J!-ENT`s Dennis A. Amith interviews Home Made Kazoku

A J ! - E N T S P E C I A L F E AT U R E A R T I C L E & I N T E R V I E W
Home
Made 家族
家族
Kazoku
Kickin’ it with
BY DENNIS A. AMITH
I MAGES COU RTE SY OF D AVE W U J C I K/ CO PYRI G H T 2 0 1 0 BY O TA K O RP I N C. & S O N Y MU S I C J A PAN
J!-ENT
Covering Entertainment Worldwide since 1993
J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU performing in Baltimore at Otakon. Image courtesy of Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2010 by Otakorp Inc.
T
he hip hop trio, HOME
MADE KAZOKU (which
means “family” in Japanese) has
been tearing up the charts in
Japan for several years.
But what is amazing is
the fan following worldwide
that the trio, which consists
of MICRO, KURO and DJ U-ICHI, have
amassed.
For one thing, it helps that the group
has had four songs which many Japanese
animation fans are aware of. Songs such as
“Thank You!!” (used as the ending theme for
“BLEACH”), “SHONEN HEART” (used
as the opening theme for “Eureka Seven”),
“Shooting Star” (used as an ending theme for
“NARUTO”) and “No Rain No Rainbow”
(used for the “NARUTO SHIPPUDEN the
MOVIE - Kizuna-).
The group which hailed from Nagoya also
has American ties as both vocalists, MICRO
and KURO had lived in the United States.
MICRO spent his childhood in Kentucky
while KURO lived in Chicago through the
age of 12.
So, the news of the trio performing in
the US for the largest anime and Asian pop
2 J!-ENT | SEPTEMBER 2010
culture event in the East Coast, Otakon, in
Baltimore, Maryland was a dream come true
for the trio.
And although they weren’t quite sure how
the concert would turn out, needless to say,
the concert was extremely successful as 5,000
people from all over the country attended
their event.
And the excitement didn’t end there, for
their autograph signing, 700 visitors from all
over the world waited in line, prompting one
of the Otakon staff members to say “this is
the longest line I have ever seen in 17 years
of the convention!”.
The group released a special anime tie-in
single collection “Home Made Kazoku @ the
Animes” which is now available on all major
digital outlets from SIN/Sony Music Independent Network.
Recently, J!-ENT’s Dennis A. Amith
had the opportunity to interview HOME
MADE KAZOKU’s MICRO, KURO
and DJ U-ICHI after their performance in
Baltimore.
J!-ENT: Before we get into questions
about your music, let’s first learn
about the group. How did you guys
come up with the name Home Made
Kazoku?
KURO: Our name comes from the idea
that we are a family that we created,
one that is not blood related, but nevertheless exists like a real family. Our
family is made up of not just us, but also
our fans, as well as all people throughout the world.
J!-ENT: For MICRO and KURO, this
trip to Baltimore brings you guys back
to the US. I’ve read that MICRO lived
in Kentucky and KURO, you have
lived in Chicago. Does it mean a lot
to you guys to come back to the US
and perform in front of an American
audience?
MICRO: Of course. Back in the early
stages of our band, in a song that we
wrote back in 2001, we stated that we
wanted to “play worldwide in 5 years.”
From the beginning, we had certain aspirations to perform live in Japan, in the
US, and ultimately worldwide. Watching each of these ambitions become
realities has been very rewarding, and
certainly performing in the US was a big
J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU performing in Baltimore at Otakon. Image courtesy of Sony Music Japan.
part of that. We are very proud of what
we have accomplished, not just for our
own sake, but also for our fans. To know
that they have been behind us from
the beginning, cheering us on as all our
dreams came true, that is very fulfilling.
J!-ENT: And also for DJ U-ICHI, how
do you feel about performing in the
US?
U-ICHI: Yes definitely. The name of our
band, being both in English and Kanji,
is a homage to the connection we have
between Japan and America; to the fact
that some of us lived in the US and can
speak English. Playing in the US in a
way validates that connection.
J!-ENT: What kind of students were
the three of you in high school. The
athlete? The troublemaker? The
bookworm? The prankster? Normal
student?
