My Supporters
Thank You <3
When I started Chromatic Dreamers, I was a rookie guitarist with a dream that seemed distant.
I didn’t have any musician friends, no connections in high places, but I still took a leap of faith.
My older friends were encouraging, and I’ve made new friends on the journey.
I’m always appreciative of the support, advice, discussions, and assistance I’ve received from these people.
I couldn’t have done it or be where I am without you guys ^_^ Here’s my shoutout to you~
My Parents <3
I grew up in a musical home. My parents weren’t famous or anything, but they both played keyboard casually and I do recall faint memories of being in a short beginner keyboard class before they bought me one of my own. I was raised in the church and grew up with Christian values, so I appreciate them for that. Both my parents would play gospel music on Sabbath. My father had many records so I would hear Michael Jackson, The Four Tops, Saturday Night Fever, Bob Marley, and even some Italian artists. My mother definitely liked more modern artists and had CDs for Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion.
While my parents separated and divorced, neither discouraged us from our musical dreams. Of course my mom would have worries about it being possible or making enough money to survive, but she’d never outright say, ‘no, you can’t do that’. Whenever I had to practice music at home, I was never told to ‘be quiet’ or that ‘I suck’. Even when my brother was blasting his music as he was training to be a producer (we don’t talk btw), she allowed it. If we ever needed money for trips or reeds or anything else for my school programs, she was always ready and willing to support despite our struggles.
My Music Teachers
Mr. Lomonoco, Mr. Falla,
Ms. Chase (RIP), Mr. Ballantyne
Richard Burrows
I’m always so thankful to have grown up in Toronto where music was part of the curriculum. I learned recorder through my home room teachers in elementary school. In middle school, I got to learn clarinet with Mr. Lomonoco. In Grade 8, my friends invited me to join choir, and we got to team up with other schools to perform with a famous jazz singer at Roy Thompson Hall.
In high school, I got to continue clarinet in Mr. Falla’s Grade 9 band class. Ms. Chase joined the school that same year, so I spent a lot of time with her as she was in charge of Choir, singing for the drama club’s musical production, and she offered Viola/Violin lessons after school that year. I then was in her band class the following year, and with such a small class, we were allowed to play anything. While it is a faint memory, that was the first time I picked up guitar, a nylon one. I only did single notes and played easy classical pieces with the class. Both teachers (along with Richard Burrows who’d pass by the school just for rehearsal) were in charge of drum line those two years before they both transferred schools. I have many fond memories with both of them as we performed around the city and had a weekend trip to the USA to see a school drum line competition. It was a shock to hear that Ms. Chase passed away a few years later, but she has been an inspiration to many musical students like me.
Mr. Ballantyne was my teacher in Grade 11 for Music/Computers. Band was cancelled due to lack of interest and while looking for a class to fill my empty slow, I had a couple friends in here so I joined. Ironically, the FL Studio I was gifted in Christmas 2022 is the upgraded version of Fruity Loops which we learned back then. While I haven’t touched it since, it was certainly a fun class. He took us on a free trip to a music studio and we ended up writing a song. I was the only girl in the class and the only one to have performed and sang on stage in the past, so I got pushed to sing for the track “Sick and Tired“. I wasn’t in the best mood that day and considered not going, but my classmates dragged me. Regardless getting to record in a studio is a memory I’ll always have with me. I’ve certainly learned a lot and got to have many wonderful experiences in high school. I don’t just appreciate my teachers, but my classmates who joined and participated in these clubs to make it possible.
Yumiko Kurosawa
I met Yumiko when I attempted to make my first band in 2014. He’s such a talented guitarist who loves to cover and create Visual Kei music. While the band didn’t work out, we kept in touch and would discuss Jmusic. When I first picked up electric guitar in 2017, I would ask him questions about sound and technique (as I didn’t have internet at home), and he would give detailed responses, even recording little video clips to demonstrate it.
That year, he also invited to one of his gigs at Idol revolution, one of Dolly Momoiro’s shows, and he introduced me to her then. During the event, he gifted me with one of his guitar picks to encourage me on my journey. He also invited me to his next gig for Japan Fest at the JCCC in 2018. Seeing him perform on stage made me realize my dream doesn’t have to be that far away. He’s also been to Japan alone a few times, so it didn’t seem as scary or impossible when I planned my own trip. All in all, I owe a lot to him whether he knows it or not, though I do let him know every now and then 😛
Dolly Momoiro
As mentioned above, I met Dolly through Yumiko in 2017. I’m not part of the Harajuku community, so I didn’t run into her again until 2019 when she started promoting another Idol Revolution event. I’ve uploaded a few dance covers of my own on my other channel, BlackeRoid, so I asked if I could dance and she allowed me to be a guest dancer on her team, in which I met a few others on the current THS.Go! team. We only had maybe 2 months to get together and learn about 7 dances, but it was fun getting to share my love of Japanese dances with others for once. My song of choice was “Gachinko de Ikou” by Buono, a dance I loved since high school.
In 2020, me and her started talking more casually and became real friends. She told me then that she retired from the Harajuku community, along with planning and hosting events. While I knew she loved it, I also knew it burnt her out and she had yet to really find a place of belonging for herself. Thus, in 2022, I was surprised when she said she was hosting another Idol Revolution event at her current workplace, See-Scape. That’s when I asked if my band could perform and she said ‘of course!’ I was losing hope as the summer was coming to an end and I had no luck finding a full band event for us, so I thank her soo much for allowing us the opportunity and for helping me bring my band dream to life <3 She does host a lot of events at See-Scape, and she’s also a verified artist with a few releases of her own, so if you like all things creepy and spooky, check her out!
