Royalty Free Music by Grin: background music Acoustic - (Try 2 B)

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**This track is Royalty Free and is free for anyone to use in YouTube videos or other projects, whether monetized or not.**

If you use this music in your video or production, please add a link to this video as professional courtesy, and send me a message so I can check it out. Thanks!

*Legal notice: The publisher of this video is the original source for the music track being presented in this video, which is entitled "Try 2 B". No one entity, person or organization may take legal action against other entity, person or organization due to use or distribution of this track or modified portions of this music track.

Thanks for watching/listening.  If you like my videos/music even a little, Please spread the butter on the bread! and by butter I mean the videos/music, and by bread I mean the social network of your choice. Share it wherever you share things, like it when you do, post your comments and show me your Nerdswagger.

Stay Creative, It's Good For You.

Dumb Ways To Die - parody, just as cool as the original.

Recently a public service video for Australia's Metro Railway service titled, "Dumb Ways to Die," has hit the internet and gone viral in a big way. But but less than a week later, parodies of this catchy, morbidly entertaining PS announcement have also gone viral. Here are some notable parodies worth looking at. Stay Creative, It's Good For You.

Cool Things To Find 

This parody takes the less appealing topic of death on a railway and spins it into a more upbeat promotion of the Mars Rovers. The voice is uncanny and the theme is entertaining and geekily creative enough to have me singing it to myself when I'm in a good nerd-mood. Check it out, and your nerd level will raise one up!




Dumber Ways To Die

This Parody is more like a non-metro oriented extention to the original. The male voice really makes it stick out, though it is well done and also entertaining.



Dumb Ways To Die Song: Battlefield 3 Edition

For the gamer, or more specifically, the Battlefield 3 gamer. This parody features many dumb ways to die while playing the game... in game, not in real life.



Dumb Ways To Die (in Video Games)

Another gamer parody, though not as good as the Battlefield 3 in my personal opinion. Still, this one is worth a mention as it touches on many games and almost any gamer can relate to it at some point.



Dumb Ways To Die

The original. Very entertaining and has an important, albeit morbid, message. Such a catchy tune.



If you find a video worth adding, please contact me with the contact Grin link above, or post the address in a comment below. Remember to like these videos on YouTube, subscribe if you want to see more from the creators, or favorite if you really like them.

Thomas Janak: The Rainbow Bridge - CD Album Review.

Last month I was interviewed by Thomas Janak on his animal and world conservation show Wild Time Radio.  I must say, Thomas Janak is a very creative person, wonderful to talk to, and a good friend to have.  I wish he was in Japan, because I would love to have him on my podcast.  However, I am pleased to say I have his most recent Album and have been enjoying it for the past week. Here is my review of the album.

Front Cover

Thomas Janak's Newest and 13th Electronica Album was delivered to me on March 10th. The packaging is beautiful, but the inside of the booklet has a jarring typo. "It is my believe that..." instead of "it is my belief that..."  The pinkish negative image really speaks to the type of music within.  Creative and electronic.

(TI) Technical interest: The parts of the song that were catchy, different, or interesting.
(VOC) Vocal: Enjoyable vocal style elements, or lyrics.
(REPLAY) Re-playability: How much I want to listen to the song over and over again. 

The Track list:

Back Cover

1. I am here to stay 3.42:  This track is ambient heavy with haunting vocals high on the electronic reverberation.
TI: 6 - Voc: 7 - Replay: 6

2. Don't chase the dragon 3.39: Beat driven with soft fade in fade out ambient electric strings. The vocals are the same haunting electronic reverberation.
TI: 6 - Voc: 5 - Replay: 6

3. I Understand 3.50: The simple beat and great use of harmonies, vocal discordance at just the artistically perfect moments, and heartfelt lyrics make this song one of the best tracks on the CD! 
TI: 8 - Voc: 8 - Replay: 9

4. It is time (lounge mix) 3.28: The intro and guitar of this song really caught my attention.  The chord progression kept me interested. The harmony and vocal placement are very well done!  The overall enjoyment of this song is tipped by excellent progression and great lyrics! The soft vocal AHHHs are catchy and this song got me tapping my feet and feeling great! Perfect replay value!  I will find myself thinking about this song years from now and wanting to listen to it again.
TI: 8 - Voc: 8 - Replay: 10

5. Falling apart 4.40: The bowy electronic bass-line, angelical fade synthstrings, metallic staccato and fantastic lyrics of this song make it easily my favorite of the CD.  This song is relaxing and filled with melancholic symbolism.
TI: 9 - Voc: 9 - Replay: 10   

6. Only Love 4.10: This song is poppy and relaxing.  The lyrics are interesting if not overly poetic.  There is a technical BGM value to this song that gives it a good replay value.
TI: 8 - Voc: 7 - Replay: 8

7. Butterflies 4.09: This song is super easy to listen to.  The snap and electronic chorus arpeggio are beautiful! The lyrics bordering on cliche without going over the line adding to the song and making it that much more enjoyable. My second favorite song on this CD with great Replay Value.
TI: 9 - Voc: 9 - Replay: 10