KURO: Well I lived in a dorm, at an all
boys school, without laying eyes on
a girl. I really felt like a prisoner. We
weren’t even allowed to watch television. But it was also there that I first
discovered music, and that experience
is very important to me.
MICRO: I haven’t really changed much,
but I guess you would have called me a
brat. I really just enjoyed having fun; I
was in a band, I danced, and was also in
my Student Council. It was just staying
in class that I had trouble with. I was the
thrill-seeker, and I always tried to make
sure that everyone was having a good
time.
U-ICHI: In high school, I played soccer
every day. When I was a senior I bought
my first set of turntables.
J!-ENT: When you guys were younger
and still in school, what career did you
imagine yourself working in?
KURO: I actually didn’t think I was going to be in music. But I did know that
I wanted to work in the entertainment
industry. I seriously considered working
at Disneyland. I liked to draw, I like to
dance, I liked music and I loved movies,
and the only job I could think of that
included all of those things was a job at
Disneyland.
MICRO: I always thought, “I want to be
super famous.” Even in my yearbook, I
wrote that “the Budokan is mine.” Of
course, I had no idea what I was going
to do to become famous, but I always
knew that was what I wanted. (laughs)
U-ICHI: I always wanted to do something “cool.” That’s probably why I was
drawn to becoming a DJ.
J!-ENT: What was the moment in your
life where you decided and you knew
you would be pursuing music as a
career?
KURO: Just when we were getting
ready to graduate from college, and
we were all looking toward our career
paths. One day we all got together
at a restaurant and decided that we
wouldn’t try to find a normal job. We
promised each other that we wouldn’t
do that. This happened during our
senior year in college.
J!-ENT: Let’s talk about the formation
of Home Made Kazoku, how did the
three of you come together to form
the group?
KURO: In the beginning there were
more members in the band, because we
did it for fun. But after a while, only the
ones who were serious about pursuing
music remained. That was me, MICRO,
and one other friend. At first, we didn’t
have a DJ, instead we brought records
SEPTEMBER 2010 | J!-ENT 3
J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU’s MICRO backstage before going out to perform in front of 5,000 people in Baltimore. Image courtesy of Sony Music Japan
to our gigs and had the club play them
in the background. One day U-ICHI
came up to us and invited us to perform
at an event of his.
In retrospect, it was pretty uncharacteristic of U-ICHI to come up to us like
that. That’s when we asked him to be
our DJ. It must have been around 1998.
We were all around the same age, and
U-ICHI, who lived alone, had a massive
record collection. We would go through
those records, and find ones that we
wanted to use at our live shows, and
overtime, we came to be invited to perform at more and more events.
KURO: Right now I’m listening to a lot
of Vintage Soul. Artists like Eli Paperboy
Reed and Ben Loncle Soul. These two
have been on a heavy rotation on my
iPod.
MICRO: I’ve been listening to Kubota
Toshinobu again, who is on tour in
Japan right now, and I really wanted
to see his show. The artists that I like
are the ones who maintain widespread
popularity in Japan, which is very difficult to do. I feel like there is something
to learn from them.
U-ICHI: I’ve been listening to Alicia
Keys again recently.
J!-ENT: Which artists or bands did you
listen to a lot while growing up? And
were there any artists or groups that
inspired you?
KURO: Michael Jackson
MICRO: Bobby Brown
U-ICHI: Gang Starr
J!-ENT: You have a strong music following outside of Japan and you have
many fans in other countries. What is
your reaction when you see people all
over the world who love your music?
KURO: (Jokingly) I still don’t believe
that we have fans outside of Japan, not
until we performed live.
J!-ENT: Curious…If I was to look into
your MP3/CD player right now, which
artists or song would you be listening
to at this time?
J!-ENT: Let’s start off with your earliest work. Back in 2002, you guys
were part of the compilation album
“SEAMONTATOR PRESENTS OTOKO-
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J!-ENT || AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
JUKU DENSETSU”. When you guys
look back at how far you have come
as a group and as individuals musically, what’s the biggest difference between MICRO, KURO and DJ U-ICHI
back then compared to yourselves
today.
