Life after the band — how a former guitarist in a punk band became a fair trade barista
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Loading... - Chiyo Gato
- 14 Jun 2022
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Our Japanese language reporter Seiji Nakazawa is a firm believer in the mantra ‘you only live once‘, where you live your life to the fullest and make the most of every opportunity. He started feeling this way since way back in his teenage years, when he picked up a guitar and started playing with a band. While he’s now a full time writer with SoraNews24, that’s not to say his dreams of being a professional musician never came to fruition; quite the opposite, actually, as he’s played gigs all over the world, and has even written and released his own record.
And while Seiji has managed to continue living a humble life after reaching the dizzying heights of worldwide rockstar fame, he’d always wondered what had happened to other musicians once their time in the spotlight ended, especially in the case of bands.
Putting on his investigative reporter glasses, Seiji tracked down one such person; a man called NG, a former guitarist in Tokyo-based punk band Roba (‘Donkey’).
The band was active in the Shibuya, Koenji, and Shimokitazawa areas of Tokyo between 2011-2016.
After initially being signed to Japanese indie label GoodLovin’Production, Roba went on to create their own record label, going on tours of live houses all over Japan.
Even the band photo gives off an underground, electric atmosphere that made Seiji feel a little nervous about meeting a real life punk rocker. Surely this guy was going to be pretty intimidating…!
These days, NG is the general manager and director of SOL’S COFFEE, a home-roasted coffee shop with three stores in Tokyo and another in Fukui Prefecture. He’s also going by his real name, Mr. Nakajima. There’s no way anyone would be able to tell he was formerly a punk band guitarist, and so Seiji decided to ask him about his punk band origin story.
Seiji: How did you start playing in a band?
Mr. Nakajima: In my third year of junior high school, I came across Shigeo Hamada, a third generation fish farmer who wrote the foreword to the liner notes of the Rolling Stones’ album Stripped. Inspired by him, I decided to start writing lyrics myself. I learned the guitar to accompany my lyrics. Then, once I got to high school, I heard another student playing Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ which struck a chord with me, and I started playing in a band.
From there, we started getting paid to play in cafes and hotels, and it was during that time that I met the other members of Roba. At that time I was more into playing the blues, but I thought the other members’ “DIY spirit” was really cool. I remember recording Roba’s first demo in a lab at Tama Art University. Everything was just so gung-ho. I really wanted more than anything to make a living being a musician. Read More...
