Saturday, August 13, 2005
CHOTTO DONG DONG
Thank you Awajima people for the nice welcome.
The evening of our live shows, many people asked me for the record of the song I played at the end of Miniflamm's live. This song is a collaboration between me an Khanh-Linh La, I put it online and you can download it here :
http://grogore.free.fr/shobus/son/
The evening of our live shows, many people asked me for the record of the song I played at the end of Miniflamm's live. This song is a collaboration between me an Khanh-Linh La, I put it online and you can download it here :
http://grogore.free.fr/shobus/son/
MOTOR
we realized recently that we have been linked on a moto-fan japanese website thanx to the MEC project we are carying with us ... LOVE BIKES!
telling strangers personal things
Exhaustion
+
Cultural gap
+
Miscommunication
=
the wrong way, nerve picking, awkward feelings
Gomenasai.
AWAJISHIMA/OSAKA
leave Awajishima and the so kind Yamaguchi-san and go to OSAKA at Arts Aporia, meet the staf and some nice artists presenting theire works there and then had a live. Thank you Midori-san for comming that night, i was very pleased to meet you!
Friday, August 12, 2005
Ketsuyama and other small wonders along the way
Hear the mayhem
expliciting:
here
is an audio MP3 documenting our Portable PA stroll in Dazaifu, recorded by someone from the CAT's staff.
here
is an audio MP3 documenting our Portable PA stroll in Dazaifu, recorded by someone from the CAT's staff.
SOUND
New sound page where you can hear a bunch of sounds from the shoboshobo bustour here
Lozi talks and shoots too
Please note again that Lozi is blogging on his own, and updating quite regularly. Check there as often as possible, for pics and texts if you happen to be a Japanese speaker.
onsen
As time goes by, we get more and more used to onsens and traditional sentos with massive Yakusas' naked tattoos around us. It is even more impressive when the baths are small.
AWAJISHIMA city's emblem
moyens de locomotion 3
Chip'n'Dale
CLOUDS
AWAJISHIMA
Hosted by a kind of social arts and crafts center with (as usual) very nice people.
We performed with the portable PAs nearby the sea, recording sounds from the people hanging around (here an old man practicing for golf (golufu), there a woman speaking loud ...). The organiz ation people prepared special billboards (written in French!) to let us know if the sound was too loud or when it was time to stop!
After that, we had another portable PA collaborative performance with local artists (making music with junk items and traditional masks).
At night we went to a lovely tatami-style restaurant to eat sashimi.
AWAJIshima
Staff & friends after the show
AWAJISHIMA city Mascottes(Still smiling, even straight in bags)
in AWAJISHIMA
Baka in the supermarket and live at cafe 2nd ....
Awajishima are so nice people!!!
Thursday, August 11, 2005
VIDEO BLOG
Islands
I would have loved todo P.A. onboard but no more energy this time. This was day off so this can be one excuse. Let’s enjoy the moving waters, the non-stop cars and trucks engine inside of that Gaz smoking parking area. No way.
Rests and tourism.
As a kind boy, after my rest (everybody seemed to rest inside the boat, maybe because of all the CO2 exhausted gas out of the cars downstairs)
I decided to substitute the PA with a piloting session.
It ain't easy living in a music box
PM to you, adorable Dazaifu girl with turtle mouth and amazing sad eyes. Next time I'll stop by your lovely town, I promise we'll actually make it happen. Please learn a little English, as well, it might help. I'll learn some little Japanese too.
And I know that all the while
"C'est du sport, faire de l'ordi dans le camion", Davide just said. It's true. Believe it or not, but every moment of free time in the ever bouncing and rocking bus is spent writing, pics sorting out, video editing - with an actually working connection we'd be updating every ten minutes.
This post took six days in the making, and a lot of time away from an internet connection
Amazing times in Yamaguchi and in the Kyushu area. First and all, a very nice afternoon of AS+Yuko Nexus6 and Mariko gigs outdoors by the YCAM building, introducing a short yet intense enough, frontal portable PA session during the Yamaguchi Matzuri (remember Naomi Kawase's Shara?) - nice combination of updated tradition, dances and shouts, and sweet noise making by your favorite Shobus crew. The people from YCAM were just great, too, Tomoko and all - plus I really don't think the systematic use of taxis to go from one place of leisure time to the other will happen again anytime soon. Oh, and the supper at some staff's house - all complete with a fest of sushis and an all so cute inu called Kun-Kun (it did look like a kitsune) - was a blast too, as well as the adorable auberge (those are Tomoko's words) where we slept.