MICRO: Joining HOME MADE KAZOKU, I haven’t changed much in terms
of the messages and themes that I want
to tell through music. I learned to sing
in various ways, and as I continue my
music career, I realize more and more
the importance of melodies.
KURO: My feeling towards music
hasn’t changed much. But the sound
on the new compilation gave us more
recognition in the major music scene.
Ever since then, our target fan base has
expanded a lot, and we’ve been able to
spread our positive messages to a wider
audience.
U-ICHI: In those days, instead of getting excited about being a major label
artist, I felt more happiness in releasing
CDs. Now we’re able to release more
and more CDs very easily. But performing in the US, has given me another aim,
I feel that it has been a turning point for
J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU’s KURO. Photo by Sony Music Japan.
us.
J!-ENT: 2004 was a big year. You
guys released your first mini-album
titled “Oooh! Ie!” back in 2004 and
your first single “SUMMER TIME
MAGIC” did pretty good as it stayed
in the top 20 on the Oricon Charts for
10 weeks. What memories do you
guys have of the release of your first
mini-album or single?
MICRO: When I was 26, we were completely independent. We were releasing
CDs by ourselves. But once we made
our major label debut, we found so
many people giving us the courage to
make our dreams come true. Looking
back at our music videos from those
days, I can see how happy I was back
then.
KURO: In the beginning I thought that
we had our future was certain because
we were signed to a major label. However, we’ve learnt from seeing our CD
sales number, how hard it is to work for
a major label. But we were always able
to remain positive because everything
was so new and fresh. We have had
so many great moments since being
signed by a major label; when we went
to Saipan for shooting, when we filled
a whole stadium with only fans of ours,
and so on.
U-ICHI: The thing that made us most
happy about releasing from a major
label was that by making music videos
and doing promotions, more people
were able to listen to our music than
ever before.
J!-ENT: In 2005, your single “Thank
You!!” was used as a theme for the
anime series “Bleach” and your single
“Shonen Heart” was used as a theme
for the anime series “Eureka Seven”.
And in 2007, your single “Nagareboshi Shooting” star was used for the
Naruto Shippuden anime series. How
was the experience for you to hear
your music on a anime TV series? And
do any of you watch anime and if so,
what are your favorites?
MICRO: I’ve always been interested
in anime, so I feel that it’s really great
to have our songs used as tie-ins for
animations. By performing in “Otakon”
we began to understand how huge an
impact Japanese Anime has had towards the world. My favorite anime is
“BLEACH”, and “Captain Hitsugaya” is
awesome.
KURO: It’s such a pleasure to have a
chance for so many people to listen to
our music. Anime is the reason we could
perform overseas. We feel that even if
we write a good song, if no one listens
to it, then we haven’t done our jobs. We
actually watched the anime in order to
make this song because we wanted to
make sure that it matched it.
U-ICHI: I was very surprised and happy
to hear that some of our favorite songs,
ones that we still sing now at our gigs
got used. My favorite anime is “DRAGON BALL”. It has been so influential!
J!-ENT: One of the coolest collaborations that you guys did was with Noriyuki Makihara for “You’ll Be Alright”
and Kuro, you worked with Makihara
for the track “HONNO SUKOSHI
DAKE”. What was it like to work with
Makihara-san and how did you guys
come to collaborate with him?
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J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU’s KURO, MICRO and DJ U-ICHI pose with their American audience after their performance. Photo by Sony Music Japan.
MICRO: Makihara-san seemed to like
us when he watched our music video
“AIKOTOBA”. He invited us for his TV
program and we went out for dinner
and made songs together, it was great!
Especially because we liked him since
junior high-school.
KURO: It’s so nice that Makihara-san
became a HOME MADE KAZOKU fan.
One day he came to our gig and it was
very surprising to see him coming all the
way to the backstage after the show.
From that day, we had started to go out
for dinner and talked about music, and
came up with the idea to do something
together. We never thought of having
ourselves picked as a featuring artist,
we tried our best to write a great lyric
for Makihara-san. That definitely was a
turning point throughout my life. We
learnt a lot from him.
U-ICHI: He gave us lots of influences.
