Hello all-
This is Ben, the guitarist who is lucky enough to be in a band with some talented and extraordinary ladies from Tokyo. If you're reading this I'm guessing you're bored, or curious, or both. I think a little background about me is in order if you're going to understand what the deal is. I'm 24, and have been playing in various hardcore, punk and metal bands over the last 10 years. I grew up around a dying but prolific music scene in Albany, New York - the not-so-internationally-famous capital city of NY, 3 hours north of the city, which we natives call Upstate New York. It's a small area that contains my family, friends and life history. However, for various personal reasons, namely to challenge my own abilities and broaden my horizons, I decided to move to Japan, and have been living here since August of 2008.
Why Japan? I had a minor in the Japanese language 2-years running from university, and wanted to use my abilites, not lose them. I was never much of a schoolboy, (I wasted 4 years struggling in Spanish class only to forget nearly everything), but found my interests in Asia's culture, food and of course comic books snowballing as I was beginning college. (I especially love One Piece, JoJo and Gantz) Being blessed with an amazing teacher and very supportive friends and family, I made my moves and was subsequently hired by a Private English School to work in Tokyo as of last Summer.
Now, skimming this blog, you may have found yourself thinking: "Yea yea whatever, who the hell is that big white dude in the pictures, and how has he gone about corrupting my favorite all-female grind band from Tokyo?" Or something along those lines. To give credit where credit is due, a friend of mine by the name of John C. (of the fantastic band
Psytoxia) messaged me from America about a month into my living here, saying: "Hey, dude, you should try out for this band in Tokyo, they totally kill and they're looking for a guitarist!" It was of course a dream of mine to establish some kind of band and play abroad, so I checked it, figured it was way out of my league but sent a message asking if a male guitarist was even acceptable anyway, and the rest explains itself!
As an aside, I'd like to thank everyone for so far being "cool" with breaking the novelty of this band being all female. The girls told me that they never intended to make an all-girl band, it just happened that way. I had some reservations at first but, thinking about it and we all agree, if you just liked F.I.D. for being an all-female-asian band, and don't like us now, then obviously the music comes second for you. So long, see ya, we'll keep on thrashing.
F.I.D. has been so far an experience for me which I wouldn't trade with for anything else. These girls are great musicians and above all else have become great friends of mine. Tomo is the most harmless-looking person on the planet, and simultaneously the most ridiculously talented drummer I've ever had the chance to work with. Kana is brazen and creative in her bass-style (
her favorite band, shhhh), while Makiko is a real leader with distinctly piercing vocals and is funny as hell in 2 languages. We've developed chemistry writing together, and we've all been pushing ourselves to create - as Makiko put it a long time ago - F.I.D.の新生, F.I.D. reborn. I personally have been giving this project my absolute best, to do justice to the tunes that people know and love, and to write new ones even more brutal, abrasive, groove-oriented and face-melting than the last album.
Anyone living in Tokyo will be able to see us in Nishi-Ogikubo at the end of November, and likely a few times early 2010. Recordings should be happening too, although nothing is set in stone yet. Of course we all want to to travel and play every country on the planet, but real life, jobs, family, and rent is a bitch! We'll do what we can, I'd sure as hell love to tour.
Stay brutal!
-Ben