Adorable Chihiro san, from Asahi Press, joined the crew for a few days and press coverage, and next was Kagekiyodo Mito Caves, just a few miles away from Yamaguchi up in the moutain. You should wonder why the hell we went in millenary caves to play - well, Lozi Kun really took us seriously when, months ago, we asked him to find weird places to play. We're not sight-seeing, we're sight playing, really, and this session in those caves was really something, as we strolled under humid vaults, over slippery rocks, all dressed with helmets and waterproof plastic bag jackets. I had the fourth PA, the weakest one which uses little batteries, so I found myself some nice place and comfortably set up for a lonesome sedentary session, while the others moved here and about from one extremity of the cave to the other. Many people passed by, quite a lot stucked on, listening to the music. Some had even come all the way especially to see us. Eventually, we ended the session with a very quiet combination of natural sounds and Pignose guitar feedbacks. Meanwhile, Lozi played a very intense sinewave+ flash lights+mist session in some hidden corridor next to the entrance, which really got Stephane and me to question the laws of security in this crazy country, as groups of school-kids tried to find their way crossing this really extreme barrier of noise and total darkness. Then was rest time in the Kagekiyodo Mito Camping: Mehdi got back to paint work on the left side of the bus, while the rest of us went for a very first stroll in the Japanese countryside, far from the madding crowd, then to the onsen just nearby. Useless to say that this was a lovely end of afternoon. We also barbecued in almost total darkness, thanks to Laurence and Chihiro skillful cooking techniques.
The day after. We woke up at 5 and left for Dazaifu, Kyushu. Rocking hard in the rocking bus, then arrived around noon in Dazaifu Tenmangu (tenmangu meaning sanctuary, and not shrine, or so I understood). Another crazy idea of sight-playing, courtesy of Lozi and of the lovely people of CAT (for Community Activate Team) who organized the event, we played with our portable PAs just by the sanctuary, then in the main shopping street of this charmingly quiet little town. We set up the exhibition on the bus. Then: the two sessions were quite engaging, as some oyaji guy got involved during the first and asked first a little girl, then a young gal passing by, to play traditional nursery rhymes on the melodica so that I could record them and process them in the patch. I got all excited with the melodies and a sweet use of granulation effects, while Mehdi, sitting a few meters away, re-processed them as well as Davide and Stephane's quieter hummings and droning, a few meters farer, sitting on the the fence by the clear water of the shrine's pond, infested with giant carps and turtles; and the second saw us strolling down the old picturesque row with baby screamings we'd just recorded in an alley on the way from the shrine and hurling processed street noise, ending with a great sine drone final and the involvement of a smiling polico. It was weird walking along with so many people to frame us, but it was done in such a good-willing and supporting way that it never felt that they were standing in our way or refraining us. Plus, I guess it prevented us from being punched by annoyed street vendors or passers-by (we noticed a few shops closing up before what we understood was traditional schedule time). We then went back to the bus for the end of the Mobium exhibition, and got prepared for dinner in a nice soccer-fan coffee place with all the girls and boys of the staff. Lush time, once again. Sleeping at some staff's grandmother's place.
