Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

This year’s concept, since it is the Year of the Dragon and all, is none other than a “Psychedelic Dragon” rainbow scales and all. The Gravity Free artists Eiji and D-Jow take a second from their work to chat with me a bit about their work. I will paraphrase their Japanese responses in English for you.

They say there is not any serious meaning behind the piece, just the act of painting is meaning in itself for the friends. Although, on second thought they say, ruminating on the earthquake last year, and all the rainbow-type people you see dancing around the Field of Heaven, basically hippie-style from the last 70 year movement as such. This year, the guys feel that movement is changing. Rainbow-type people and rich people have to learn to get along, and they have as you can see in relief efforts in Japan last year and ongoing today. And they can continue to do it, but it might take you off guard or effect your balance relating to people you are unfamiliar with or who hold different values. Or giving up all your riches to help others, a disconcerting feeling that may set your horizon off-kilter, yet will actually allow you to soar to greater heights. But in the end, we are still human, and can reach great heights regardless if we work together.

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Can’t put my finger on it, maybe it was his bucket hat, but this duo called Mitsu (kanji meaning nectar or honey, so sweet) lent something timeless. Ryo Hashizume, a tall drawn pauper (think taller, Japanese Johnny Depp from Edward Scissorhands) coupled with Uni Kimura, a spunky Punky Brewster of sorts, barely five-foot-and-some-change, a cheerleader on stage sometimes carrying a melodium pom-pom.

They open with typical singer-songwriter stuff. Layered harmonies keep it interesting. At times her (and his for that matter) wide-mouthed vocal range soars to squeaky heights dangerously near too cute J-Pop territory, yet conversely dipping into the serious, mature depths the likes of which ought to make even Kato Tokiko smile.

And smiles abound as they go into clever fast raps, like Bone Thugs and Harmony ridiculously fast. Uni initiates a slew of muzukashii (difficult) call-and-response games with the audience. They are into it. Her cute/sarcastic edge is contagious; she is the epitome of the adjectival “firecracker” on stage. Great presence.

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Esau Mwamway and Johan Hugo, better known as The Very Best, arrived at the Naeba ski resort in plenty of time for their late afternoon show on the White Stage, though they ended up coming at different times. Esau flew from his home in Malawi to South Africa to Hong Kong to Tokyo. However, due to “technical problems” he missed his flight to Hong Kong and had to lay over more than a day. Hugo came from London and actually arrived earlier than planned. “Esau was supposed to arrive two days before me,” he said as the three of us chatted at the Naeba Prince Hotel. Continue Reading…

Freddy Lim has a powerful on-stage presence, throwing back his shoulders to deliver vocals somewhere between a scream and a  screech.  Lim admits he may sound like a vampire. Or more precisely, a vampire melting in the sun.

Chthonic (pronounced Th-onic) is Taiwan’s most successful musical export, an metal band that toured with Ozzfest, played fests like Wacken & Download, major label distribution (Universal), and production by Anthrax guitarist, Rob Caggiano.

Formed in 1995, Chthonic quickly adopted black metal’s uniform of corpse paint and goth vampire gear,  toiling between DIY gigs and underground clubs before receiving their first big break in 2000 with an  invitation to play Fuji Rock’s Red Marquee.

“It was our first overseas concert, and looking back on it, I was shocked, but we’ve gone on to play in Japan 7 times, and our last album has sold thousands of copies and is still on the Oricon Chart,” said Chthonic front-man, Freddy Lim.

Lim is a quick learner, and was able to learn as much backstage as onstage. As the first Taiwanese performer at Fuji Rock, he would become a key player in a newly emerging musical market. The following year, Lim would organize the Formoz Festival, featuring top draws such as Megadeath, Biohazard, and Yo La Tengo as well as Japanese acts, Garlic Boys and Yellow Machine Gun.

And as his on-stage exploits grew and his music promotion flourished, Lim took on a number of social causes, becoming a sort of “Bono” of Taiwan.