My BandMates
CLoud, Norman & Ptollemy
In 2020, I decided to try making a band one more time…third time’s the charm! It was hard finding members during the pandemic, but I finally had a team in 2021. The band project only lasted a year and some, but regardless, it required a lot of work, commitment, time, energy, money and more. I literally could not have brought the dream to life alone. You guys already got your own page, so Imma keep it short here lol Despite the ups and downs, I’ll always be thankful to have you guys go on the journey with me.
Riva AKA RivaVT
Riva is actually a high school friend of mine, a year younger. She was definitely super shy in the past and I was the extrovert who went around adopting the introverts and outcasts in my school. She was really sweet and we bonded over our love of anime. When I wanted to choreograph an epic sword fight for a high school assembly, her and our mutual friend, Hunny Senpai, joined me. She definitely faced her fears of stage freight for my sake.
She has always been super supportive of my pursuits, and was there when I needed someone to rant to or just needed a little encouragement. When my band had our first acoustic gig at the Pretty Heroes convention, she was the only friend of ours who got a ticket and came out to watch us. She got a seat in the front row and helped me with recording. You can consider us our first real fan <3
It’s been a blessing to see her grow, build confidence, and pursue her own dreams. I know she has always wanted to be a streamer, so I pushed her to get that computer and get it going asap. She took my advice and started her stream the same time she went back to school for writing. Within a few months, she’s gotten quite a few supporters and even became a Twitch affiliate! I’m so proud of her ^_^ So if you love watching streamers play FPS or RPG games, please send her some love and support!
JOnathan Lane
Professional Music Photographer
This guy is a photographer and a newer colleague of mine. We were both part of The Japanese Music Experience Facebook group. One day, he made a post asking if anyone was going to see the Japanese band Scandal in Toronto. I listened to Scandal quite a bit in my high school days and my band was covering one of their songs, Shunkan Sentimental, so I heard about their concert on Spotify. However, I was really broke and still concerned about Covid, so I replied saying I thought about it but didn’t buy tickets, as he may just be looking for other fans.
To my surprise, he sent me a DM and offered me his spare VIP ticket for free since time was running short and he had no luck reselling it. A few days before the concert, he went to the States to catch another band, but he realized he wouldn’t make it back in time, so he offered me his front row ticket as well. It was truly a blessing to go out and do something fun as I’ve been home all year except for family visits and band rehearsals. Seeing Scandal perform gave me a huge motivation boost before my band’s first gig, and I also got to write my first concert review on this blog. He is a photographer and takes many amazing photos of countless concerts on his Instagram and website, so please check him out!
My Fans & Ko-Fi Supporters
On my Ko-Fi shop, I have written mostly eBooks on Japanese music and lyrics. I wasn’t sure if there was any demand for the topic as I was walking into the unknown, but each sale means so much to me <3
There are also others who have joined my Facebook group, Let’s Study Japanese Music, and through that, we connected and they’ve been really supportive of my endeavors. Here’s their shoutout!
My coolest supporter, Jet Sapet, has finally taken the leap to release his ideas and share his music. He has created a “virtual record label” and created imaginary bands. With AI art from a friend, he created 2 bands: “Shiori Seven Sister” & “Kawaii Moon”. Thanks for giving me a shoutout in your video <3
First Shop Sale
Eike Germann
First Monthly Supporter
Dave
Coolest
Ko-Fi Fan
Jet
Sapet
Biggest Encourager
BOomer Dell
Special Fiverr Sellers
I’ve used Fiverr countless times since 2015, for logos, tabs, chibis, video ads, and more.
There are so many talented people on there who can help you create almost anything you can imagine!
For Chromatic Dreamers, there are a couple special people I need to give a special thanks to!
ibnuhawari
For The Natsukashii KumoLogo
Even before I created this blog, I was looking for a logo for my rookie cover band, Chromatic Dreamers. On Fiverr, I picked a few that had cool music logos, and I asked each of them if they were anime fans, as I wanted someone who could bring out that feeling and vibe. This seller was the first who said he knew anime so I took a chance on him. While I didn’t really have a vision for the logo, he totally came through! After I made the blog, he was willing to give me variations for each page and background. Definitely one of the best purchases I’ve made.
Mortecius
For Guitar Chord Transcriptions
The internet is still limited when it comes to Jpop chords. I can find popular tracks on Songsterr, Ultimate Guitar, and Anime Chords, but for unpopular or forgotten songs like I Wish and Seven (Digimon), Shiawase no Niji (Gakuen Alice), Gravity (One OK Rock ft. Satoshi Fujihara), I’ve gone to Mortecius to have them transcribed. I’m still a newbie guitarist, so it’s hard to try to figure out the weird and uncommon chords in these songs, but Mortecius with his jazz background makes it look easy. He can always figure out the right chord that really brings out the nuances in the music we play, even super rare and unusual ones like Em9add13 or Fm7b5. He’s in two bands, so definitely check out his socials as well!
My Musical Colleagues
Some of these are older friends who have also have ambitions in music. Some of these are people I’ve connected with when I was looking for band members and we stayed in touch. It can be hard making it in the business, so I hope you guys check them out and give them some support as well ^_^
Marz.
This producer is the brother of my friend, Hunny Senpai. Due to her family’s circumstances, I’ve gotten quite close to them. Marz is like a lil bro, but he’s also encouraged me quite a bit. He’s very ambitions and has been releasing his beats for sale. More recently, he officially released his first rap track on Spotify, so definitely go check him out and support him! ^_^
Ralf Caetano
Ralf applied to my band back in 2020, but life got in the way. Regardless, we kept in touch and he’s always been really helpful when it came to band advice. He is currently in a couple active bands, “Mute Sounds” & “The Midsummers“. Definitely check them out and attend a gig if you can!
