Scene and Heard with Will McGuirk

Northern Anime Festival

 

Lisa Furukawa is a featured guest at this Saturday's Northern Anime Festival at Durham College.
We sent Lisa some questions.

What is your involvement with this festival?
I will be a featured musical guest, and am looking forward to performing anime theme songs and original music for fans in Oshawa.

What is the attraction these festivals have for you?
I enjoy having an opportunity to be a type of cultural emissary, and share songs in Japanese and English. Having grown up in Japan and the US, I've considered both countries to be my home, but also felt a responsibility as a performer and a teacher to be a part of the cultural bridge. I have felt very appreciative and honored by the opportunities to perform at anime conventions for this reason and also because I love anime!

Is your music featured in any games/videos?
I hope to be more involved with film/game scoring in the future. I found my way into the convention scene after being invited to one after convention organizers from Tennessee heard me perform at a Japanese cultural festival in Georgia. Things took off from there. Currently, I have a song, "Border City," that will be the closing theme to the third comic/DVD release of Border City by Stikkmann Comics. My song, "This Vibrancy" was used as a score for Andrew Babbington's short independent film, "Feeling Better," which recently was recognized in the Australian national youth film competition. I regularly compose electronic music to score multimedia collaborations with the "Wandering Star Project." The music is set to live film projection and interpretive dance. I am excited for what the future holds.

Have you heard of Joy Kogawa a Japanese/Canadian novelist?
Sure! I read Obasan by Joy Kogawa last year, and was very impressed by her work. Her story about a Japanese family dealing with the imprisonment camp issues was very emotionally thought provoking. I enjoy reading books that touch on Asian American issues. I was an Asian Studies major as well as a music major at UNC-Chapel Hill, and still try to keep up on my reading in between touring and teaching.

Can one express philosophy through music?
Definitely. Beethoven is one of my favorite composers, and he really was able to spread the idea of peace through the Ninth Symphony for example-not only through the lyrics of the famous "Ode to Joy" theme, but by scoring Turkish rhythms at a time when Europe was very much entrenched in war with Muslim countries.
Personally, I believe that it's an artist's mission to express what's close to the heart. Those ideas may not speak to everyone, and may even just be simple love songs in the end, but if they come from a real place, hopefully others will be able to find some truth or comfort in them.

Eastern philosophy is on the rise in the West... do you have any thoughts on why the interest is so strong?
Personally, a huge difference I feel between East and West is that in the East, it's more commonly accepted for one to be individually centered and peaceful in order to be a better "team member." In the west, there's a strong desire to be free and rise above the group, to stand out and create, be an individual. There are benefits and downfalls of both worlds, but I'm positive that one culture can learn from another and vice versa. I would like to be hopeful that there is a movement in the west for peace and harmony. We definitely could take care of each other better- politically, economically, socially, individually.

Could you explain about the power of the dragon... in the West its become a bit of a clown figure? (Puff the magic dragon, Shrek, etc).
In western mythology, the dragon is thought of as a negative figure, even demonic. It is a very different symbol and archetype in the east. The dragon is revered as being a symbol of spiritual strength. My latest CD is entitled "Reaching the Dragon." Personally, when I wrote the songs on the album, I was feeling a lot of shifting and changing in my life, but knew how important it was to be flexible and hopeful. Sometimes we might feel airborne, but we can still find that center and spiritual strength inside of ourselves. I was reading about the Japanese and Chinese myths surrounding dragons and fascinated by the stories. There are stories about the Buddhist "Dragon King" from the lotus sutra who gives reassurance that men and women are equally entitled to enlightenment. There is a line in the song "Kabuki": "there is no woman or man, no pen or sword, only now." Our lives are a balance of yin and yang, female and male spirit, flexibility and action.
"Reaching the Dragon" was a fun project. The Japanese lyrics mingled with the English lyrics a bit more. Self-composed, produced, and performed, it's a bit different from previous collaborative projects. I was listening to a lot of Yoko Kanno at the time it was composed; I hope anime fans will like the songs. :)

