Being a Musician in Asia

I received an email this evening on my BusanKevin You Tube channel that inspired this post. Someone who is interested in moving to South Korea asked me about teaching and also asked me about how they would find a wind band/group they could play with when they come to Korea. I unfortunately do not know about wind groups since I am a drummer and only played with rock/funk bands during my time in Korea. I suppose some of the key points I', going to make will carry over to any musical genre!

The key to meeting other foreign or indigenous musicians in either Korea or Japan is simple; NETWORKING. The same way I was able to get many subscribers on You Tube is the same way I was able to become a member of several bands during my time in Korea. I got out there and met people. Online we use text, Twitter, You Tube and Facebook. These are of course useful ways to meet folks in Seoul, Busan, Tokyo or Osaka in 2011, but at the end of the day, if you are a musician, I think you really need to get out to the places musicians play and meet them!

What you need to do is find out where musicians hang out. Where do they tend to be? Bars and clubs! Now that might be a bit of a problem if you aren't a big drinkers, but you can always bring a cup of Starbucks into a bar in korea and Japan.

Here is a picture of me playing in a club in Busan, South korea a few years ago.

If you are not sure how to find these places you can take a few approaches. First, if you are a teacher at a fairly big school, many of your coworkers have probably been there for some time. They already have a great deal of local knowledge and some of them will definitely be able to tell you/show you the bars that tend to have live music. OPEN MIC NIGHTS ARE KEY! Once you find out about these places you need to go. Not just once or twice, but often. You also have to be social and get to know the other folks there. Get to know the MC of the Open Mic night. I played in bands in Ilsan (north of Seoul) and in Busan, and this is how I did it! Hang out, chat with all the other folks just like you there and get to know them.

Another picture of KEVIN knockin the skins in Korea!

Bring your instrument with you when you go. You may just want to scout the first one out, but after that, always pack heat! There are often such eclectic groups of artists at these open mics that even if you play the panflute, someone may call you up on stage for a jam.

Long story short, if you are are a musician who has come to Korea or Japan to teach and you'd like to play music, you must network. Find some websites like Busan Haps (if you are in Busan) that might point you in the right direction. Get out of your house and meet people.

As for now, I am currently out of the music scene. The combination of a 6 month old son and an intense work schedule simply don't allow for a late-night lifestyle. In time though, I plan to get back into the mix again. I do miss my drums!


Have fun and good luck!

Kansai Music festival

Last weekend saw the first Kansai Music Festival come to Osaka. I thought it was a pretty cool deal because it afforded me my first chance t meet fellow You Tuber and musician, Fatblueman. Fatblueman is actually a band based in Nagoya, Japan and is comprised of one Canadian, two Americans and one Japanese person. The lead singer, John, has been a very active member of the Japan You Tube community for quite some time and launched himself and his band into a sort of micro-stardom with their viral video, "Christmas in Japan" (which I appeared in).

They performed at a showcase at a live event bar in Hommachi called mother Popcorn. This was the first time for this festival so there were apparently some major hiccups. I was told that the keynote speaker failed to show up and at the showcase i saw, one of the bands failed to do so as well. Luckily, Tom Fallon (a member of Fatblueman) and Brian Cullen stepped in for an impromtu set.

Check out some of my videos from the showcase at Mother Popcorn in Osaka:

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I wanted to upload some pictures, but unfortunately, Blogger isn't allowing me to put them online!

Podcasts and Avocados in Japan

The last day of Golden Week vacation is almost over. It's sad, but it's true. In just a few hours I'll be facing a room of overly "genki" little people, excited to be back at school. I suppose it is a wonderful if not remarkable thing that my students love school, but this "love" goes hand in hand with explosive amounts of energy. it'll be somewhat hard to face since after 8 days off of work, Thursday will seem like a "uber Monday."

On a brighter note, we had a wonderful dinner tonight. My wife had bought an avocado not long ago. To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to do with it, but I was under strict orders that it had to be part of our dinner tonight. Well, I came across a simple, yet great idea while searching around the "interweb"...trying to figure out what to do with this mysterious piece of fruit.

The answer???

An "avocado BLT"! Yep, that's right! Toasted rye bread (not easy to find in Japan), chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado! I was really surprised, and pleased at how well the avocado went with the sandwich.



I just wanted to show this little fella! While visiting Korea last month, my wife and I picked this up and brought it back. Baekseju...it goes wonderfully with and sort of cooked meat!

Baekseju (sold under the brand name Bek Se Ju; literally "one-hundred-years wine") is a Korean glutinous rice-based fermented alcoholic beverage flavored with a variety of herbs, ginseng most prominent among them. According to some, the name comes from the legend that the healthful herbs in baekseju will help you live to be 100 years old. From wikipedia...



Last night, I went to a live house here in Kobe with my friend Patrick to check out a band called The Musique. They were really good. On our way out of the club we noticed this sign...nuff said!



On another note, I've decided to move forward with a new project. I'm going to start a podcast about life in Japan. I've been thinking it through for a long time, but have decided I'd really like to do it now. I'm in the planning process so I think it will be a few weeks before I have something produced. I've mapped out several topics and will be contacting prospective guests very soon. I also have to spend some time learning the software. In the beginning I think I will be editing with Audacity. I've used it a little in the past, but want my first few shows to sound "decent." That means I'll have to do some practicing. I also plan to do some shows using Skype, but will buy an mp3 recorder sometime soon so I can do in person interviews.

Hope you'll be listening once I get things off the ground.

Turkeys and Japanese Music

From the time I woke up yesterday morning until late afternoon I was a cooking machine. A Christmas cooking machine. The turkey it into our oven nicely and everything went off without a hitch. Folks came to our place, were well fed and drank their fill of beer and wine. A good time was had by all and the "Kevin in Japan 2008 Xmas Party" was a success. I think I'll do it again next year! If not, I'll still order a turkey and cook one.


The beautiful bird! Bought this fella from the "Foreign Buyer's Club"!



Here's some of the spread. Turkey, stuffing (a batch cooking in and one cooked out of the bird), carrots, salad (not in picture) and a boat load of mashed potatoes and gravy. Good old fashioned "comfort food."



This afternoon I slowly kicked around downtown. I was taking a lot of footage for a video I'm currently in the process of editing. BUT....here is some footage of a cool band I saw playing by Sannomiya Station. I would have filmed more, but my camera battery died.

See the original here.