Are you guys in for a treat. Coming in all the way from Korea we have the indie rockers Asian Chairshot, produced by Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder, and nominated for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song at the 2014 Korean Music Awards. Then there’s guitar slap heroes TarO&JirO, winner of the Japanese leg of Emergenza, the world’s largest battle of the bands competition. And last, but by no means least, there’s the award winning singer-songwriter Mayu Wakisaka, fresh from playing SXSW and The Great Escape Festival this year. All that, plus authentic Japanese street food, beer, and JAPAN UNDERGROUND’s resident DJ for a mere fiver.
TarO&JirO
Taro&JirOFans of MIYAVI, eat your hearts out. TarO&JirO slap guitars to the power of two! They’ve shared stages with guitar legends such as Scorpions (Rock Oz’Arènes) and Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse at the Guitare en Scene in 2012, just to name a few. In 2013 they entered Emergenza, the world’s largest battle-of-the-bands competition and won the 1st place in the Japanese division with their energetic and contagious performance. Soon after they headed to Germany to compete in the Emergenza World Final and although they didn’t win, they still landed 2nd place for best guitarists. Upon their return home they were immediately signed to TEICHIKU Records and dropped their first album Brothers Fight at the end of 2013. Catch them live in an intimate venue before they explode!
Asian Chairshot 아시안체어샷
Asian ChairshotFormed in 2011, Seoul, Korea’s Asian Chairshot took their name from a powerful (and very illegal) move done by many a professional wrestler to knock out their opponents – the famed “chair shot.” And just like a chair shot, the trio’s hard-hitting mix of psychedelic music, garage rock, and alt-rock usually has little trouble stopping people dead in their tracks. In December 2013, Asian Chairshot recorded their first full-length album. It was produced by Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder and engineered by Ryan Grostefon, who worked with Smashing Pumpkins on their 2012 Oceania disc. Asian Chairshot started off this year by receiving nominations for “Best Rock Album” and “Best Rock Song” at the 2014 Korean Music Awards. In March, they traveled to Singapore to perform at the Mosaic Music Festival. In May, they will be embarking on their first UK tour to play at Liverpool Sound City. “Korean rockers Asian Chairshot combine explosive guitars, bass and drum work with vocal melodies that are uniquely full of surprises.” – Music Weekly Asia
Mayu Wakisaka
Mayu WakisakaMayu Wakisaka is an an award winning singer-songwriter and her songs have been preloaded on Sony’s mp3 player “Walkman”. A native of Japan’s entertainment city, Osaka, Mayu, quit law school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career. Her style is a warm mix of folk, pops and jazz with unique and well-written English lyrics. She is the winner of International Acoustic Music Award (Open Category) and also a finalist of “UK songwriting contest” “Australian Songwriting Contest” and “Great American Song Contest”. She has upcoming release of “Halfway to You”, a compilation album of her previous EPs in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. In 2014, she has several international shows including SXSW in USA and the Great Escape in UK.