He has made many legendary songs.
He’s such a clever person. It was interesting to see him making lyrics beforehand, which was different from our
style.
J!-ENT: You guys followed up with
another cool collaboration with “Aikotoba Abra Cadabra” with KOME
KOME CLUB. I was surprised to see
this collaboration because your music
is so different from each other. How
did this come about and how was it
like to work with this legendary pop
band?
MICRO: Our first contact with KOME
KOME CLUB was at TOYOTA’s commercial MASH UP project. They were
also one of the artists that we’ve been
listening to since junior high-school, and
we were so excited to meet them. In
many ways our musical styles are very
different, but we could agree that we
wanted to make “A song that one could
dance and enjoy.” Later we joined their
head-liner tour. We still keep in touch
and even get invited to their Halloween
Party.
KURO: During the time that we
worked on the commercial, MASH
UP was a technique was very popular
among artists in Japan. From our point
of view, KOME KOME CLUB was somebody above the clouds that we could
not reach. This was a group whose
songs we would sing at Karaoke, and
so we were very nervous when we were
recording with them for the first time.
But once we met them, they were very
nice to us, and we were laughed and
got along very well. Now we get invited
to their birthday party, and still have a
good relationship.
U-ICHI: It was a cool project because it
was our first MASH UP song!!
We got to experience a band recording.
It was such an honor that I got to remix
a song two times.
J!-ENT: Another collaboration that
featured music that was quite different from what you guys do featured
a collaboration between Micro and
Abingdon Boys School. I was watching the band’s concert on Blu-ray and
then I saw you and Nishikawa-san
jamming live on stage. How did this
collaboration come about and how
was it like to work with Abingdon
Boys School?
MICRO: One day we were at a same
event, and I just went up to him and
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J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU performing in Baltimore at Otakon. Image courtesy of Dave Wujcik/Copyright 2010 by Otakorp Inc.
said “If you need me for a RAP part
please call me!” He eventually called me
for his song “LOST REASON.” I love his
vitality and character. He’s very sincere
and wise, and has a tremendous amount
of presence. Our genres of music are
different, but I was able to branch out
into a new demographic, and that was
great.
J!-ENT: Speaking of collaborations,
you guys recently released the album
“FAMILY TREE – SIDE WORKS COLLECTION VOL. 1” featuring a variety
of collaborations but I was wondering….if there was an artist/group from
the United States that you would love
to do a collaboration with, which artist or group would you love to work
with?
MICRO: Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Lenny
Kravitz, Christina Aguilera.
Love people who have great characters
as well as great singing voices.
KURO: I would like to collaborate with
singers such as D’Angelo and John Legend, artists that can really feel soul.
U-ICHI: It’s mostly MICRO and KURO’s
who have done collaborations. I believe that MICRO and KURO branching
out and working with other artists has
been good for our group, because they
always bring something new when they
come back to work on our music. … I’d
like to work with Jay-Z!
certainly feel this way about the pieces
on this album.
U-ICHI: We focused on making songs
that we could perform live. We also had
many featuring artists on the album
J!-ENT: Earlier this year, you released
your fifth album “Circle”. Was there
anything different than you wanted to
accomplish with this album compared
to the work you did on “Musication”,
“Familia” and “Home”? And how
long did it take to create this album?
MICRO: Recently I have come to realize
how important it is to have good relationships between people. The theme
of this album is to take one another’s
hand and forge bonds with one all people. However, we also wanted to make
this album more fun than our others.
This is why it has more up beat tunes.
KURO: It doesn’t feel like this album
took a half a year to make because we
made it out of passion. We intended
to sing all of the songs on the album
live, so we concentrated more on the
music. We finally felt the songs when we
performed them live for the first time.
Some people say that “a song is complete when it is performed live,” and we
J!-ENT: Which song on your album
“Circle” was most memorable for you
and why? And what song was the
most challenging/difficult to create?
MICRO: My most memorable song is
“YOU.” It was a song that we wrote for
the Budokan performance. Performing
there has been a dream since I was a
teenager. “Tomorrow featuring Kusuo”
was very difficult because we wanted to
make sure that we got across the idea
that “let’s do our best today, so that
tomorrow is better.” We had to make
six demo versions of the song before
we got it right.
