Popularity of Jrock in Europe/Western World - Up to us, or them?

[advigilo]

Dear BBC,
I am writing not to complain, but to comment on your radio stations music choice. Well, what I am going to say really does go to every single radio station in the United Kingdom. Your meant to be a learning program. Where people can learn about all cultures and musical types. Seems to me the only music you ever play is Rap, Rock, and Pop from America and our own country. Most of those people mime and can't actually sing. You can't possibly like Kylie Minogue, the only thing she is good at is waving her so called ﾂ'sexy' bum about! These rapers are also a bad influence on are kids of today. Turning them into gangsters themselves, making them want to follow the example of, for instance, 50 Cent. The music now is getting dire, and people are running out of ideas. Well not so much out of ideas, but the ideas aren't getting any better! Really this is my own debate for the UK, but as you are a TV program, I thought you would want to hear what I think, as you are good in that way.
Japanorama, the show you did a couple of years back, you included an interview with one of the greatest jrock band at this current time, Dir en Grey. Dir en Grey are a band I listen to all the time, and I like many others which I will get too later. I just want to take this time to congratulate you on interviewing them, as they are very interesting, BUT they are not a ﾂ'gothic Japanese rock band.' If you must say that, it is called Visual kei, when a band dresses up or/and uses make up. Many other bands do this which you did not mention such as Malice mizer, Gazette, kagerou, Kagraa, Nightmare and when X Japan were still in bandment they used Visual Kei as well. It was a good interview otherwise, and I enjoyed it myself. Good to see them on UK television!
My type is very rare, I am a jrock fan. I only know 2 in England, and, to my knowledge, I may only be the only jrock fan in Northern Ireland. So why is that you ask? Simple, the music of Japan is not accessible enough to Great Britain. Last time I went into HMV, the only thing I saw musically Japanese was the soundtrack to Princess Mononoke(a anime by the creator of Spirited Away)!! So I feel, and my jrock fan friends also feel that the music should be shown, and played on local radio stations. The music is not ﾂ'weird', or ﾂ'strange', the only difference is that it is sung in Japanese! But actually, most will sing in English as well. You may want to ask me back ﾂ'Why do you like jrock/jpop?' This is a question I have asked myself after seeing this thread on a forum which I am Yokan on it - Why do you like Japanese pop/rock music?
I suppose I like to be different. A lot of people are taken back when I say I like Japanese rock, or else, if there just a know it all teenager like in school, they will call it ﾂ'weird', but, well, these people have NEVER heard jrock in their lives, so how can they judge?


THAT'S IT SO FAR!! lol! of course they will listen, it is the BBC HEHE

you should put in a nice intro tough, and some pics etc. great idea!

 

[Rancid__]

Well, in Bosnia there are two fans, me and a friend of mine. I download most of the music and PVs. But buying an album is something that will never happen here, since the country is in a financial crisis. So, the downloading is the only way I can get anything I want. Im trying to get more people listening JRock, but its mostly girls. I have to find a male fan

 

[Enora]

Thank you for your answers Kinsao and Yokan... I knew about the jpop nights but its expensive and i was thinking of something more "rockish".......

Anyway i think i`ll hang around camden to find people like me! lol

 

[Godrina]

XD I know a male jrock fan...but the two others I know are girls.

Nowhere around here sells jrock, so even though it's supposedly illegal to download, I have no other way of getting the music.

Myself, I've never been to a concert, of any kind, so that's kind of ruled out too. Sure, bands will go to NYC, but no one wants to go with me, (I only have 3 friends who like jrock), it's too expensive, and the show is usually sold out before I find out about it.

 

[Yokan]

XD I know a male jrock fan...but the two others I know are girls.

Nowhere around here sells jrock, so even though it's supposedly illegal to download, I have no other way of getting the music.

Myself, I've never been to a concert, of any kind, so that's kind of ruled out too. Sure, bands will go to NYC, but no one wants to go with me, (I only have 3 friends who like jrock), it's too expensive, and the show is usually sold out before I find out about it.

I'M A MALE!!

 

[Kinsao]

Hey Yokan - about your letter... can I say a suggestion? If I was you, I would write to a specific DJ. Y'know, someone from Radio 1, like Zane Lowe or Mike Davies (the lockup is one of the few radio programmes that actually play good music! .... too bad I don't listen to it much anymore... the time thing... ) or whoever DJs the programme that you think plays nearest to the sort of music you like (if that makes any sense).

Then you can include your CD and hope that your letter grabs their interest enough for them to have a listen. Include a good varied mix of top songs, but not too many or they might get scared off and not bother to listen at all.

