Japan Underground and the Terracotta Film Festival Party to Feature Kao=S and More on 10 June

When: Monday 10 June 2013 (7pm-11:00pm)
Where: The Pipeline, 94 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7DA. (map)
Nearest Tube/Train: Liverpool Street, Aldgate/East, Shoreditch High Street
Tickets: £7 on the door.
Facebook event page: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/552250258160952/

After two consecutive sold out shows with FACT and [Champagne], Japan Underground returns with another belter of a line-up – and this time it’s teaming up with the Terracotta Film Festival for the ultimate Asian entertainment experience. Performing live will be the Japanese band Kao=S, making their UK debut at the event. Kao=S mix traditional Japanese music with modern rock. They’ve already toured America, had a video that made France’s No Life TV‘s top 10 videos of last year (ranking even higher than IBITSU from the GazettE), and they’ll be special guests at this year’s massive Japan Expo in Paris. PLUS support from THREE mighty acts; indie-pop from vocal goddess/diva ERIKA, more shamisen sounds from Hibiki (the UK’s only certified shamisen master) and drummer Tomo, plus shoegaze meets techno with The Newmarkets. AND, a full Japanese food menu available all-day from in-house food specialists Peko Peko! (check out the menu)

Kao=S

Stage time 9:35-10:35
Kao=S (pronounced ‘chaos’) fuse traditional Japanese instruments, performance art and passion with modern rock music for a truly unique experience. With links to FINAL FANTASY, a string of successful U.S tour dates (including a showcase set at SXSW) and a manga in their name, Kao=S now sets their sights on London for their first UK performance. The band consists of vocalist, sword dancer and FINAL FANTASY motion capture actress Kaori Kawabuchi; ‘Syamisenist’ Jack playing his own original rock-take on the traditional Japanese  Tsugaru-Shamisen style; vocalist, guitarist and Kao=S’ leader Shuji Yamagiri; and new addition Shakuhachi (Japanese flute) player Daisuke Kaminaga, who joined the band as a regular member since touring America with Kao=S in 2012. Kao=S influences from traditional Japanese folk music, to rock legends such as Black Sabbath, L’Arc en Ciel and Led Zeppelin.

ERIKA

Stage time 8:50-9:20
ERIKA has emerged from a life coloured by the musical corners of London town and Japan. While it was initially opera and musical theatre in which she found her voice, as her birthdays passed she discovered the soundtrack to her early daydreams and pop greats such as Kylie and Carly Simon made their influence. Later ERIKA found herself as much at home with the 90s rave scene as she did with the heavy rock scene and from this union of diversity emerges a style of ‘epic pop’. But don’t get complacent, ERIKA is not all catchy riffs and bubblegum. There is a darkness to her songs that you don’t have to dig that deep to find.

On stage ERIKA is an icon of fashion and confidence and coupled with a vulnerability that is hard to ignore, it is really only in her performance that you can fully understand how interesting and impressive ERIKA is.

Hibiki and Tomo

Stage time 8:05-8:35
Hibiki is the only professional player of Tsugaru Shamisen in the U.K. Since his arrival in U.K, Hibiki has performed on many occasions, including the Japanese Emperor’s birthday event at the Japanese embassy, Japan Matsuri and HYPER JAPAN. He currently teaches 20 students the Tsugaru Shamisen. Check out a video below of one of Hibiki’s other collaborations;

The Newmarkets

Stage time 7:20-7:50
Techno DJ/producer Shin Nishimura and Hide Uno the drummer singer from Dobly became friends and spent their school days in Newmarket, UK. The Newmarkets’ music is a mixture of alternative boogie beats and mild melodies and harmonies, heavily influenced by break beats, techno and rock music.

JAPAN UNDERGROUND presents CLUB BOWIE – 25 May

When: Saturday 25 May 2013 (9pm-3am)
Where: Bloomsbury Lanes, 50 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 9EU
Nearest Tube: Euston, Russell Square, Holborn
Tickets: £5 if you tell the doorman you’re there for Japan Underground, Otherwise £8
Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/297698260361917/

In recognition of the ultimate hero, Japan Underground teams up with the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes and Throwback Club to present a night of Bowie mania, celebrating his influences in music, art, fashion and film!

Spread over two floors, there will be live music from 5-piece Bowie tribute act The Thin White Duke, cult-classic Labyrinth showing in the in-house cinema, DJs spinning the best of Bowie and other fantastic fancies all night, plus the Japan Underground crew taking over the entire Kingpin Suite for ‘Club Bowie’, a tribute to the legend by way of Japan – a country with subcultures deeply influenced from the legend.

Plus! Bowie cosplay competition and plenty of Bowie inspired prizes to be won throughout the night!

Entry to the night includes access to both floors (the whole venue!) throughout the night, but if you want cheap entry be sure to tell the door staff you’re there for Japan Underground to get in for a fiver! Plus, bowling, karaoke and arcade machines available at additional costs.

And yes, we will play Japanese music. Who knows where visual kei would be without a touch of Bowie!

Further details on [Champagne]‘s UK Live Debut

When: Wednesday 15 May 2013 from 7pm.
Where: The Pipeline (basement), 94 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7DA.
Tickets: £7.50 advance (buy here), £10 on the door.
Support: Area 11 // NO CARS // Ken Kobayashi & The Colors // DJs and special guests
Facebook event page: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/116765661855283/

Here’s some updated information about the special showcase show we have coming up this Wednesday with Japanese indie rockers [Champagne]! Check out all the bands involved, their stage times and don’t forget to share this page with your friends before tickets sell out!