KURO: “Tomorrow featuring Kusuo”
took two or three times to complete. It
took us a long time to figure out how to
use Kusuo and MICRO’s arrangements
together. We could definitely say that
our album release was delayed because
of this song. It was definitely a memorable experience. When Kusuo can’t come
to our gigs, we perform a MICRO and
SEPTEMBER 2010 | J!-ENT 9
J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
HOME MADE KAZOKU’s MICRO backstage before going out to perform in front of 5,000 people in Baltimore. Image courtesy of Sony Music Japan
KURO version of the song which I enjoy
very much.
U-ICHI: “Tomorrow featuring Kusuo”
was very difficult, and the recording
took a lot of time, especially because it
was also released as a single. It was fun
working with Kusuo in the studio, just
the four of us.
J!-ENT: When it comes to songwriting and musical arrangement, are you
perfectionists when it comes to creating the music and lyrics? Or are you
guys pretty quick when it comes to
creating your songs?
MICRO: I am a perfectionist when it
comes to songwriting and musical arrangement. I don’t give up until I reach
a point where I believe the piece is just
right. This means that I need a lot of
time to work on songs. I don’t believe
that how long a piece takes to make
effects the quality of the outcome. The
most important thing is that it comes
out great.
KURO: I can also be a perfectionist. But
I also understand that as a group, we
often have to find a middle ground, so
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sometimes I have to let go of my true
feelings just so that we can make things
work. Our music is born out of a lot of
care as well as a lot of teamwork, and
that is what makes HOME MADE KAZOKU unique. Fortunately our advantages and disadvantages complement
one another, and the outcome is always
just right. Just for your information, I
work very quickly.
U-ICHI: When it comes to working on
an album, I work very quickly. However,
I take a lot of time on each individual
song. Taking more time means that I
feel a lot more accomplished when I
finish.
J!-ENT: Let’s talk about your music
videos. You cool music videos! Curious, for each of you, which music
video was your favorite to work on
and why?
MICRO: I love the images of the video
for “Fantastic 3 Feat. Seamo.” These
look almost like images from our own
lives. It is very vivid, and you can almost
feel the sweat that it took to make it.
KURO: “AIKOTOBA.” It was exciting
to use CGI in one of our videos for the
first time.
U-ICHI: I like all of them. JOYRIDE,
EASY WALK, ENM, LOVE are some of
my favorites.
J!ENT - Having performed at Otakon ,
what was it like to perform in front of
an American audience and how different is it compared to performing in
front of a Japanese audience?
MICRO: I got to perform in America,
and made one of my dreams come true.
I was very worried about how the American audience would react. However,
once it started, everyone seemed to be
so excited! Our US family was truly awesome. It just made me truly realize that
we are all human, and that even though
we have language barriers, we can connect through our feelings. I didn’t feel
much of a difference between Japanese
and American audiences.
KURO: I was really nervous before the
gig. It made it a little bit easier that we
had several days before the actual show
where we conducted interviews and
panels. I felt that once we got to the
actual performance I was very prepared.
The US and Japanese fans aren’t really
J!-ENT interviews HOME MADE KAZOKU
different, but I did notice that American fans can get really excited. I really
learned a lot by performing in the US.
U-ICHI: After performing there, I don’t
feel that there was much of a difference.
That actually made me very happy.
J!-ENT: A location that many Japanese artists and bands have dreamed
of performing at is in Budokan and in
2009 you had your “Home Party in
Nippon Budokan” (which was released
on Blu-ray and DVD). How was that
experience for you to perform in such
a legendary venue?
MICRO: It has been a dream of mine to
perform there since I was a teenager. It
gave me one more accomplishment to
be proud of. I felt like we were invited
by the fans to play on stage, rather than
us taking our fans to the Budokan. I
felt a natural unity with everyone at the
venue, especially when we were all singing together.
KURO: It was such a great experience.
Honestly, I hadn’t really thought about
the significance of playing at the Budokan (laugh). But I do understand that it
is a legendary venue. It was a precious
moment in many ways.
