did your singing.

I think we’re ready for part two!

PART TWO 

In part two we're suddenly thrown into like 3/4 years later once he's graduated and when he's a salary man which is where I unfortunately immediately lost interest; I preferred the uni setting and it was more hopeful and light and nice and just... Japanese salaryman and the Japanese salaryman job is just the personification of DEPRESSION and MONOTONY. I hate salarymen and I want the breed to die. << I don’t want the men to die, let me make that clear, but I want the whole ‘Japanese salaryman’ job to die. If you don’t know about it just.. I’m gunna go on a rant so do your own research into it.

So yes I lost interest once we got to this stage of Naoki’s life because it was just... repetitive, in more than one way (you’ll see). It opens up with a song of them trying to shove this week's supermarket sales in our faces and you can tell Naoki's trying but it's not what he wants to do. Then the manager gets wind of his past and his brother so they transfer him to (I wanna say) Saitama. We switch back to Kouji who watches all his cell mates get letters and he's not had one for years but is still hopeful every month. The day Naoki is told he'll be transferred he ends up drinking with Yuusuke, who's now made it as a small, indie artist, and Okunogi’s character who's now doing well as a hair dresser (which was her dream). Yuusuke invites Naoki to come sing with him again, as he has an upcoming gig at the prison Kouji is in; Naoki brushes it off. The night, Naoki gets drunk and Okunogi has to take him home. There she finds that he's thrown his brother's letter in the bin. She takes it, reads it and while Naoki moves to Saitama and starts a new job, she poses as him and begins to send letters to Kouji as Naoki.  

A few months pass and Naoki's just settling into his new place when his boss turns up and (unfortunately my memory is fuzzy here) in the end he goes to Okunogi’s house and apologises to her and then he finds one of his brother’s letters on her desk so she explains how she threw her father away because of what he did but she feels Naoki and Kouji can still make amends. 

 Another 5/6 years pass and they're married (which was totally predictable! From the moment Naoki meets her in part one I knew they’d end up together in the end, ugh I hate being right) and have a little girl. While they thought they were living in paradise, the town finally finds out about his brother and they start to ingore them and distant themselves from them and (again predictable and repetitive) work finds out too and once again he’s given a transfer. This is the final straw for Naoki who tells his wife to stop messaging his brother as him and he'll send one final letter finally cutting ties. 

Naturally, Kouji is excited to receive the letter and even exclaims 'it's been a long time since I got a handwritten one!' (his wife had been writing the text on the pc and printing it off ). In it Naoki explains how it was his wife and how this is the last time he'll ever send a letter to him. His brother naturally breaks. To make matters worse, their little girl ends up in a traffic accident. That night at the hospital, the mother of the son who had hit their daughter turns up to apologise and Naoki gets mad saying he'll never forgive him and asks her why she bothered turning up when he's still mad etc. Once the mother has left, Okunogi’s explains 'just like this incident, there are victims that never forget.' This influences Naoki to see Kouji's victim's son. He let's Naoki in and is very calm about it all even though Naoki never came once in the ten years to apologise. The son pulls out a bag and says 'they're all from your brother. Every month I would get them. But last month was the last' and so Naoki reads the final letter his brother has sent to the victim. Unfortunately my memory is fuzzy here too! But essentially, Naoki feels bad for avoiding the victim all this time and is touched that his brother never gave up on his brother and has never forgiven himself and is so hopeful about Naoki. 

Finally Naoki agrees to go with Yuusuke to the concert, and Yuusuke introduces himself normally and all the cellmates are excited and then there's this beautiful moment Naoki is introduced and comes on stage (jesus I'm gunna start crying in the middle of freaking restaurant writing this) and comes to the mic and spotlight and Kouji immediately recognises him and there's like (not shitting you) 5 minutes where they both find each other in the crowd and Kouji goes from slowly standing up in shock, to collapsing on his knees crying and he just cries harder and harder and Naoki ends up breaking down too and then starts smiling while crying and this massive reconciliation between them even though there's a crowd and everything between them but shiiiit you can feel the connection instantaneously and it just gets stronger. This ending and this scene is absolutely phenominal and the acting is amazing during this scene. Absolutely phenomenal. And then it ends. (I'm pretty sure it ends there).