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For my last vibe piece of 2011’s fantastic Fuji Rock Festival, I thought I would let the people speak. So, packing up in the campground, I asked a slew of campers and a few staff a simple question, “What was the best thing about Fuji Rock this year?”
I knew people would say, Chemical Brothers, Coldplay and Thai food, but some other responses surprised me, made me laugh, made me think, and made me already nostalgic for something that may have just happened yesterday!
So, with no further ado, here is a small sampling of some Fuji rockers favorite top memories of the fest:
- Wilco
- Chemical Brothers
- Fireworks during Coldplay
- Onigiri
- Pole dance
- a flat tent space
- Heineken
- Hanaregumi
- Many kids babble, I’m play too (???)
- Enjoy bike (dude rode a hog to the fest from who knows where)
- “Minna de pa-ti” (Everyone partying)
- “Dai shizen” (Big nature)
- the girls
- the recycling
- “Ame” (the rain)
- frog caps
- made up with my girlfriend (congrats!)
- so many artist positive vibes to Japan, Tohoku
- frog caps (yes, again)
- Mot playing Rookie A-GoGo stage
- Tom Yum Ramen
- Hanggai throat singing in the forest
- Bacon on a stick and Rum Chai for breakfast
- Crystal Palace mosh pit for Manu Chao and the way the whole crowd embraced my hairy naked chest (!)
- hanging out with Manu Chao backstage (jealous)
- Yummy fuckin’ hamburgers (mmm…also good for breakfast)

So maybe that rekindles a special memory for you, maybe you salivate a little, maybe you wonder how the hell to get backstage to hang out with Manu Chao (staff secrets). Any way you cut it, I am sure you have your own laundry list of hilarious, momentous, audacious and wonderful experiences to take with you and tell stories about for years to come. Maybe you recycle more. Maybe you buy a CD of your new favorite Japanese artist, maybe you quit wearing shoes.
So, remember what you learned, reminisce about what you miss, and I’ll see you next year. ☺

The multi-culti, musical hybrid L.A. collective Ozomatli gets lots of props in this blog and from FRF in general. This was their fourth time at the festival, and the feeling is mutual.

“Top festivals in the world?” pondered percussionist Jiro Yamaguchi. “Fuji Rock, Glastonbury–Glastonbury because it’s an actual city.”

“This is better, though,” said bassist Wil-Dog Abers from behind a pair of enormous shades and underneath a white ball cap.

“Yeah, it’s cleaner,” said Jiro. “But it’s the people, too.”

Yamaguchi, Abers were sitting in the back of the Prince Hotel with sax player Ulises Bella and guitarist Raul Pacheco, talking about the band’s new album, Fire Away, which is the first they’ve released since becoming ambassadors for a cultural outreach program sponsored by the U.S. State Dept., and the experience of playing to people in far-flung areas of the world had a profound effect on it. Continue Reading…

It was a wet evening when I slipped underneath an awning to share a conversation with Rory Mcleod, an Orkney Island musician who has traveled the world with a bag of instruments ranging from trombone to harmonica, and acoustic guitar.

McLeod’s history with Fuji Rock goes back many years as he opened the festival in its currently location some 11 years ago in 1999. He stood on stage with a Tibetan flutist and though he cant remembers what he was performing, he said the crowd responded warmly and it was the first of many performances he joined that weekend (Field of Heaven, and a private party for festival staff.)

While its been a long time to bring him back, he said simply traveling from the Orkney Islands to England requires quite a bit of diesel fuel, he is very glad to be back at Fuji Rock, a festival that he describes as being held in the beautiful outdoors

Rory’s glad to be back at the festival this year and will perform twice tomorrow, at the newly opened Pyramid Stage in the campground and on the Naeba Shokudu just across from the World Court. It’s a great opportunity to see this man in action.  On Sunday Rory will play on the boardwalk at 3PM.

Broken Social Scene was in Taipei last night, and I caught up with them at my fave pizza place about an hour before their show.

Both Drew and Canning are quite affable  and it was sorta strange that no seemed to notice them at this restaurant even though there were about  300 kids lining up across the street to get into the show.

I sat with them at their outdoor table and brought up Fuji Rock and their infamous set at the White Stage in 2006 (read a recap here)  where they did an unexpected encore that sent the sound crew scurrying and setting back the stage’s schedule by like 20 minutes for the entire day.  This performance has gone down in Fuji lore as being the only real “encore” ever performed and according to Drew and Canning, was the “5th best Broken Social Scene set of all time.”

Yup, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for them to blurt this out. And they did it in unison, giving me the impression that they had talked about it previously. The curious thing about this set, and the now famous “encore” is that it wasn’t even their idea at all.

