BSP - ITS Music 2 My Ears

Photography and more for the Cosplayer

I have really enjoyed meeting many bands and musical artists this year. From Sakura Con to JTAF 4, I have been moving my feet to the many different beats each band has to offer.

At Sakura Con I interviewed the JRock band Camino, who shook the 6th floor of the Seattle Washington Convention Center. The name may sound familiar to those of you who attended the concert at Fanime 04 because some of the current members played there along with Nami Tamaki, Blood, and Duel Jewel. Kiku has changed things up a bit since then and the newer members have brought a new sound and rhythm to Camino that the audience at Sakura couldn't get enough of. *Find out more about the band in my Sakura Con Report/Review*

At Sakura I was also treated to the fantastic and entertaining Michael "Piano Squall" Gluck. Michael plays a variety of video game and anime songs on the piano. From old school console games like Tetris to anime songs like Brajata from Full Metal Alchemist, Michael will entertain you in a whole new way! *Read more in the Sakura Con "ITS" segment.

Fanime 06 was jamming with a variety of musical styles. The Saturday concert featured Popular, Goofy Styles, Miami, Mother Coat, and more. There were other musical guests who performed during Fanime. Akia Sky & Ramen and Rice are two of them.

Though I couldn't attend Anime Expo, I heard from many friends that they too has lots of musical artists to entertain some of the 40,000 convention attendees over the Fourth of July weekend. I was able to hear two of the bands after the cosplay contest at Sac-Anime Con on July 15th.

Sac-Anime featured Art Beat, five smexy Asian guys from Los Angeles, and Akai Sky, a trio from the Bay Area. I was lucky enough to catch Akia Sky again at JTAF 4.

Along with Akai Sky, the Japan Town Anime Faire 4 had even more new bands for me to enjoy. There was Neko Punch, Mari Iijima, Stephanie Yanez with Sly, Random Ninjas, The Shogunate, and Quarter Circle Jab. I didn't realize that there were so many different styles out there, but I am very happy that there is! ^^)

I was fortunate to meet Hayashi and Umi from Akai Sky back in 2004 at Yaoi Con. The Saturday I met them, Umi was cosplaying the Lar~en~Ciel box and Hayashi was strumming some air guitar for my camera. It wasn't till much later that I got to meet their drummer and lead singer Yama. This J Rock trio are some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Clever, funny, smexy ~ beautiful, these three are sure to delight you. In the following Q&A interview get to know a little more about them and be sure to check out their recipes in ITS time 2 eat!