Sorry I wrote so much of the plot again =/

You know what I’m going to say: everyone was crying so hard!! I could ever hear WHIMPERS during this final silence part in the crowd a few rows back. As you can see I disliked the second part because of the repetition of the finding out and people abandoning him and him being transferred again and also the songs in the second half we almost ALL repeated songs from the first part and seriously one song is sung like 3 times in part two and it’s not even a good song(!) so yes the repetition irked me a little. But damn the finale is amazingly powerful. 

I liked how supportive Okunogi’s character was of Naoki and, like Yuusuke, never left his side even when he was being ridiculous about cutting ties with his brother and even though he was getting very angry during the hospital scene. Seriously, all one person needs is just someone, that one person, to stay by their side to make the world better. And Naoki had two of them and I really liked the relationships he had with Yuusuke and Okunogi. Although like I said, total predictable that people would find out about his past again and that he would end up with Okunogi’s character.

The staging scared me sometimes. At one point Rei was moving back but didn’t realise just how close to the edge he was and he almost put him foot down on air rather than the stage and he was stood right next to me so I was shitting myself. Also the way they SWUNG those stairs around towards the side of the stage and so close to the edge was super scary too! My poor anxiety xD BUT there is one part where Tomo was stood on the stairs and he’s lift his hand with the letter in and his hoodie and shirt had lifted up a little so I got a lovely sneaky, quick view of his stomach <3 hehehehe I’m a perv, I’m sorry... Also Tomo hair is SO adorable in this!! I hope he keeps the style for a while! <3

Oh man that ending... I can’t.. words cannot describe it. I hope it shows up as amazingly on DVD...

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I DID promised Tomo I'd come and see it again this week but unfortunately I'm way too broke to spend 8000 yen on a ticket I don't necessarily need although I'd love to see it again but I financially can't. I'm defo preordering the DVD though!! Damn...

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And I’m done! I hope you enjoyed that review and apologies if it’s long!

[investmart007]

K-Pop time: South Koreans fly to Pyongyang for rare concerts

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K-Pop time: South Koreans fly to Pyongyang for rare concerts

SEOUL, South Korea /March 31, 2018 (AP)(STL.News)—  From aging crooners to bubbly K-Pop starlets, some of South Korea’s biggest pop stars flew to North Korea on Saturday for rare performances that highlight the sudden thaw in inter-Korean ties after years of tensions over the North’s nuclear ambitions.

The concerts in Pyongyang on Sunday and Tuesday come ahead of a historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27. The meeting, which will precede a planned summit between Kim and President Donald Trump in May, could prove to be significant in the global diplomatic push to resolve the standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons and missiles program.

The 120-member group that flew to Pyongyang also included government officials, reporters and a taekwondo demonstration team that will perform in Pyongyang on Sunday and Monday. Another team of 70 South Korean technicians went to Pyongyang on Thursday to set up equipment.

Singer Yoon Do-hyun, who previously performed in Pyongyang in 2002, was emotional after landing in the North Korean capital.

“My heart is bursting,” Yoon told reporters, his eyes welling up with tears. “I am most curious about the reaction of the audience, how it would be different from 16 years ago.”

The artists were greeted by Hyon Song Wol, the photogenic leader of Kim Jong Un’s hand-picked Moranbong girl band who has been working out the details of the performances with South Korean officials.

“Your arrival in Pyongyang brings big expectations,” she said. “A lot of famous singers have come.”

A look at the South Korean singers who made the trip and a certain horse-dancing specialist who didn’t:

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THE LEGEND

During stormier times, North Korea described the South’s society and culture as a “corrupt bourgeois lifestyle.” Still, that didn’t stop southern pop singers from performing across the border when relations warmed.

It’s the second trip for the iconic Cho Yong-pil, perhaps South Korea’s most influential musician of the past 50 years. He staged a solo concert in Pyongyang in 2005 during a previous era of rapprochement between the rivals.

“It will be as comfortable performing in the North as it is to perform in the South,” the 68-year-old singer said at a news conference at South Korea’s Gimpo Airport on Saturday. “There’s no reason for me or other singers to be nervous. We all finished rehearsing and will have a fun and comfortable time showing our music.”