Waking up at 6 the day after, then going up for some crazy ride in the mountain, heading for the leisure town of Beppu. Dreamy stops in amazing moutain sceneries, with rivers at the bottom of crazily steep valleys with luxurious flaws of green matter and fastly intertwined branches all over. Sleeping most of the way, just waking up to get all flabbergasted by the landscapes and go back to sleep. Reaching the valley of Beppu and the great descent to the see just before noon, to get welcomed by the huge Beppu Project team, led by Abe Junko and Junya Yamaide. Those are truly among the most devoted, hard-working, caring people I've come to meet in my short career. We were indeed taken in and looked after with rare delicacy and gentleness. We set up the exhibition once again on a parking near to the sea-shore, and Mehdi got back to finishing up the painting of the bus. He was soon joined by everyone, including many people from the staff. One visitor came by motorbike, to our delight, and we chilled in the atsui, atsui afternoon. Then reached the station area, for a portable PA ballad, which kind of looked like a proper parade this time, with the BP people all around, brandishing and waving Beppu Project flags and banners and taking care of street mediation. For so much that I could witness (we all strolled quite isolated from each others), climax of the performance happened when Davide got into a mute dialogue with some elder guy using a loop of a dog barking. Eventually, concert time arrived, and we arrived at the Copper Ravens venue just in time for schedule with our screaming PAs, for soundcheck. What happened next is hard to tell, as it was probably Active Suspension's best night in Japan, ever, topping our gigs in Nagoya's Club Daughter and Tokyo's Shibuya Nest in 2003. Small club, packed up with happy people. No air-conditioning, steam-filled air. Great gigs by Mehdi, Davide, Domotic, me (as a duet with Mehdi), and by MEC, all dressed up in traditional jimbe suits (which are worn, most of the time, by bad "yankee" boys). Extatic crowd. We kind of felt like stars, waving kitsune handsigns to great clamors. We loved it all the way, of course, our excitation only being topped up by Abe's. This was a great fest, as it was also the final evening of the whole Beppu Project thing, which had demanded all the staff and volunteers more than a year of hard work. We were so glad to be part of it. Supper at three in the morning, with mutual applauses and otsukaresamas was yet another amazing moment. Once again. Only Chihiro's departure this morning caused a hint of sad-driven feelings. We're now in the bus, heading for Awajishima, crossing the Shikoku region. We all took the best of naps on the ferry boat, then stopped on a beach for a cooling and soothing seabath and a MEC in bathsuits photo session.
Adorable Chihiro san, from Asahi Press, joined the crew for a few days and press coverage, and next was Kagekiyodo Mito Caves, just a few miles away from Yamaguchi up in the moutain. You should wonder why the hell we went in millenary caves to play - well, Lozi Kun really took us seriously when, months ago, we asked him to find weird places to play. We're not sight-seeing, we're sight playing, really, and this session in those caves was really something, as we strolled under humid vaults, over slippery rocks, all dressed with helmets and waterproof plastic bag jackets. I had the fourth PA, the weakest one which uses little batteries, so I found myself some nice place and comfortably set up for a lonesome sedentary session, while the others moved here and about from one extremity of the cave to the other. Many people passed by, quite a lot stucked on, listening to the music. Some had even come all the way especially to see us. Eventually, we ended the session with a very quiet combination of natural sounds and Pignose guitar feedbacks. Meanwhile, Lozi played a very intense sinewave+ flash lights+mist session in some hidden corridor next to the entrance, which really got Stephane and me to question the laws of security in this crazy country, as groups of school-kids tried to find their way crossing this really extreme barrier of noise and total darkness. Then was rest time in the Kagekiyodo Mito Camping: Mehdi got back to paint work on the left side of the bus, while the rest of us went for a very first stroll in the Japanese countryside, far from the madding crowd, then to the onsen just nearby. Useless to say that this was a lovely end of afternoon. We also barbecued in almost total darkness, thanks to Laurence and Chihiro skillful cooking techniques.
The day after. We woke up at 5 and left for Dazaifu, Kyushu. Rocking hard in the rocking bus, then arrived around noon in Dazaifu Tenmangu (tenmangu meaning sanctuary, and not shrine, or so I understood). Another crazy idea of sight-playing, courtesy of Lozi and of the lovely people of CAT (for Community Activate Team) who organized the event, we played with our portable PAs just by the sanctuary, then in the main shopping street of this charmingly quiet little town. We set up the exhibition on the bus. Then: the two sessions were quite engaging, as some oyaji guy got involved during the first and asked first a little girl, then a young gal passing by, to play traditional nursery rhymes on the melodica so that I could record them and process them in the patch. I got all excited with the melodies and a sweet use of granulation effects, while Mehdi, sitting a few meters away, re-processed them as well as Davide and Stephane's quieter hummings and droning, a few meters farer, sitting on the the fence by the clear water of the shrine's pond, infested with giant carps and turtles; and the second saw us strolling down the old picturesque row with baby screamings we'd just recorded in an alley on the way from the shrine and hurling processed street noise, ending with a great sine drone final and the involvement of a smiling polico. It was weird walking along with so many people to frame us, but it was done in such a good-willing and supporting way that it never felt that they were standing in our way or refraining us. Plus, I guess it prevented us from being punched by annoyed street vendors or passers-by (we noticed a few shops closing up before what we understood was traditional schedule time). We then went back to the bus for the end of the Mobium exhibition, and got prepared for dinner in a nice soccer-fan coffee place with all the girls and boys of the staff. Lush time, once again. Sleeping at some staff's grandmother's place.
