Big In Japan - a new film by John Jeffcoat

Remember the days of mixtapes? This is a great funny tune from...

Sun, 05 May 2013 19:44:02 -0700

Remember the days of mixtapes? This is a great funny tune from Tennis Pro for a Sunny Day.

New Maldives album on Spotify!

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:54:32 -0700

New Maldives album on Spotify!

Photo

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:22:46 -0700

The 59 ft Gundam. Considering shooting a scene in his shadow.

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:08:04 -0700

The 59 ft Gundam. Considering shooting a scene in his shadow.

Location scouting in Tokyo.

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:06:56 -0700

Location scouting in Tokyo.

Snake shochu anyone?

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:12:03 -0700

Snake shochu anyone?

Audio

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:24:08 -0700

Rigging the van

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:22:22 -0800

Rigging the van

Behind the Scenes of Big in Japan

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:21:47 -0800

Behind the Scenes of Big in Japan:

Some snippets from our Seattle shoot.

Let the shooting begin...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:06:52 -0700

My sabbatical is over and we’re heading back into production. Big in Japan will shoot the Seattle scenes November 7-11th. Stay tuned for production updates!

All of Us Have Been Nearly Flattened

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 12:19:21 -0800

We are learning that Tokyo is a city built not so much for cars or feet as for bicycles. The flow of bikes is constant. Be warned—rather than share the road with cars, the pedaling pack rule the sidewalks with a metal alloy and rubber fist. All of us have been nearly flattened. They come hurtling down the middle of the walks like wobbly missiles steered with one hand (the other arm is for umbrellas, phones, groceries, or babies, duh!). The warning signs? There are none—save for a throaty bike bell, which serves less as a warning and more as a eulogy: He was a good man, until he took an old lady and her metal basket full of packaged frozen fish parts to the backside. To be a pedestrian is to be forced to keep your head on a swivel, ready to flatten yourself against a wall or hug a street sign on a moment’s notice. All of us have barked the phrase “Phil! Bike!” more than I care to count. Learning to say “sorry, I am a fool” in Japanese has become our first priority.

But as a by-product of all this vehicular near-death on two wheels, you start to realize the good shops and restaurants are not along the main drags, but in the sidestreets and alleyways. Such was Café Arles, a strange little place we found before our show in the Shinjuku district that served tasty rice omelets with hamburger steaks and gravy on the side. I have never witnessed a more informed or curious art collection under one roof—a combination of cat art, clown paintings, and shelves of racy Japanese comic books. In the bathroom stall(!), I faced off with one of the most beautiful French paintings I have ever seen on one wall and a vintage Snoopy cuckoo clock on the other. Magical. And yes, there is a cat roaming the restaurant defying the American concept of health codes. Sean tried to woo the cat, but it was wise to his advances. It made a sour face and dashed away. The owner, trying to be a good host, cradled the cat in his arms, cooing at it and before passing it to Sean. The cat promptly scratched Sean and leapt to freedom.

On a side note, no tipping is allowed in this country at restaurants. It is considered nothing less than an insult to your kind host who is trying to serve you. Your tip says “I cannot receive your wonderful gift of food without imposing myself on the equation.” Receive and be happy. I love this country.

On stage at a “live house” in Tokyo

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:29:28 -0700

On stage at a “live house” in Tokyo

A Swift Kick to the Shinjuku

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:19:07 -0700

A little beat up from the events of day one (reference 10-hour flight, 16 hour time shift, and the hours-long ceremonial dragging of luggage through city streets) it took most of the day to find our feet in time to head out for our first show at Red Cloth in the Shinjuku neighborhood. This was our our first “live house” (what they call rock clubs in Japan).

Live Houses—What You Need to Know:

1. Live houses are essentially cement-encased basement bars two narrow flights underground, sealed off from the world above by a series of soundproofed meat locker doors. Edgar Allen Poe would have a field day.

2. Upon arrival you will be handed two pages of rules written in Japanese: Do not hurt or disrespect the stage or equipment; do not loiter in front of the club; etc. You will also be required to submit your set list for approval including the length in minutes and seconds of each song you intend to play.