Seoul hasn’t officially announced the titles of the songs by the South Korean artists. Cho’s “Dear Friend,” a ballad about a long-lost friend that reportedly drew an enthusiastic response from the Pyongyang crowd 13 years ago, will almost certainly be one of them.

It would be the third North Korean performances for female balladeers Choi Jin-hee and Lee Sun-hee, who are relatively well-known in the North.

The 61-year-old Choi will likely sing her biggest hit, “Maze of Love,” which is rumored to have been a favorite of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the late father of current leader Kim. Lee, who at 53 still might have the best pipes in the business, may sing “To J,” one of several South Korean songs North Korean musicians performed during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

“I hope we can create a stage where we can make an emotional connection and convey the warm feelings between the South and North,” Choi said.

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THE GIRLS

It won’t be all slow ballads in Pyongyang. It will be interesting to see how the North Koreans reacts to girl band Red Velvet, currently one of the most popular acts in the highly competitive K-Pop scene.

The genre, which has a huge following across Asia, has been defined by synthesized music, powerful visuals and dance moves, and teasing sexuality. In recent years, South Korea’s military has used K-Pop for psychological warfare, blaring it from loudspeakers along the heavily armored border between the rivals.

“Happiness! Hello, it’s Red Velvet!” band member Seulgi cheerfully shouted during the news conference.

“We’re the ‘maknae’ (youngest of the group), so we will make sure to deliver our bright energy to the North,” said the 24-year-old.

K-Pop groups have performed before in North Korea. The now-disbanded Sechs Kies and Fin.K.L sang and danced in Pyongyang in 1999, as did boy band Shinhwa in 2003. Some of the artists said later that the reaction from the audience was awkward and quiet.

Red Velvet may find a better reception more than a decade later as cultural tastes change, even in isolated North Korea. Currently, the most popular music act in North Korea is Hyon’s Moranbong band, whose members often perform suggestive shimmies in short skirts with electric guitars.

Park Hyeong-il, an official at South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said North Korean officials didn’t show any discomfort about Red Velvet and also didn’t take issue with the “red” in the band’s name.

Red Velvet is originally a five-member band, but only four made the trip to Pyongyang — 22-year-old Joy stayed in South Korea to film a soap opera.

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NO ‘GANGNAM STYLE,’ PLEASE

Despite constant questioning from reporters, South Korean officials aren’t offering a clear explanation on why PSY, the “Gangnam Style” singer, was left out of the concert lineup.

South Korea’s culture ministry spokesman Hwang Seong-un said without specifying that the YouTube rapper had been initially considered for the Pyongyang events before being excluded. He said he couldn’t confirm a media report that North Korean officials had rejected PSY.

“What I can say is that we explored ways to include him, but it didn’t work out,” Hwang said. “We hope there will be better opportunities for him in the future.”

It’s possible that officials from either the North or the South concluded that PSY’s bizarre humor and highly sexualized music would be too provocative for the North Korean public.

It’s not that North Korea had entirely ignored the global Gangnam Style craze. In September 2012, the North posted a video on its Uriminzokkiri website of a horse-dancing PSY character that had a photo of conservative South Korean presidential candidate Park Geun-hye’s face transposed on it. The lyrics had the character satirically defending Park’s late father, staunch anti-communist dictator Park Chung-hee.

Park went on to win the presidential race, only to be ousted from office and jailed over a corruption scandal in March last year.

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WILL KIM JONG UN ATTEND?

The South Korean singers will perform at the 1,500-seat East Pyongyang Grand Theater on Sunday and then take part in a joint concert with North Korean artists on Tuesday at the 12,000-seat Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium.

It’s unclear whether North Korean leader Kim will show up in any of these performances. His presence would be seen in the South as a proper response to Moon’s attending the North Korean performances in February. But Kim also was accused by Seoul in previous years of harshly punishing, and even executing, North Korean officials and people who were caught privately consuming South Korean popular culture.

In 2014, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers that North Korea used firing squads to execute 10 officials that year for taking bribes or watching South Korean television dramas.