U-ICHI: It has also been one of my
dreams to perform there, and was
definitely a turning point for our band.
I would love to perform there again; it
was such a great experience.
J!-ENT: Before a performance, do any
of you have a special routine or something that you like to do hours before
you hit the stage?
MICRO: I always start with vocal training. I make sure that I always warm up
and expand my throat so that my voice
is at its best.
KURO: I moist my throat with steam,
and I listen to each song that I’m going to perform on my iPod. Even if it’s
a song that I have sung many times
before, I make sure that I minimize any
accidents by checking over them one
more time. It’s the same as an experienced pilot checking over all of his
controls before taking off. Other than
that, I pray a little bit.
U-ICHI: Nothing special. I try to keep
myself calm by talking to my staff.
J!-ENT: What is your opinion on the
current state of Japanese hip-hop and
what emerging Japanese hip-hop artists or group (indie or underground)
has caught your attention of late?
KURO: Right now it seems like the
“Our name comes from the
idea that we are a family
that we created, one that is
not blood related, but
nevertheless exists like a real
family. Our family is made
up of not just us, but also our
fans, as well as all people
throughout the world.”
- KURO
hip-hop scene has cooled down a bit.
When it first came out, it was really hot
because it was so new and different.
Then it settled down a bit, then it was
hot again, and I think that now it is now
in a stage where it has cooled down
once again. I don’t think that there is
anyone who really stands out at the moment, but I also think it’s possible that
an artist could take this opportunity to
really shine.
I think it’s also a sign of how mainstream
it has become. At first it was a very
specialized genre, but now anyone has
some knowledge about the scene. I do
think that the one area that has grown
is freestyle rapping. Recently there have
been rappers coming out who can rival
rappers from around the world, ones
whose freestyles one could record and
release without production. I think that
is area that has really grown. One artist
I would recommend is Kenza 390. He is
very skilled, particularly during his live
shows.
J!-ENT: If we had the chance to hang
out with HOME MADE KAZOKU for a
day, which city in Japan and what area
would you take us to and why?
MICRO: I guess we would go to Nagoya, which is where our band’s hometown. We would show you the restaurants that serve our “soul food” that we
grew up with, the bars and clubs where
various events happened in our youth.
J!-ENT: If there is one word to describe yourself, what word would that
be and why?
KURO: Kandan (Literally translated, it
means hot and cold). I like the idea that
I can both be hot, meaning energetic
and emotional, and also cold, meaning
cool and collected.
MICRO: Extra-Small: As you can see I
am small. Even in the US people ask me
why I am so small. But I also feel that
even though I am little in body, I am not
in spirit.
U-ICHI: Fickle: I am very particular, and
individualistic.
J!-ENT: For every interview, we have
a section called word play which I give
you five words and you give me your
definition for those words:
Love:
KURO: Everything
MICRO: What connects people to one
another
U-ICHI: The thing I depend on
Success:
KURO: Depends
MICRO: The will to take the next step
U-ICHI: Having confidence
Pain:
KURO: Important
MICRO: Motivation
U-ICHI: Try not to think about it
Japanese Hip Hop
KURO: Music
MICRO: Gave me reason to live
U-ICHI: If it didn’t exist, the band
wouldn’t exist
FamilyKURO: Human
MICRO: The most important thing
U-ICHI: The most important thing
J!-ENT: What final words do you have
for your fans worldwide?
HOME MADE KAZOKU: Thank you
very much for all the support! It was
our long dream to perform in the US.
We hope to come back to the US again
soon, so please check out our music on
iTunes until then. Follow us on Twitter!
For more information on HOME MADE
KAZOKU, please click on the following
websites below:
OFFICIAL Website
OFFICIAL Blog
MICRO @ Twitter
DJ U-ICHI @ Twitter
SEPTEMBER 2010 | J!-ENT 11
If one were to make a quick list
even after he became world-famous.
of the world’s favorite composers,
Setbacks like these could have
despite his relatively recent vintage
finished a lesser man. Instead, they
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky would be
informed his work, which remains
on it. After all, he did compose
some of the best loved in history.
