“Shin-Okubo”

My latest beat, “Shin-Okubo”, IS INSPIRED BY my recent trip to Japan WITH my Punk band S.P.E.A.R. sO MUCH energy had been felt during and immediately after returning HOME to Guam from playing our FIRST gig ABROAD together. I was compelled to compose music that could SONICALLY harness this incredible memory we shARE. Truthfully, I wanted a way to be right there again. This is my latest track, CREATED after releasing my debut beat tape on my birthday last year. That initial body of work i PRODUCED living in San Francisco over a decade ago. lIFE has changed since then.

Going to Japan in this manner, about 10 years later, honestly trips me out. Not only was I playing my music out there with SPEAR (a dream come true), but alongside my wife, MY drummer, and so much more, joining me 4 months pregnant with our child. This is in stark contrast to the anniversary of when I was probably at my lowest. To imagine how vividly I remember breaking my leg in SF brings A SENSE OF vindication. Lying there in recovery, I’d often wonder where I’d end up in the following years since that happened in 2015. I channeled that into the Trip tape I made during that time. All of which I shelved for the better part of a decade before I was in a better place. Reaching that milestone allowed me to publicly release and finally distribute what I created, both digitally and physically, many years later. I had not traveled since then.

My experience in Japan was amazing. As someone who has lived 4 hours away most of my life but had never been, I was primed in the modern age by so much media and art to appreciate being in the land of those artists and creators. It was an honor to play our music out there and watch live music as well. That includes all the music I had the distinct pleasure of listening to on home turf. Producers like Nujabes and Sora were the first artists I gave a spin while traveling to the place they’re from. It made me emotional to put on Hyde Out Productions First Collection and sit in the reality that I was on a train with the view of Japan zooming by. It was an experience that kept happening as I played one track after another DURING MY trip (not to mention running into the Nujabes pop-up store WHILE I WAS THERE). Listening to the song “Moon Strut (INTRO)” right after our Gig in Earthdom, as I walked the alleyway from where we stayed in Shin-Okubo, capped off a night I won’t soon forget.

Once I got back home, all I could think about was the wonderful people I met through performing in Japan. This track is made with them in mind. I wanted to honor our new friends as Korean descendants because THAT had much to do with how we all connected IN jAPAN. Opening for No Model and Sour on their second day of their tour in the region had a profound effect on me. Just hearing about their stories, written by Korean adoptees who were sold as children, was powerful to listen to along with their music. Also, meeting Mea Culpa’s vocalist, Sihan, resonated with me as an immigrant. Takashi's booking of Earthdom with The Spit alongside THE BANDS No Model and Sour was a sick idea that united EVERYONE UNDER HARDCORE and had OUR BAND spear staying right behind the venue in Shin-Okubo. That is Japan’s K-town.

I’ll never forget my first time in Japan. It didn’t take me too long to start producing this beat right after. My initial idea was to include the train station transmission that I’d hear every time we needed to use our Suica cards for another ride. The idea occurred to tribute the “bird” chirping that each station has playing right outside the entrance by incorporating it into the track somehow (at the end of the song). Something I APPRECIATED when I was there. Once those components were in place, I had a strong sense of being in that place again. Then the beat was created using my SP404sx to cut up, resample, and play the drums I made. It allowed me to achieve an organic element I wanted and an off-kilter shuffle inspired by my love of Dilla and Jun Seba. I crafted the textures between tape worble and glitched out tones influenced by records like Re.sort BY sORA. This track IS an amalgamation of my influences ALL honed IN and NOW FULLY realized. I’m proud of how it sounds.

I feel fortunate to live my truth and produce art based on that. I’ve always dreamt of living like this, executing great things that affect me and those around me. Seeing the world is something I once thought impossible, but now I have works of art I’ve produced THROUGH THE YEARS THAT reflect my time spent elsewhere. Sharing this with anyone who is listening is a privilege, and I appreciate being able to reflect on my experiences through music in its many forms i PARTAKE IN. I’m grateful to everyone who helps make it possible. I hope to release this single on vinyl soon for those interested in physical copies. Thank you for listening to my latest track AND following my JOURNEY. This is just another story.

Thanks to my ñao, Mario Oliva, for the picture.