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By KIM TONG-HYUNG,By Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (A.S)

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[helloworlddemo1122-yahoopar-blog]

EXCLUSIVE: Meet Milck, the Songwriter Who Unintentionally Penned the Powerful Anthem of the Women's March

You've may have heard by now that Milck can't keep quiet. In fact, if you were in Washington, D.C. last Saturday or have been voraciously gobbling up every image and video from Women's Marches around the world, then you've definitely heard her previously-unknown song, "Quiet."

The tune became the unofficial anthem of the Women's March on Washington, and it's easy to see why. The stirring song was composed by Milck, and the songwriter and her choir of 25 women performed it seven times in D.C. "Quiet" is not simply catchy -- it's beautiful and hopeful, to the point where it's hard to believe it wasn't written specifically for the march.

WATCH: Natalie Portman Calls Out Trump During Moving Speech at L.A. Women's March

"It was a snapshot of what I was feeling as the political climate and world was heating up for a while, and then the election felt like the boil, and we're starting to see the bubbles at the surface," Milck, whose real name is Connie Lim, told ET shortly after landing in New York City on Tuesday, where she was preparing for a performance on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. "So writing that at the heating up of everything, I feel like it's actually a better snapshot of how people felt, the pain that happened. Because, really, the song is more focused on abuse."

"I think because the song got so much exposure at the march, now it's become a political thing," she added. "I'm embracing it."

After filming one of the march performances, Israeli director Alma Har'el shared the clip on social media. The video has since gotten over 14 million views on Facebook and been retweeted by celebs like Emma Watson and Debra Messing, both of whom walked in Washington. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of interviews, trains, flights, conversations with creative feminists -- including brainstorming sessions with Har'el -- and very little sleep for Milck. Not that she's complaining.

"I knew it was special, but I didn't know it was going to be like this," Milck admitted, gracious though slightly overwhelmed.

WATCH: Katy Perry, Drew Barrymore, Charlize Theron, Ariana Grande and More Attend Women's Marches Across the Nation

So how did she get here? Milck, a native of Palos Verdes, California, wrote "Quiet" a couple of years ago after a culmination of frustrations hit their breaking point. She was exhausted, tired of being judged for being a woman with opinions; suffering through anorexia, abuse and depression; needing to conform to the perfectionism expected of Asian-American women; and experiencing racial profiling. She needed to write "Quiet," to exorcise personal demons and grow stronger. That hope bubbling in her lyrics, though? It also happens to be universal.

"It's about someone reclaiming their voice after being silenced, so I guess it could be about our world and our government. It comes from such a specific personal story that it can be general. Maybe that's why it works," she mused. "I've been trying to figure it out, because it was really the song I needed to write for myself or I was going to go crazy."

Plenty of people are glad she put pen to paper. Much like Sara Bareilles and her breakout hit, "Love Song," Milck had been told by A&R people and her old management team that "they just didn't see" her song and that she needed to change her name and persona. So while the current political climate was not the reason "Quiet" was initially written, the election convinced her to release it.

"It felt really suffocating and like that same thing, like, 'Oh, gosh, I'm doing it again.' I'm letting people tell me that I myself as is is not worth it and then trying to conform," she explained. "It's such an ingrained habit, and it's so frustrating. But once the election happened, it was like, OK, no more."

RELATED: Alicia Keys Performs 'Girl on Fire' at Women's March on Washington

Milck got a boost of inspiration from Krista Suh, a longtime friend who happens to be the founder of one of the biggest movements of the Women's March, the Pussyhat Project. According to Milck, Suh wanted to create a physical object that people could share to embolden the D.C. community. Last Saturday, that small idea became one of the biggest visual elements of the nationwide rallies, with the bright pink knitted hats creating a cohesive statement in supporting women's rights.

"We looked at each other and it was like, how did we two as friends, how did this all happen? It felt a little magical," Milck said of reconnecting with Suh earlier this week, after both of their projects were seen by millions.

