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If you’re coming across this website prior to 2022, just know, you are truly one of the first, and I truly appreciate you being here. ^_^
This band is the product of a 15 year dream.
I, Nostalgia, have wanted to be in a band since I saw my middle school’s rock band practicing in the music room around 2006. I’ve always loved music class and pop rock music, but I never had friends who shared my interest.
In 2015, I attempted to make my first anime band. I found 4 amazing people online, and also persuaded my shy bassist friend to join. The only issue was, I didn’t really play any rock band instruments. So I decided I was going to learn drums since I already built a foundation in drum line. However, it was impossible to practice without a kit and I didn’t want to hold everyone back, so I switched to keyboard, which I was more comfortable with.
We had one rehearsal where we covered 3 K-ON!! songs (Fuwa Fuwa Time, Don’t Say Lazy & No Thank You), and it went really well! Everyone was really cool and rehearsal was fun. I was so excited to move forward and see all the places we could go…
Sadly, it was hard putting another rehearsal together. Everyone had different schedules and no one really responded in the group chat. After talking to a wall for a few months, I just gave up. No one really seemed to care or ask about it anyways. It was heart breaking, but there was nothing more I could do.
I still kept in touch with the guitarist, Ty aka Yumiko Kurosawa. He was a super cool and very talented musician who was always willing to answer my questions and hand me resources. In the years following, he invited me to a couple J-music events that he was performing at. Those were some of the first and only Japanese events I’ve been to. Seeing others on stage and seeing someone I know be there certainly proved to me that it was possible. I just needed people to join me..
In 2017, I was trying to find a hobby I could stick to. I ended my only long term relationship and wanted something to distract myself. My family has been struggling financially for a long time, so we didn’t have cable or internet. I have only been working for a couple years, so I was spending most of my money paying off bills and loans.
Thanks to Guitar Hero, I was feeling somewhat interested in guitar for the first time. I avoided it for so long because it was so overly popular, and I didn’t want to work hard just to be average…but then I remember my band dream and just how much I love music.
I was still scared and hesitant though. By the time I graduated high school, I figured I had no musical talent, especially compared to the other kids. I played many instruments, keyboard, clarinet, viola, harmonica, bass drum…but I never stuck to anything or played them regularly enough to really be great at it. So I told myself, if I was going to invest in a guitar, I will practice everyday to become decent. I didn’t want to make the mistake of only learning and memorizing songs, I wanted to be able to create and improvise so I wouldn’t be stuck in a box. I was willing to commit, so I found a black Behringer strat and a red Roland Cube amp on Kijiji for really great prices.
I learned some basic chords and spent a lot of time working on scales because I wanted to be a lead guitarist. I would print out pictures and blog posts at work to learn and study at home. I was working evening shifts, but an unplugged guitar was quiet enough for me to practice when everyone, including my little sister who shared the room, was sleeping. The more I learned and studied the charts, the more I noticed patterns, and it allowed me to memorize things faster and also create and improvise. I was able to apply music theory for the first time in my life and that’s what really got me attached to the guitar.
Around this time, I attempted to make a band again. I found 3 guys online, but once I put them in a group chat, they went quiet. Oh well…
I then decided to invest in private lessons. I stuck to guitar for 6 months and wasn’t really sure where to go next, so I thought a teacher could help. I found a cool local teacher and he was impressed by all I could do and create so far.
For my third lesson, he gave me an assignment, learn to play “Still Got The Blues” by Gary Moore by ear. I did my best, and I got the notes right…but when I came to class, he said it was all wrong. It had to play in the higher frets, needed to include the bends and slides….He also wanted me to play with distortion and mute it, all things I never really practiced before. And he wanted me to play it full speed on the spot.
Obviously, I wasn’t able to do all that despite how hard I tried, and I was discouraged. He then said something along the lines of, I guess we got to start over from the beginning. It felt like i disappointed him and wasted 6 months. I said I will work on it alone and come back when I’m ready, but I ended up just putting down the guitar…
I tried to find other hobbies to spend my time, but they usually required money, space, lessons, etc. I knew I wanted to be really good at something and spend my time working on it, but it was hard finding something to commit to.
In 2019, Dolly Momoiro, the host of some events Ty performed at, was hosting another Idol Revolution event. I reached out asking if I could dance, as I already had some dances on my other channel. She said sure, and invited me to be a guest on the THS (Toronto Harajuku Style) dance team.
It was certainly interesting seeing how she ran her boat and how quickly things came together within the span of 2 months. I was usually the kind of leader who wanted everyone’s opinions and mutual agreement, but I also saw how much quicker things went when things were laid down and people willingly followed.
A week after we performed, I actually went to my first concert! I was a huge fan of ONE OK ROCK since 2012. While I listened to a lot of Japanese bands, I would only play a handful of songs on repeat or would get tired of them eventually.
I never got tired of OOR though. I loved Taka’s voice and the messages in the songs. It was nice having more and more English appear over their years as I could sing along too. While I’m not one who loves the idea of loud crowded concerts (ironic, eh?), I had it on my bucket list to see them at least once.
I missed a couple of their previous concerts as I didn’t know until after the event or I didn’t know how to even buy tickets. Thankfully, a good friend gave me the heads up this time. I got my tickets right away (It was only like $60!) and I went alone.
I had yet to listen to their newest album, but the songs still touched me, and I sang along loud to their previous hits. I have NEVER bought merch before for anything, and I almost left without buying, but it was certainly a moment I wanted to remember.
As a resolution for 2020, I said I would pick it guitar again. I already had a guitar and I never felt the same spark for any other hobbies I tried. The previous year also riled me up and made me more eager to bring the band dream to life.
Guitar Tricks had a new years deal so I paid for it, hoping to fill any gaps in my foundation, and it was great! I was interested in learning some anime songs, but it was hard finding the motivation if I was never going to perform it, so after catching up, I started working on creating a band again.
I reached out to Ptollemy from my first band, and surprisingly, he was still interested in playing. I also reached out to Chu, a mutual friend of girls who were in a Kpop cover group I made that also fell apart before we ever got to record anything. I knew she had a singing group that she was passionate about, but she said they never got to record anything either. She was hesitant at first, feeling a little lazy, but she did tell me she had a band dream too and was inspired by Evanescence, so with a little pushing, she was on board.
We had our old drummer on board and found a lead guitarist online, so we put together a rehearsal while the economy opened up for the summer. The lead guitarist who was so eager to jam and pushed for us to rehearse sooner (even though I wanted to wait for numbers to get lower), but then he cancelled a couple days before. And the drummer who said he will be there flaked and has yet to respond to my messages. It really hurt being ghosted, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from making this happen this time around. Due to Covid and lockdowns, we weren’t able to recruit anyone new for the rest of 2020.
I had ads up for a months and had people responding since December 2020. I made it clear that rehearsals are Sunday, that they must love Japanese music and anime (you’d be surprised how many non-fans would respond), and that the goal was to perform on stage one day. I didn’t care about their skill level because I know anyone can learn an instrument with time. What matters most is their passion and dedication.
We held our actual audition/rehearsal late June 2021, and we were able to gain 2 more members, Norman, our lead guitarist, and Doug, our drummer.
I’m feeling really good this time. I’ve learned from my mistakes and I’ve done a lot of research on how to make a successful band. We didn’t sound too shabby our first couple rehearsals either if I should say so myself.
Of course, it’s still a dream for now, but I’ll make sure we get on stage by 2022!
~Nostalgia