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1. Tokyo Below: A Documentary of Independent Rock Mus…
1 year ago
Tokyo Below is a subterranean train ride through the city's underground music scene. Down here it seems as though the overwhelming pop culture of the streets of Tokyo has had little effect. Starting at its rock and roll influences and progressing into the sounds of punk, hardcore, and emo the Tokyo music scene more directly parallels its American counterpart than the native pop mainstream.
Featuring the political punk music of DStolemybear, the melodic sounds of Bluebeard, and the glam rock of the Blue Velvets, Tokyo Below captures the struggle of the independent band to be heard among the overwhelming popularity of Japanese pop music. The film also explores the next generation of indie bands making a name for themselves including 13th Month, I am Yours, and Cloud Egg.
Produced, directed, and edited by filmmaker James R. Petix in 2001, the film gives a new look at the documentary medium combining music video style editing with non-linear storytelling.
The film was shot using a combination of digital video and Super 8mm film to create the look of a nostalgic tour through an ultra modern city. Like a subway train, the film takes time to stop and look at the many different music styles and the individuals that choose to go against the grain and stand out amongst the crowds of people up above.
Featuring the political punk music of DStolemybear, the melodic sounds of Bluebeard, and the glam rock of the Blue Velvets, Tokyo Below captures the struggle of the independent band to be heard among the overwhelming popularity of Japanese pop music. The film also explores the next generation of indie bands making a name for themselves including 13th Month, I am Yours, and Cloud Egg.
Produced, directed, and edited by filmmaker James R. Petix in 2001, the film gives a new look at the documentary medium combining music video style editing with non-linear storytelling.
The film was shot using a combination of digital video and Super 8mm film to create the look of a nostalgic tour through an ultra modern city. Like a subway train, the film takes time to stop and look at the many different music styles and the individuals that choose to go against the grain and stand out amongst the crowds of people up above.
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Deng2 months ago -
Hero7 months ago -
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Alex10 months ago
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Randolfe Wicker11 months ago
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The Money Shot1 year ago -
Nicolás Mutis1 year ago
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It was shot over fourteen days by myself, Kaoru Imafuku, and Kristian Donaldson who went on to become an incredible comic artist for DC and IDW. He also created the artwork for the original DVD cover. While we were only able to discover a sliver of the independent rock scene at the time, I think what we found still stands out to this day. I still get an email every few months about people looking for more music from the band Bluebeard. A clip of the band I put on YouTube has over 90,000 hits! I was recently contacted by the lead singer of the band, Yoshikazu (who is now in another band, As Meias that sounds just as good) and he provided me a link to Japanese shop where you can buy their original CD.
So here it is, almost seven years later. I hope you enjoy it, and share it with others.
-James
Great work! Very nostalgic.
I've come to love different varieties of Japanese Music. Certain PV videos by groups like L'arc en Ceil (and even Arashi) and Masterpieces like "Triangle" by BoA & DBSK are true works of art.
Japanese music videos sometimes tell truly touching stories. "Sanoyara", the videos about the girl who came down with a terminal disease & kept a diary for ten years while dying, even the BoA video about a deceased boyfriend who keeps an eye (and camera) on her after he's killed in a cycle crash are very affecting.
Music videos like W-inds "Love is the Greatest Thing" make our current videos look amateurish. I see you stumbled on a Visual Kei band. They are all rock but so many perform like carbon copies of each other. Le Cemu (sp?) is more artistic and original. I spent an awful lot of time capturing videos on the Internet either with Snapx Pro or by downloading them at Veoh. Then I make selections, export them to my camera & burn DVDs with selections grouped according to ambience--"elegant" (Kamenashi solos, Tackey, Dream Boys, etc); rock groups--visual kei, all female, all male & ones like AAA that you might think are more "pop" than "rock". I love a lot of stuff Kat-tun does since they cover a huge range of music.
I really enjoyed watching your documentary. A friend of mine made a documentary about Glam Gods & Rock Stars in Los Angeles in the late 1990s.
I'd be happy to send you a few DVDs since I have a duplicator I use just to make copies for friends. The trouble is I can find almost no one who shares my tastes or has any interest in Japanese Music. I went out looking to buy some Japanese music at a Virgin Megastore and they did not have even one DVD at their outlet on Union Square in NYC. The prices I've seen on the internet are steep & I find it's worth the time and trouble to make DVDs of songs I've collected and liked.
I've just discovered Vimeo & this is my first day here. I've been working through the 124 videos that were found using the search term "JPOP". Glad you used that as a tag. I play around with video but have a strange collection of products which frequently "frighten" people. I've done a couple 28 minute documentaries for public television here in NYC. You can see one of them about NYC's "Dance Parade" on Veoh. However, you have to sign in, say you are an adult & "include sexy results" to get the link. Send me an email or let me know if you'd like a few free homemade DVDs. You could sample some of the 300 or 400 "favorites" I have on Veoh but they tend to run in "batches"--like many of the last ones are Visual Kei videos and the one group I like most consistently out of them is Alice Nine. I use my real name everywhere on the Internet and my real picture also. I'll add it here soon. Keep up the good work. I've taken the trouble to write this since I know what a thankless task it is to produce video and put it on the Internet & then get no real feedback. That's why I've been having "video-block" recently.