MIYAVI: His Guitar Is Love

There’s a reason why Japan is the favourite place for so many artists- Pharrell Williams, No Doubt, Jennifer Lopes, Lady Gaga, Radiohead etc.

Why?

Japan has it all- great concerts like Summer Sonic, the Fuji Rock Festival etc, a tremendous sense of fashion, great food and shopping.

Plus Japan has music fans that truly know music and don’t applaud like trained chimpanzees at every Tom, Dick and Harry Larry who gets up and does some flashy solos with zero soul.

They know good musicians from the mediocre.

Unlike in Hong Kong and hotel lounges where audiences go wild with applause at any Black man or woman who gets up and sings a wobbly version of “Kansas City” or some poor thing who thinks she’s “scatting” when it’s more like “scattering”, Japanese music fans know their music and who can really play- and sing. They know shuck and jive from the real thing.

Miyavi [real name Takamasa Ishihara (石原貴雅, and born on September 14, 1981) can really play and sing- with soul.

Yes, white men can’t jump and Japanese have soul and Miyavi is a fucking amazing guitarist.

Some might say, well, if he can really play, does Miyavi have to be dressed as if auditioning for the lead role in “The Mikado”?

Hey, he’s Japanese and Japanese music fans have always had a love for theatrics and what were once-called Make-Up Bands.

One has no idea how Miyavi is “branded”, but as a guitarist- a brilliant slap guitarist- he is in a class of his own.

And here’s the surprising thing: Ask some of Beijing’s Underground bands, or music fans in Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea- and many parts of Europe and the US- who really know their shit and they all know and respect and are hardcore fans of Miyavi. And why not? The guy is not “just showbiz”, he is also all-musician.

 With his mother lode of tatts, his musical past which includes going in and outta bands, recording under a pseudonym to get through contractual obligation that had soured, his concerts which are always sold-out events, his marriage and birth, four months later of his daughter, its been a long and strange trip for Miyavi.

Through it all, what has come through has always been the music.

It’s always been about the music- and which can never be shackled or, as he said in a recent tweet, “I can imprison your heart with my guitar”.

#miyavi