I'm going to be really mature and moderate here and suggest that you don't slag off the mainstream music too much - not right at the beginning of the letter, anyway. Maybe I'm seeming characteristically restrained and non-confrontational, but bear in mind that you're giving them an impression of yourself. You want them to carry on and read your letter right to the end - and that's only the start; after that you want them to act on your suggestions. So you want to give the impression that you're a "reasonable" person rather than someone with an axe to grind. If I were you I'd concentrate on the interest of the music you're trying to "sell" to them!

Your angle about them being about "learning" is nice... because they will be wanting to "sell" themselves, as well. You could emphasise something about the growing number of fans in the UK, and about how it's becoming an increasingly important sub-culture in Britain. And of course, the most cutting-edge radio stations, especially those that already play rock, metal and punk, will want to stay at the cutting-edge and play stuff that they really think is going to grab their listeners. As far as radio DJs in the UK go, jrock is an incredibly deep and as yet untapped source of interesting good music. If you can get that across to them, and get them to think that there's some depth there, something that's worth their while to explore... then they'll be interested to listen to your CD.

I don't mean to tell you how to write your letter, sorry... ... just a few of my thoughts...

 

[Yokan]

lol, thanks, I will change it. I sent it to something to do with the BBC but they ignored it. ﾂ?垣ﾂ? *notes to hate the BBC except Eastenders from now on*

 

[SaKeVi]

I don't know what to think...

As always... talking about punk, japanese punk is getting an amazing popularity around the world, now, you can talk about bands as Abraham Cross, Framtid, Acid, Rapes etc etc and people understand what you're talking about!! no more boring explanations like:

- Have you heard Disclose??
- Uh?? where are they from??
- Hmmm, they're from Japan... they are a D-beat raw punk band
- Never heard of them...
- Ok...

I hope one day, the same thing could happen to the rest of japanese music...

See you!

 

[DemonHunter]

i dont like Abrahm Cross that much,but they were not bad on the All Crusties Spending Loud Night 2002

 

[Yokan]

The problem with them not being main stream is this: even on amazon.com you still have to Import any J-Music that you order meaning it costs $40+ per CD!!!! I mean, how in the heck do they expect us to pay that?!

Very true, tho, everyone could just could get copied cd's. *cheap skate*

 

[Yokan]

I didn't end up sending that letter well, by email. to the wrong place. I think tho working locally would work more, rather than just jumping to the nations most watched TV program XD. such as cool fm(Belfast) or Citybeat. ^^

 

[Yokan]

Just had another thought. The question on this pool is 'up to us(the fans) or them(the bands)?'. On another point of view, you could ask 'can the UK accept this type of music?'

Alot of people are racist in our country, or, perhaps, could not be bothered to listen to a new type of music. Then again views on jrock is that most of songs are about death(X Japan), love(GACKT), random stuff. (Dir en grey). I suppose when a english person hears about japanese rock,they may automatically assume that it is what they would call 'rubbish'. Obviously not, if they attempted to show an effort to listen.

 

[Yami_no_Hikari]

Everyone around where I live are too caught up in being Emo to even consider new types of music. Of course, I shove it in their faces whenever possible.

I think they should make things like CDs and DVDs more accessible to fans in the west, though. The only place I can get anything would be Anime Cons. Because my parents hate the internet. >.<; They're so afraid of identity theft. I don't really blame them there, though. And at cons everything is freakishly expensive. $35 for a CD wth like.. 4 songs on it? No way.

Of course, I have friends who's parents buy things online often, so maybe I can talk them into getting things for me.

So until more J-stuff comes to the US, I'll just keep trying to increase the fanbase here. Everyone hates me for it, though.

 

[Yokan]

I'm the same lol. SOOO many Emo's here. >_> guess you live in UK then if you know about Emos? Do you not download songs. www.emule-project.com and soulseek, and also limewire(tho i find emule the best) get you quite high search results!

 

[Yami_no_Hikari]

Oi, I do. I'm like the biggest download ***** ever. It's just that I have dial-up AOL, and it takes forever. And I love supporting the bands I love.

Actually, I live in the heart of emo-land, the US of A.

 

[Kinsao]

Just had another thought. The question on this pool is 'up to us(the fans) or them(the bands)?'. On another point of view, you could ask 'can the UK accept this type of music?'