Swan Lake, which is perhaps the
Yet some kids will still confuse
Tchaikovsky with a nasal spasm.
most famous ballet
Why? Because the arts are slowly
of all time. And
but surely being eliminated from
there can’t be more
Fig.1 Pollen
Causes watery eyes. Much
like Tchaikovsky’s composition
“Romeo and Juliet.”
than just a handful of
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky endured many setbacks,
not the least of which was a blind barber.
today’s schools, even though a
ballet companies that don’t perform
majority of the parents believe
The Nutcracker every Christmas.
music and drama and dance and
Indeed, this great Romantic composer should be so
immortalized. As a young man, he pursued a career in
READIN’
ART
art make their children better
students and better people.
’RITING
music at enormous personal risk and against his own
To help reverse this disturbing
father’s advice. His mild temperament combined with
trend, or for more information
his tendency to work too hard left him with insomnia,
about all the many benefits of arts education, visit us at
debilitating headaches and hallucinations. On top of that,
AmericansForTheArts.org. Or else Tchaikovsky could
Tchaikovsky’s composition teacher never liked his work,
seem like just another casualty of allergy season.
A R T.
ASK
FOR
’RITHMETIC
Someone isn’t getting their
recommended daily allowance of art.
M O R E.
For more information about the importance of arts education, contact www.AmericansForTheArts.org.
THAT’S SO
“CHEERLEADER
WHO LIKE,
CAN’T LIKE,
SAY SMART
STUFF.”
Coming soon to J!-ENT
J!-ENT’s Dennis A. Amith interviews
you
Thin k that ’s mean ? How do
think “tha t’s so gay” soun ds?
Hurt ful. So, knoc k it off.
ThinkB4YouSpeak.com
Toko Furuuchi
(Round 2)
Available now:
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J!-ENT @ LAYN ROCKS
LAYN ROCKS
On November 22nd, celebrities and rock stars came
together in support of LAYN ROCKS, an event hosted
by actor/comedian George Lopez and a concert made
possibly by musician SLASH and his friends for the Los
Angeles Youth Network. BY DENNIS A. AMITH
PHOTOS BY NERGENE ARQUELADA
L-R: SLASH and George Perez at LAYN ROCKS in Los Angeles. Photo by Nergene Arquelada, J!-ENT.
I
n Los Angeles, actor/comedian George
Lopez hosted an event known as LAYN
ROCKS, an event benefitting the Los
Angeles Youth Network (LAYN) and
a concert made possibly by rock musician
SLASH and his friends.
The concert was presented on Nov. 22nd
at Avalon Hollywood and included Ozzy
Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Tom Morello, Billy
Idol, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park,
Travis Barker, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Dave Navarro.
World renown musician SLASH is
known for his involvement with helping the
homeless. His wife Perla is a board member of LAYN and both are supporters of the
non-profit organization.
As for the one night rock event, according
to SLASH, getting friends involved with the
event was simple and just required a phone
call. And one of the more exciting parts of
having LAYN ROCKS is that everything
is thrown all together and with this type of
event, things are spontaneous and you never
know what’s going to happen.
But the event is all for a good cause and
that is to help keep the doors open for the
Los Angeles Youth Network.
In Los Angeles, more than 10,000 youth
sleep on the streets and are sleeping in abandoned buildings under freeways and living
without food, water and the basic medical
service.
Many of the youth are either thrown
out or abandoned on the street and among
the 12-17 year old runaways that LAYN
has seen, most of their parents never report
them missing.
LAYN was founded in 1984 and is a nonprofit agency with a mission to help end the
homelessness one kid at a time by providing
shelter, food and counseling for the abuse,
neglected and abandoned.
Their mission is to also help homeless
adolescents become self-sufficient by providing street outreach, food, emergency
shelter and transitional living programs with
a professional caring staff in a nurturing and
safe environment.
The goals for each child is to successfully
complete the permanent transition away
from street life to a safe and secure living
environment, so they can participate in society.
If you want to donate or be involved with
the Los Angeles Youth Network, please click
on the following link below:
http://www.layn.org
J!-ENT
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