3. Everybody in the venue will be chain smoking. The smoke has nowhere else to go, so it will flee into your eyes and hair.

4. Shows start promptly at 7 pm, and finish at 10:10 pm on the button. How many times have you been out on a Tuesday waiting for your friend’s band to go on at 1 a.m. NO MORE!

5. The sound is brazenly bright and loud. Wear earplugs or die. On the plus side, all that ear pain will distract you from the smoke.

6. In America, most opening bands are trying to be important. In Japan, most opening bands are just trying to be American. A refreshing change.

7. There are no drink tickets for the band. If you want a cup of tap water on stage, that will cost you almost 4 dollars. On the flip side, the club will look the other way on you bringing in jars of whisky and tallboys of Sapporo.

8. Upside: drums and amps are provided, and are virtually identical from one club to the next. At the end of the night, club staff will go after the drums like Native Americans on a downed buffalo, disassembling them down to their tiniest bits, individually wiping, packaging and carrying them off.

9. If there is a green room it is the size of a thimble. Even so, at least one of the Japanese bands will be in there all night changing in and out of their drag outfits for the stage.

10. The bathroom provides no hand towels or other means by which to dry your hands. The trash can in said bathroom would get roughed up in a fight with most Big Gulp cups.

11. They aren’t kidding about the loitering. If club staff see you standing out by the street, they will fasion their arms into an “x” and warn you about the “very angry gangster” living above the club.

Only the Best for my crew.

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:56:20 -0700

Only the Best for my crew.

It's not an adventure until you get lost

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 20:21:26 -0700

Before you are allowed to board the sky train from the airport to the subway, they clean it. This entails a man in a helmet sauntering through the already pristine train cars as the seats spin around like disco balls. We took the sky train to the subway.

The Tokyo subway map looks like a plate of spaghetti noodles. This is not, however, where we lost our way. When we exited the station we set off walking in the wrong direction toward the hostel. 5 blocks later we realized our error and set off in a NEWER and MORE WRONG direction. Seven loud white guys dragging boxes, luggage and musical instruments blaming each other and getting more and more lost.

Low doorways, Low-hanging fixtures, cramped stairwells: If you are tall and come to Japan, be prepared for a series of head injuries and near decapitations. Likewise, sidewalks apparently belong to the speeding one-handed bicyclists (other hand is for cellphones, groceries, umbrellas, or children). Keep your eyes open, your head on a swivel. Even so,you will be struck.

Tokyo is beautiful in that big city way, but much more quiet. No horns honking, no yelling, only quiet and efficient cars on the street. It’s like New York City on socked feet.

—David

Day One

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:44:53 -0700

Here it is, Day 7 in Japan and we are finally getting a blog post up for Day One Part One of our journey. We have been busy. Also, when it comes to internet connectivity, Japan is as technologically saavy as, say, your average junior high school in 1998.

First impressions as we touched down at the misty Narita airport on the outer edge of Tokyo is that it looks like the Washington coast from the air. As we taxied to the terminal, however we passed several “Jurassic Park” type enclosures—houses or buildings surrounded by high fences (think golf driving range) with terraced gardens and climbing vines. Maybe they are growing dinosaurs in there. Better yet, Godzilla.

First rule of Tokyo: We Don’t Have Garbage Cans. Nope. Not in the airport. Not in public spaces. Not anywhere. This is because even the idea of having garbage is disrespectful to us. We have vending machines every fifteen feet, but when you are finished with that Coke, you will have to absorb the can into your skin or hang on to it for hours and hours and finally hide it in a planter.

—David

junior high badminton team displaying their tennis pro drop...

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:28:19 -0700

junior high badminton team displaying their tennis pro drop cards

The morning after

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:51:20 -0700

The morning after

The Girls of Tennis Pro

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 09:43:14 -0700

The Girls of Tennis Pro

Another crowded Train in Tokyo.

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 08:49:00 -0700

Another crowded Train in Tokyo.