Daydreamin' Reminiscin'

I hate Sundays. All I ever do is sit and lounge when I should be studying or something. Almost 2 years ago I got into rock music, the first band that took me away was ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION.

It was something magical about this band, I heard of this band before because of the anime series Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist (they had 2 songs that were the opening themes for each respective series). But at that time I never liked rock, just liked watching anime. Aside from the opening themes which I heard about a year prior to my transition from rap to rock, the first AJIKAN (the band's nickname) song that got me obsessed was called "Rashinban" which translate to "Compass" if I am correct. Since then I was considering picking up the guitar, but I was still skeptical on the idea.

It wasn't until BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad aired on MuchMusic and I just happened to be channel surfing and decided to spend the next half hour watching the episode that was on. I remember a friend of mine that watched the series before it was even licensed in North America. After the first episode I solidified my decision, but instead of the guitar I picked up the BASS. Why? 'Cause Taira looked like such a bad ass with his bass.

Around April of 2007 I started playing my instrument, taking weekly lessons. Now it's been over a year and half and I'm still playing the bass today. Since then I've bought 2 Fender Precision Basses, one acoustic guitar from Japan (that I had to sadly leave behind in Vietnam), and most recently an Epiphone SG. I started playing guitar as you can see, but don't expect me to put much emphasis on it, my heart still belongs to my bass(es).

Ever since AJIKAN, I've discovered many other great bands (like ELLEGARDEN), but one band that stood out the most was STRAIGHTENER (ストレイテナー). These guys were something different, AJIKAN was a true rock and roll band, while ELLEGARDEN was a hard-edged punk with melodic harmonies band, and then you have STRAIGHTENER, you wouldn't know what to categorize them as they're THAT UNIQUE.

Another reason why I love them is because of their badd bass player Hidekazu Hinata. This guy is just phenomenal. Being me I tend to always do background checks on stuff I like. Interesting fact about Hinata, his first band (or alteast nothworthy) was ART-SCHOOL (yet another band that I love).

During 2003 he joined ZAZEN BOYS and STRAIGHTENER, get this in this year alone he was in 3 BANDS! Unfortunately he decided to leave ART-SCHOOL in order to focus on the two other bands. Also he and Horie the vocals of STRAIGHTENER started a side-project called FULLARMOR. In 2007 Hinata announced his exit from ZAZEN BOYS. As of today he is still STRAIGHTENER and he still kicks ass, literally. His presence on stage is unprecedented. He sets the standard out there for every musician who performs live, this is why he is my idol.

I always fantasize about myself performing in front of a large audience and just rocking it out like Hinata, it seems so much fun. Showcasing your talent with emotions, heart, passion it's so much fun. I hope I'll get the chance one day.

Time to eat, later.