Alot of people are racist in our country, or, perhaps, could not be bothered to listen to a new type of music. Then again views on jrock is that most of songs are about death(X Japan), love(GACKT), random stuff. (Dir en grey). I suppose when a english person hears about japanese rock,they may automatically assume that it is what they would call 'rubbish'. Obviously not, if they attempted to show an effort to listen.

Well, I'm a little older so maybe people's reactions are slightly different to me, but often when I say I listen to Japanese music people are... either they are interested because it sounds like something different, or else they think I'm being pretentious. Far from assuming it's rubbish, they tend to ask me questions especially about the ways it is different from English music. I guess I must meet the open minded people somehow! ☝

 

[drain_away]

ah, i usually avoid telling people i listen to jrock...i get made fun of a lot for it...:? it's really sad, actually...people here are super close-minded. it doesn't help that the city i live in has a HUGE and well-known military base, and therefore the surrounding area is very conservative. i am originally from San Francisco which is MUCH more liberal than the area i now live in, so maybe i'm just not used to it. anyway, like i said, it's a really touchy subject for me. i get made fun of quite a bit, especially when people see pictures of my favorite bands. it's really quite depressing, actually. i only let my REALLY good friends in on it, because i KNOW they won't make fun of me or hurt my feelings by saying things like "what, why do you listen to gay people!? they're all gay, look at how they dress! whatever, your music sucks". because that is what people say to me, and it is very hurtful. mostly because i didn't ask to like this kind of music. i have always been really into history and other cultures, so to me it's only natural that i love this kind of music. it's just who i am. so it's hurtful when people trash it like that.

as far as bringing Jrock to the western world, i'm all for it. i would LOVE it if people could come to accept what i love and appreciate it. it would make me so incredibly happy to just flip on the TV or radio and here some Jrock song or see the brand new music videos of my favorite bands. to have complete access like that would be so amazing. i really do envy everyone in Europe because you guys have more access than we Americans could ever dream of having. you have concerts, you have programs that even occasionally feature japanese music. for me occasionally is MORE than enough. the oppourtunity to see my favorite bands live...to know that they would becoming to MY contry for ME and for other American fans like me...that would be so amazing i can't even begin to tell you how happy that would make me. but i guess for now i can only hope.

and oh my goodness, my school has been over run by "emo" kids and "sceensters". it's sickening, the little lemmings...*kicks them* don't get me wrong, i love the music and the fashion style (OMG hot guys in tight pants!! ) i just hate all these spoiled brats running around my school pretending like their life is so terrible they should kill themselves. honestly. they have clothes, they have houses, they have food, they have their health. but, oh no, they're sitting in the corner slitting their wrists because they are grounded for the week and thus can't go see their favorite band preform songs like "stab my heart because i love you and stabity stab stab". i just wish they would all get over themselves, seriously, ahh...

sorry, people like that REALLY bother me...

 

[Yami_no_Hikari]

I know exactly how you feel. But since I flaunt my love for it about, I've stopped caring what these losers think of me. If they're gonna say my music sucks, then they're gonna say it. I'll just let them know how I think about their music.

As for friends.. Wow. Okay, so I have one friend who sort-of likes JRock, and one who doesn't really care, but doesn't say anything mean to me about it. The other two are 'I don't care [about what you listen to, or you for that matter.]' <-- Oi, she's got problems and she won't let anyone help her and so I have taken it upon myself to make her not depressed-ish. It's just the way she is and I know she cares more than she lets on. My other friend constantly makes fun of me for it. It's kind of annoying.. She always calls them 'girly men' which they kind of are.. But she's not allowed to say that since she's mocking them. She's the one who compared TMR's voice to CHER. I.. Was ready to kill her.

Oi, my one friend who kind of likes JRock is into L'Arc~En~Ciel and Gackt. She's a massive homophobe, though, so I'm constantly telling her of all Gacts little acts. I'm so evil.

Oi, the emo kids here are posers. They think they're emo. It's kind of annoying, too.. And when I cosplayed to school Friday as Reita from Gazetto.. They were all like 'OH YOU SHOP AT HOT TOPC.' But I could have sworn I got cheap clothes to studded-ness-up from Goodwill? I was just like 'Sure, Goodwill is so Hot Topic.' They're the ones that wear the clothes from there. Such hypocrites.

 

[drain_away]

yeah, i just wish i didn't care so much...

my friends call them girly men, too... and gay... but at least none of them compare them to CHER...:auch: i would be so ready to stab their eyes out and ENJOY IT IMMENSELY... MWAHAHAHAHA...

haha, good job! i would do that too!

 

[Yami_no_Hikari]

.. Which brings me to the point of Jrock needs to be more over here because then I can flaunt it at more people easier because my dial-up sucks for downloading music!