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“Fuji Rock won’t really be like Glastonbury until the Emperor shows up in a pink wig.” – Jon Helmer, Fuji Rock documentarian

In case you’re looking for the perfect Christmas present for a fellow Fuji Rocker, the chance comes early this year. Jon Helmer is bringing his double-DVD documentary on ten years of the festival to Naeba. It’s called Tents & Bugs & Rock N Roll, and he’ll be screening the four-hour video at a mobile cinema that will move around the festival grounds. He’s also selling copies for ¥2,000. Instead of a history of rock stars, legendary performances and big name acts, Heller has turned his camera on the fans, the staff and occasionally the artists back stage. This is a people’s history of Fuji Rock, with no narration, no titles, and a roughly chronological structure that covers the years 1999 (Fuji Rock’s first year in Naeba) to 2008. The video was produced in 2009, and now it’s ready for it’s grand debut. A few of the gems you’ll witness amidst the sprawling 245 minutes of the DVD’s length include Joe Strummer planning out the lot that went on to become the Palace of Wonder, Henry Rollins getting psyched up to hit the Green Stage, Jam Master Jay backstage at the Red Marquee…. Continue Reading…

We’ve  heard a lot about the artists  and now it’s time to hear from some of the fans!

Yesterday, the Taiwan Fuji Rock Facebook group help a meeting a the Le Beau Lieu, a trendy, French-themed coffee shop which offers little aside from US$5  lattes  and tiny platters of ginger snaps.

A dozen people were seated at tables that had been pulled together in one long line. Some clutched swatches of weather-resistant material (silver on one side, black on the other) which one member bought in bulk and was freely sharing with others.

While similar in age, the group was divergent in terms of profession and work experience. There was the owner of a popular downtown music store that specialized in Korean pop, a Warner Music executive, a bank employee, and a pony-tailed dude whose previous festival experience included going to  Japan’s Loud Park on two occasions.

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Go Chic, a band of three Taipei girls and one guy in their early 20s, this year becomes the first ever non-Japanese band to compete successfully against 1,500+ applicants and make the FRF Rookie a-Go-Go stage. Mostly former high school classmates, they blast out electro dance songs with riot grrrl energy, and the stage shows kick into full on party mode. It’s no wonder that at this moment, they can boast one of the biggest followings in Taiwan’s indie scene, but lately they’ve been pushing that envelop as well, earlier this year playing SXSW, getting ready for gigs in China, and now they are also no doubt busy shopping for neon rubber boots for FRF 2010. This all comes with the released of Go Chic’s debut album this spring, I Am Confused! (2010), which got a thumbs up from the Taipei Times for its “catchy beats, punk verve and a sassy, irreverent wit.” The members are Sonia Lai (Guitar/Synth), Sarah Wen (Bass), Winston Li (Drums) and Ariel Zheng (Vocals). Ariel recently answered some of our questions by email. Continue Reading…

Dangermouse and James Mercer from Broken Bells gave this interview to Los Angeles radio station KCRW just last Friday. Aside from about 30-minutes of live studio recordings, they talk about doing cover songs, what The Shins are up to, learning to play instruments, and a documentary soundtrack project. Here are a few highlights: Continue Reading…

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN BURTON-LEWIS, WHO STILL WON’T ANSWER WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO DO BETWEEN 5 AND 10AM

Who dreamed up with the idea that we needed an All-Night Fuji? And who envisioned that the dance party might possibly carry on past 5am – albeit after an inexplicable 5-hour break – in a distant, mountaintop field at an FRF extension known as Daydreaming? What originally put me on the track of Bryan Burton-Lewis was Tokyo’s red hot electro duo Dexpistols, the team of DJs Daruma and Maar, who, having blown up over the last few years in the Tokyo scene and on Fujirock stages are now getting major international props, the latest of which is headlining The Fader’s “Asia” mixtape (download it free!!!), just released last week. Within the last year, Burton-Lewis convinced Dex to go indie and help him found the Roc Trax Crew, which meant luring them away from major label BMG. But that’s just a little bit of what he’s been up to. Get the rest, including the inside story on Fujirock’s all-night party scene, in our following chat via that network of electronic chips, resistors and cables better known as the Internet: Continue Reading…