N.A.G. 5


NEO ASCENSION GROOVE was today, and I think we were really able to express
something profound. Even though it’s been sixty-one years, now is the
perfect time to pay homage to this important day. It felt like we were
putting out a special kind of energy.

TETRA and I performed STOP ROKKASYO REMIX. I think that through a mixture of
sound, image, photography, and words we were able to convey all of the
spiritual elements we wanted to share. It was a mix of pain, grief, and
prayer, which was transformed into a shamanic sound by KENJI’s djambe. I
want so badly to keep playing together with this group

The IWAKI KENTARO BAND played some amazingly beautiful ambient dance music,
and S.T.K. went head to head with them doing some last minute improvisation.
It’s so hard to believe that it was our first time playing together because
we managed to take our two sounds and turn them into something amazing. They’
re a great trio and I love their blissful music.

SILVER STONE was led by Kaoru Inoue, who I’ve respected forever, and Kojima
of Port of Notes. Their set was cool, psychedelic, and beautiful all at the
same time. Their unique brand of rock and roll makes you feel like you’re
dancing across the earth and flying through the sky. Only truly gifted
musicians could ever reach that level of sense and skill and make such
supremely wonderful rock music.

DJ MIEKO was as cool as ever. She’s been really busy lately doing one
performance after another and seemed really tired during rehearsal, but
during the show she rocked the house like no one else is able to do. She just
keeps getting more and more intense.

VJ Shinya put together an amazing presentation. His genius is unfathomable.
He took us all to a whole new level. He’s really the most accomplished
visual artist I know of and, although it’s presumptuous to say, I think that
our artistic senses and messages are very similar. I hope that we can keep
collaborating and working together.

SHAG was there too of course, and this time, KENJI joined us as our official
percussionist! It was an amazing show!

…actually, I wish I could say that but it’s not true at all. One of our
members was so drunk that it ruined the performance. (>_<) I can’t even
describe how awful it was. Thankfully, FIRE and KENJI managed to salvage the
second half. From now on, that person is prohibited from drinking before a
show. I promise that our next performance will be full of that amazing groove
we all wanted to achieve this time. It’s on September 16 in Kyoto as part of
Earth Day and I hope that we can reach that level we’re striving for.

In any case, I have lots of projects in the works. I’m trying to fly higher,
delve deeper. I hope you’re looking forward to what’s to come.

SUGIZO

Posted by SUGIZO : August 9, 2006 02:56 AM