I-CD

So this is what I was thinking tonight. This chap hands me a CD. But I can't hear it until I return home and place it on my CD player or upload to the MP3 player. And I was thinking what... well first I was reading this interview with Emmy Lou Harris and she says she doesn't have time for new music so her pal Elvis Costello gave her an Ipod full. So I was thinking wow stars make mixed Ipods for each other... right. So then when I got this CD from this chap... I was thinking wouldn't it be something if instead of a disc someone handed you an ipod of their music. So instead of discs, artists record onto collectable (or disposable ipods) which would mean a person could cut out the middle machine and hear their music as they receive it. Is anyone listening to this? What does the captain say... I'm placing you in command... no thats Leonard Cohen... I mean Patrick Stewart... Make it so.

Durhamrock

Its been tooted as the Durhamrock Weekend. Over two nights May 12 and 13 at the Velvet Elvis two of the areas most exciting bands plus some friends are gonna rawk this town. The line-up reads like so:
Friday Night: ($7, 9:00 PM, +19) The Mark Inside, MIcronite Filters, the Recroom, the Exchanges.
Saturday Night ($5, 8:30 PM, +19 ) The D'Urbervilles, Evan Gordon & the Sad Clowns, the Saltlick Kids.
I asked some of the bands what we all should expect?
When you come to the Elvis on Friday you will see blues drenched rock'n'roll that brings men to their knees. Seriously though, we'll be playin' a bunch of new stuff off of our upcoming cd to be released at the Elvis June 17th.-The Micronite Filters
My only answer is to go to the show...with four incredible bands, 3 of which are from Oshawa, what I say you should expect will not even compare with what you will experience... it would actually be an understatement! There is nothing better than the actual experience of things... so, please! come and join us! it'll be a grand old time! cheers, Sarah -The Recroom
And Evan Gordon has some pedigree. He filled us in on his role in Guelph's scene.
" I'd be glad to tell you a little bit about myself. Indeed I was a founding member of both Royal City and the Jim Guthrie Quintet (a precursor to his current band). I played with both of them up until they moved to Toronto, and played and helped record their first albums. I then had my own band, the Mudpuddles, for a while, which led me to join the Constantines to play organ for about 6 months. I then didn't play in any bands, but recorded and produced records for local artists. I do have an album called "Classical Gas Mask" which will be available at the show. I am looking forward to the show, I recorded the D'Urbervilles record and they are a wicked band, and have told me much about the Velvet Elvis".- Evan Gordon.
For our older readers Evan is the son of James Gordon founding member (along with the Whitby-born and Cowboy Junkie Jeff Bird) of Tamarack, and for our college age readers, confusingly brother to Geordie Gordon of The Barmitzvah Brothers and the Saltlick Kids.

Radio3 CBC discovers what ever John Deer wearing hipster in the Shwa already knows. Durham Rock rocks...

Podcast

Yeah the JUNOS were great. Bubbles took all the awards. He's the new Anne Murray... Hooray. I'm happy for Broken Social Scene although the sound was terrible. Live your lives kids, live your lives.And I have a new respect for Pam Anderson. She also has balls to speak up for seals. She is quite upfront about her beliefs. Right on.
And whats with the audience? They were more interested in seeing themselves on the TV screens set up around the arena than listening to the presenters. OK nobody was interested in the presenters but it was quite distracting to see all those fools waving at themselves. So TV guys bring back the fourth wall.
Now on to more pressing matters. Kinda... not really... whatever. Here's the question. Why is local radio so reluctant to play local artists. Seems like a good match but the powers that be figure the bands you go out to see are not the ones you want to hear on the radio.
Well its not so anymore.Finally the D.I.Y. attitude and the technology have been married and the web site DurhamRock.com have created their first podcast. The first of many I hope. It features songs and interviews with Poor Pelly and Jonas Bonnetta. Jonas opened for Kat Burns last night at the Elvis and the man is 21st century techno one man band. He looks like a carnival train driver but plays among the most modern sounds I have heard. You can listen to the podcast at DurhamRock. You can hear other tracks here and his other project My Research With Dolphins here.