Yeah.. But her bird just died.. Another one.. So I can't hurt her right now because it would be too mean.

 

[Kinsao]

Got to admit that people tend to ask me about my music tastes at random times, like in the middle of a work meeting or at a party, so I haven't actually shown them pictures of j-rockers like: "see, here are the musicians". I've always been only explaining their music, so I don't know what their reactions to the pictures would be. My mom has seen pictures because they're round my house, but she doesn't make any comments because (a) she's not homophobe and (b) I've always put up 'weird' (by some standards anyway ) pictures and she likes 'em.

Mind you, I do have pictures of j-rockers as backgrounds for all of my electronic document files at work (and that's a lot!). Makes a glorious technicolor visual experience for any of my colleagues hunting through my files..... They seem to appreciate it but I don't think they associate the pics with my taste in music!

I feel sorry for anyone surrounded by closed-mindedness. My worst barrier is apathy. People are really not particularly interested! Most of my closest friends aren't even really into music apart from turning on the radio every now and then.

 

[drain_away]

Yeah...I carry around my binders at school, which are COVERED in pictures...I had to stop bringing my one with a picture of Aya because people kept bothering me... it was so pretty, too... now, I have one that has one side, Diru, and the other side, just Daisuke. But it's sad because people will look at Daisuke and say he's a woman. okay, okay, Shinya, I can understand...but don't say stuff like that about my future husband, people!! what's worse is they even think Ka-chan looks like a girl, and the pictures I have are really RECENT pictures... it's so sad... at least the kids in my art class have gotten used to it, so they don't say anything anymore. They actually look at the PICTURE as a whole, rather than focusing on the subject. So most of the time, they'll just say stuff like, "Hey, cool picture", which is awesome, to me.

My mom used to be really awkward every time I mentioned jrock. Still, I think she realised I had stopped talking about it because it bothered me, so she came over to me one time while I was listening to music, she came over to me. She said, "I'm sorry I don't have the same exact taste in music as you, but I really do care if you like this kind of stuff, and I fully support anything you appreciate. I do care." I was so happy... *happy tears* I'm really close to my mom, so I talk to her a lot, and it was sad for me not to be able to talk about something I love so much. Hehe...of course now she knows their names (not by heart, but if I start talking about Miyavi, she won't look at me like I'm an alien...) and she actually Plastic Tree and Ayumi Hamasaki. Every time I mention Ayumi Hamasaki, she says, "oh, she sings beautiful songs, I like her." and because I've gotten really into Plastic Tree lately, she knows a lot of their songs. she also likes "Reila" by Gazette... although she got frustrated at me once because she said she got it stuck in her head at work and she couldn't sing along... she hasn't said anything, but I've always had a feeling she appreciates Miyavi, too...although she really dislikes Diru... she says Kyo-Kun's voice is weird...which...I can't see an entire dispute...:? but I still love him...

I can't understand people who don't listen to or really like music. I guess it's just how I was raised, but I just don't see how they could be HAPPY... I literally don't go anywhere without music. My mom always complains that I can't get anything done without listening to music...and it's pretty true... I just like the way it makes me feel...you can communicate such intense emotions through music. That's what I love about it. I had a friend once who didn't really like music...er...we never got along very well... heheheheheh...

 

[Yami_no_Hikari]

I hate my mom. She's always.. Not.. Nice to me. And whenever I listen to my Jrock in the car she's like 'Oh no not THAT stuff.' Thanks.

Ahaha, I printed off SO many Gazetto pics that reside in my backpack.. I kept trying to explain Reita to people and they didn't understand so I brought pictures to show them. When they were like 'That looks like a girl.' I brought in pictures of the rest of the band. I love people's reactions. Especially because they can't do anything about what I like. Just wait until I make them LISTEN to it. They'll insist I see the guidance counsolers. My school is so close-minded.

 

[drain_away]

ah...that's so sad... sorry...

wow, i really wish i could be more like you...i care way too much about what other people think...i'm so jealous... i try to be more like that a lot, but it never works because i am a HUGE crybaby...

 

[Yokan]

Well, I'm a little older so maybe people's reactions are slightly different to me, but often when I say I listen to Japanese music people are... either they are interested because it sounds like something different, or else they think I'm being pretentious. Far from assuming it's rubbish, they tend to ask me questions especially about the ways it is different from English music. I guess I must meet the open minded people somehow! ☝

Yeah, people are just plain weird to me if I say i like jrock. Tho some people are taken back.