It's apropos that Suh's idea emboldened Milck. The Los Angeles-based songwriter had wanted to release "Quiet" in conjunction with the march, but it was her pal who encouraged her to up the ante and "make it spicy." "My vision was, let's start with eight girls. I didn't dare think like, 'Oh, I'm going to get 25 women to commit to this,'" Milck admitted. "I think people just wanted to do something, and it just felt really natural. Everyone's enthusiasm, I felt like, was ramped up. I don't know if it would have been the same state if we were in a different situation with our world."

Using her background as an a capella singer with the U.C. Berkeley Golden Overtones, Milck created hand-written arrangements for "Quiet" and reached out to local groups in the D.C. area, with the GW Sirens, of George Washington University, joining her in mid-December and Capital Blends officially coming on board in early January. A few other ladies from L.A. and New York helped round out the choir. Milck then performed each individual part and send the tracks to her new crew so the women could practice on their own. They also rehearsed together via Skype when they could -- no small feat when winter break rolled around, dispersing the GWU girls across the country. All while doing that, Milck also made a music video for the song that was released on Jan. 16, just ahead of the march.

WATCH: Bruce Springsteen Supports Women's March During Australian Concert

"It was so awesome to have an 18-year-old girl and a mother of three sons and watching everyone collaborate together," she said. "Everyone's from such different backgrounds, but everyone's so peaceful and giving. I lucked out. Both of the groups have a really good general personality."

Though Milck worried that she was crazy for buying a ticket to D.C. when she could just march in L.A., her fears were lifted once she hit the East Coast and felt her choir members "channeling their energies." The group finally met in person on the GWU campus on Jan. 19, two days before the march. Even though all of the members still couldn't be there, Milck said "it felt like soul food when we sang for the first time together… it felt like magic." The effect lasted through Saturday, when all 26 finally performed live, and Milck now feels propelled to move forward in the fight to make all voices heard.

Liz Anne Hill

"It's crazy to me because that was my little healing song, and now it's being called the anthem of the march. I remember being a little girl, wanting to do work that's worthy of being spoken of, and it's happening through this thing that was supposed to be just giving to and sharing at the march," she mused. "It was a very of-the-day type of event, but now for me, I feel kind of lucky. I feel like the march is following me."

WATCH: Ashley Judd Recites 'Nasty Woman' Poem, 'Daily Show' Alum Jessica Williams Delivers Powerful Speech at Women's Marches

While speaking to ET, Milck brought up the idea of intuition a few times. She really tries to listen to the voice inside her and believes she's meant to be on this specific path. It sounds very SoCal, but not remotely false. The end result is that "Quiet" has become, as she calls it, "a therapy project." Not only did writing help her accept feelings she had been pushing down, sharing the final product has resulted in women opening up to her about their own struggles. One gained the courage to tell her family that she had been raped and another revealed to Milck why she had an abortion, a secret the woman hadn't told anybody else. As surreal as it is to realize that her song is causing so much conversation in both public and private, she also hopes the attention will help destigmatize the atrocities so many women feel they have to keep hidden, as well as their post-election fears.

"Some people were really happy about the election, but for my experience, it felt like the light got dimmed, and then the Women's March became this beacon of hope and focus during a really dark time for a lot of people," she revealed. "For me to deal with my own anxieties about it and my friends' anxieties, I can create art. That's how I feel better about things... ["Quiet"] was just a way of giving people some space to feel love and hope in this time of fear mongering."

Next up, Milck is working on a few singles, continuing on what she describes as a hero's journey from acknowledging the pain to taking action, before hopefully releasing a full-length album. After meeting so many amazing people at the march, the most important thing now is working with this "cool team forming of these badass women," then finding a label who will support her and her music, knowing that she's all about rallying cries and "calling for change."

"I just listen to the vernacular and paranoia and fear, and it just makes me so sad, because I feel like there's so many good people in this world and we're not telling those stories. It's making people paranoid and hiding in their homes," she said. "I'm just hoping if we're talking to each other more and interacting, singing, making art and sharing our doubts and our hopes together, we can share better stories than what is being said to us right now."

MORE: Blake Lively Explains Why She Joined the Women's March in Touching Instagram Post

Fighting like a girl has never sounded so good.

Watch Milck perform "Quiet" with members of the GW Sirens and Capitol Blends on this week's Full Frontal below.