Waking up at 6 the day after, then going up for some crazy ride in the mountain, heading for the leisure town of Beppu. Dreamy stops in amazing moutain sceneries, with rivers at the bottom of crazily steep valleys with luxurious flaws of green matter and fastly intertwined branches all over. Sleeping most of the way, just waking up to get all flabbergasted by the landscapes and go back to sleep. Reaching the valley of Beppu and the great descent to the see just before noon, to get welcomed by the huge Beppu Project team, led by Abe Junko and Junya Yamaide. Those are truly among the most devoted, hard-working, caring people I've come to meet in my short career. We were indeed taken in and looked after with rare delicacy and gentleness. We set up the exhibition once again on a parking near to the sea-shore, and Mehdi got back to finishing up the painting of the bus. He was soon joined by everyone, including many people from the staff. One visitor came by motorbike, to our delight, and we chilled in the atsui, atsui afternoon. Then reached the station area, for a portable PA ballad, which kind of looked like a proper parade this time, with the BP people all around, brandishing and waving Beppu Project flags and banners and taking care of street mediation. For so much that I could witness (we all strolled quite isolated from each others), climax of the performance happened when Davide got into a mute dialogue with some elder guy using a loop of a dog barking. Eventually, concert time arrived, and we arrived at the Copper Ravens venue just in time for schedule with our screaming PAs, for soundcheck. What happened next is hard to tell, as it was probably Active Suspension's best night in Japan, ever, topping our gigs in Nagoya's Club Daughter and Tokyo's Shibuya Nest in 2003. Small club, packed up with happy people. No air-conditioning, steam-filled air. Great gigs by Mehdi, Davide, Domotic, me (as a duet with Mehdi), and by MEC, all dressed up in traditional jimbe suits (which are worn, most of the time, by bad "yankee" boys). Extatic crowd. We kind of felt like stars, waving kitsune handsigns to great clamors. We loved it all the way, of course, our excitation only being topped up by Abe's. This was a great fest, as it was also the final evening of the whole Beppu Project thing, which had demanded all the staff and volunteers more than a year of hard work. We were so glad to be part of it. Supper at three in the morning, with mutual applauses and otsukaresamas was yet another amazing moment. Once again. Only Chihiro's departure this morning caused a hint of sad-driven feelings. We're now in the bus, heading for Awajishima, crossing the Shikoku region. We all took the best of naps on the ferry boat, then stopped on a beach for a cooling and soothing seabath and a MEC in bathsuits photo session.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
SHIKOKU kara AWAJISHIMA made
YESTERDAY OFF
Yesterday was our first day off. But Lozi kept on working of course, as he had to drive us from Beppu to Awagishima. So we got up at 9 (the ostukaresama party with the great beppu staff finished around 4 in the morning) , went to a very popular onsen (old men, one with one arm missing, one yakusa with his son...) , and then went to the ferry for Shikoku. We had a great nap on the upper outside deck , and all woke up at the same moment when the boat started to move differently, just in time for us to enjoy the wonderful view ( it reminded annecy to davide ) as we approached the island. Then we drove through the mountains, and stopped after a few hours to enjoy the beach. A perfect sunset moment, ideal time for a MEC photo shooting. We arrived at 11 this morning, after a long long drive (we stopped for a few hours at a Lawson combini) because Lozi needed a DESERVED nap. Good job Lozi-san!
BEPPU RULES!!!
beppu rules! beppu rules! beppu rules! beppu rules! beppu rules!
(echo, get it?)
(echo, get it?)
BEPPU kara SHIKOKU made
from BEPPU to AWAJISHIMA.
Leaving this friendly city was a bit sad, we went to an old sento with our beppu friend and then took the boat for SHIKOKU island.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
BEPPU's street Portable PA performance
BEPPU!!!!
BEPPU people you are so great! thanx alot for your energy and so nice organization.
we finished to paint the bus with the help of BEPPU PROJECT's people.
Beppu
Fantastic staff ! Thank you !The PA :
OK, I must confess that I tried to push the famous Japanese shyness by going frontally onto passers-by this time, and that this was a solo experience - I mean I didn’t ‘jam’ with the other Shoboys this time. (Sorry guys.)
The test.
Until now (few exceptions) I’ve not been really satisfied with the “musical” result once out of its context, considering that the situation is to be part of the global sonic experience.