[Champagne]

Stage time 9:30-10:30
Fresh from supporting the likes of Muse and Kasabian in Japan, Tokyo’s hottest new indie band [Champagne] venture to London to pay homage to the country that originally inspired them to create music; the UK. In Japan they’ve topped the indie charts, played major festivals such as Summer Sonic and become one of the most talked about new pop-rock bands of the last few years. You can check out all of their catchy music videos by clicking here and scrolling down. Or click the video below for one of our personal favourites:

Area 11

Stage time 8:40-9:10
Bristol’s finest Minecrafters (see this music video of theirs for reference)  are back! The boys released their debut album All The Lights in the Sky earlier this year, and it went straight to the top of Amazon’s MP3 rock chart, and entered at number 10 on the official UK rock chart. Earlier this month they supported My Vitriol at Koko in Camden, and now they’re here to support [Champagne]. Here’s a video of them tearing up the stage of Japan Underground, supporting FACT earlier this year:

No Cars

Stage time 7:55-8:25
Quirky all Japanese girl band No Cars have built a reputation for their zany live shows. Having supported the likes of Shonen Knife and Adam Ant, the girls, when not singing about tuna and cello-tape, have been known to bully members of the audience, do cartwheels, and generally cause a bit of a ruckus in the cutest way possible.

Ken Kobayashi and Colors

Stage time 7:15-7:40
Ken Kobayashi is a singer, songwriter and a producer based in London. Ken was born in London in 1988 between a German father and a Japanese mother. Spending childhood in Tokyo, Berlin and London, Ken was exposed to a wide range of range of music genres and movements. Ken started writing songs when he learnt to play the guitar at the age of 16. In 2009, He released his debut album My Big Foot Over the Sky.

Tickets are selling out fast – see you there!!

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JAPAN UNDERGROUND presents [Champagne]‘s First UK Live – 15 May

JAPAN UNDERGROUND presents [Champagne]‘s First UK Live – 15 May

When: Wednesday 15 May 2013 from 7pm.
Where: The Pipeline (basement), 94 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7DA.
Tickets: £7.50 advance (buy), £10 on the door.
Support: Area 11 // NO CARS // Ken Kobayashi & The Colors // DJs and special guests
Facebook event page: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/116765661855283/

From performing on the streets of Harajuku, to rocking tens of thousands at SUMMER SONIC and a host of other top Japanese festivals, to selling out every tour they’ve ever done. [Champagne] are living proof that it is possible to go from indie heroes to full-blown rockstars in a matter of years, and now they’re ready to burst out from Japan for the next chapter in their musical conquest by performing in the UK for the first time.

[Champagne] will hold their first overseas headline show at The Pipeline, London on Wednesday 15 May 2013. Tickets for the show in London are on sale now (click here), priced at £7.50. They will also be available on the door whilst stocks last for £10.

The band will be joined with support from Brit internet sensation Area 11 – who recently celebrated chart success with their debut album ‘All the Lights in the Sky’ – and the quirky Japanese all-girl group No Cars, plus DJs and special guests.
Led by Yohei Kawakami (vocals and drums), who grew up in Syria, and Hiroyuki Isobe (bass and chorus) who grew up in America, [Champagne] manage to fuse the best from western and eastern music to create unique and catchy pop-rock songs. Since forming in 2007, they have released three albums; the first entitled ‘Where’s My Potato?’, followed by Oricon Indie Chart topper ‘I want to go to Hawaii’, and then ‘Schwarzenegger’, with a fourth hit album expected to be released soon.

Japan Underground: BRAIN DEATH ZOMBIE, Taigen Kawabe (from Bo Ningen) and COLORS – 27 April

When: Saturday 27 April 2013 from 7pm.
Where: The Pipeline (basement), 94 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7DA.
Tickets: £5 advance (click here), £7 on the door.
Facebook event page: 
https://www.facebook.com/events/442402782502160/

Get ready for a night of mayhem in the company of some of Japan’s finest rockers. Japan Underground has finally finished mopping up the sweat from our last hard rock party, which featured one of east’s finest post-hardcore artists, FACT (check out this video for a glimpse of what went down that night). Now we’re back with a showcase set featuring THREE rock acts that we guarantee will melt your mind. Plus our usual DJ piling on the rockiest, heaviest and all out coolest tracks from Japan for your pleasure. Just get a load of this line-up:

BRAIN DEATH ZOMBIE

To weigh down our rock, we have called upon Kobe’s newest metal outfit BRAIN DEATH ZOMBIE (pictures above). Looming from the shadows of doom metal, and inspired from the likes of Korn, SCREW, DIR EN GREY and alt. noise makers Pay money To my pain, this band bring a unique, artist and deeply haunting edge to the evening’s proceedings. Here’s a preview clip we used for their first ever overseas show earlier in the year:

TAIGEN KAWABE (FROM BO NINGEN)

When he’s not fronting one of the hottest names in psychedelic rock, Bo Ningen, Taigen Kawabe is busy crafting music on his own. Armed with a bass, impressively long hair and an effect pedal, he becomes a one man army of mind melting sound.  Some have likened his solo work to a spiritual experience. So fittingly, here’s a video of his band in action. In a church. Taigen Kawabe, we’re not worthy.

COLORS

Bringing the 80s back! London-based Japanese rock outfit COLORS borrows influences from many genres of music. It’s front man Kenji loves British punk, new wave and old skool visual kei, while other members take inspiration from heavy metal, pop and even a bit of a good old drum ‘n’ bass. They recorded their first music video last year, get your leathers out and have a gander.