+ Watching people straight in the eyes and play for these unique persons or small audience.
+ Stay immobile in front of someone with my Portable PA in silent mode (only smiling and making Japanese-style friendly headbang) waiting for that person to produce some noise, then record, then process.
+ The gathering :entering into offices, information stands, questioning people then record their voices ...
+ The sounds : The semaphore, the dog, the old japanese grandma looking for her cat (tribute to ‘la mere Michele qui a perdu son chat qui crie par la fenêtre à qui le lui rendra ... ’ /// link ?)
Pitching sounds according to people’s behavior : when they’re afraid, follow them in the run with the sound pitched up, then upper, then upper still.
Don’t know what I will try next.
BEPPU's live
with Minifer, Davide Balula, Domotic, O.Lamm, MEC.
Check out for a short video sample of MEC's live here
Monday, August 08, 2005
Mr NATURAL
Nature in japan is amazing :
Power,
Variety,
Luxuriance,
Chaos,
Peacefulness,
Layers,
Verticality.
And invisible sound-emitting insects living in it.
Power,
Variety,
Luxuriance,
Chaos,
Peacefulness,
Layers,
Verticality.
And invisible sound-emitting insects living in it.
on the road to BEPPU
DAZAIFU shrine
Portable PA performance nearby the shrine + in the main shopping street.
.... images vrac
Dazaifu Shrine Entrance.
Dazaifu starting PA in the street.
Mochi synchro soundtrack for skilful and fastest automated mochi cooks ever.
PA arrival end of the street.
Laurence & Chihiro Documentators.
After the negociations.
Daizaifu Temple Rainbow by clown.("Alooka alooka alloka zish.. Pelease Clap Your Handsu")
Turtle and fish behind the bridge.
Hairy tree(missing in Translate Issue summer 2005)
les bonzes ont de très jolis pantalons bleu ciel
About the temple : this performance was maybe the one where the interraction with people was the most interesting (this far).
As we were mostly sitting, people could watch our screens, talk to us, ask questions or even play melodica in our microphones (olivier's , to be more precise). I explained it all to a TV host, sampling her voice, and playing with it to her great amusement, and that was really a good thing to do. Once the people understand the process, it's easier to play abstract music that's not repellant.
Then of course we did the exact opposite : we played a second performance (The Great Portable PA Marching Band) in a souvenir shopping street. We all started with the screams of a crying child , and then it all increased to some kind of alerte à la bombe siren sound. Most of the shops were closing their doors as we approached, because of our loud agressive wave . The organisation staff kept on giving flyers to passers-by and vendors, I don't know if that helped.
As we were mostly sitting, people could watch our screens, talk to us, ask questions or even play melodica in our microphones (olivier's , to be more precise). I explained it all to a TV host, sampling her voice, and playing with it to her great amusement, and that was really a good thing to do. Once the people understand the process, it's easier to play abstract music that's not repellant.
Then of course we did the exact opposite : we played a second performance (The Great Portable PA Marching Band) in a souvenir shopping street. We all started with the screams of a crying child , and then it all increased to some kind of alerte à la bombe siren sound. Most of the shops were closing their doors as we approached, because of our loud agressive wave . The organisation staff kept on giving flyers to passers-by and vendors, I don't know if that helped.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
YAMAGUCHI - the cave portable PA performance
portable PA performance in the cave and then BBQ nearby the bus at night
YAMAGUCHI - on the road to the caves
beautiful landscapes, felt like being in switzerland sometimes... Thank you YCAM staff.
Les caves
Lots of fun! We played at yamaguchi caves : some kind of geological amusement park, with an onsen (yippee!!!) and a camping area... We put our boots on, securtity helmets, plastic raincoats took a lot of silly pictures and off we went deeper into the neon-lit caves. Some of us chose a static spot, Davide sitting next to a blinking neon much like his artistic work, it was lighting his transluscent poncho in a very theatrical way, I chose to move as much as i could, sometimes leaving the cemented tracks for unauthorized terrains, as if i were a 4WD. I nearly broke my ankle a few times, playing some geiger-counter like sounds, increasing speed (or nuclear activity) when nearing something interesting (the sleeping dragons cave, the what's-his-name thick curtain, some group of amused/affraid kids and so on). I lacked communication with the other boys, but we did a very nice final, Olivier playing his little electric guitar because his computer had ran out of batteries...