8. My turn 3.56: This song's industrial sounding beat and standard predictable lyrics make it a great song for those that like Karaoke electronic lounge music, but it doesn't catch me in technical interest enough to keep it's replay value.
TI: 7 - Voc: 5 - Replay: 6

9. I need the world to know 3.54:  This song is also poppy and more up-beat that the others on the CD.  I like the progression of this song and the lyrics aren't bad.  Not my favorite but not a bad song either.  It has replay value.
TI: 8 - Voc: 7 - Replay: 8

10. The Declaration 2.13: This song is in a language that I don't know.  It may have some artistic value but I don't understand the context of it and the CD does not give an explanation. I can't give this song a rating.

11. The longing 3.38:  This song has beat and progression that doesn't keep my interest.  The lyrics are sub-par.  At around 2:30 it gets a little interesting with a few harmonies and melody progression, but it isn't enough to perk my replay desire.
TI: 6 - Voc: 5 - Replay: 5

12. To understand a lover 5.05: This one starts out with a Richard Marx: Hazard style ambience, but progresses into a dual voice, over reverberated crooning, and sub par lyrics.  The technical progression, though interesting after the halfway point, not enough to make up for the replay value.
TI: 6 - Voc: 5 - Replay: 5

13. Butterflies (Reprise) 1.11:  This song is BGM, and impressively short.  No progression.
TI: 3 - Voc: NA - Replay: 0

14. Woman featuring Amelia Earhart 3.46: Though this song has historically artistic value, I wouldn't play it for enjoyment.  It would make a great BGM for an Amelia Earhart presentation, video, or broadcast.
TI: 5 - Voc: NA - Replay: Artistic only.

15. The Rainbow Bridge 3.42: This song starts out funky and progresses into a technically appealing song.  As the title track, I expected it to blow my socks off and the let down crashed me a bit more than I was expecting.  It is ambient electronic music without vocals.  Doesn't grab my attention.
TI: 7 - Voc: NA - Replay: 6

16. Bonus" Don't chase the dragon Club Mix 3.09:  This is the most energetic song on the CD.  Though short of super club DJ quality, it is a little interesting.  Sadly, the original is better in my own opinion.
TI: 7 - Voc: 5: - Replay: 6


OVERAL:

This new CD by TJ isn't quite professional quality, but it is a self published masterpiece.  Four high quality songs with high replay value on one CD is more than most signed musicians can ask for, much less an independent.  If you like lounge electronica and want something with a great beat, at about $16 bucks, it is a great value! Rip your favorites into your iPod or mp3 device and you have $16 dollars of enjoyment.  If they were singles, I'd pay $2.99 each for tracks 4: It is time, 5: Falling apart, and 7: Butterflies, I'd pay $1.99 for track 3.I understand, and $.99 each for tracks 6: only Love and 8: My turn.

Listen to some of the songs yourself at: http://soundcloud.com/final-composition/sets/from-the-album-tj-the-rainbow/

Into the Wild: Wild Time Radio Show w/host Thomas Janak

Recently I was contacted by a very creative musician, radio host, and blogger, Thomas Janak. He expressed interest in promoting his music, and other creativity in Japan. I was actually sad to tell him that I promote talents in Japan to the western minded audience.

We had a few e-mail exchanges and talked a bit. I find him and his work fascinating! So, who is Thomas Janak?

Thomas Janak is a Holistic Animal healer, animal rights activist and host of the Wild Time Radio Show. He is also an avid blogger and musician.

There is so much I could say about this amazingly talented person. He's got his hands in so many creative, philanthropic and charitable works that I haven't been able to catch up with everything he has done yet.

The Wild Time radio show is an animal rights / world conservation show on air globally every first Thursday of the month on TCR FM 106.8 FM.  Their online version includes everything else that doesn't make it on the show.

Thomas Janak invited me to come on his online show this Friday and talk about Japan.  I hope to mention a group of people that I have recently come to support, Animal Friends Niigata. The head of this operation is Isabella Gallaon-Aoki.  They are in need of donations to support the many animals they bring in every day - rescued from the Fukushima exclusion zone and surrounding areas.

AFN was one of the three founding groups of JEARS. You can find more information about them and how to donate to save the animals on their facebook page Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support.





I'm really looking forward to chatting with Thomas and hope you all check out this awesome radio show.

Inspired to play - music.

Last weekend's visit with Graham Smith inspired a new interest for music in me.  It has been a while since I have made or played any music.  My background in music is not as great as I would like it to be.  I didn't do anything musical until high school.  My older brother played the trumpet when he was in high school, and I thought that was awesome. So, when I was given an option of instrument to play for my tiny high school band, the choice was obvious to me.  I wanted to be like Dizzy Gillespie, or be like my brother.

You know all those pictures of people doing something and messing up or wiping out - with big red letters spelling out FAIL somewhere on the picture - that was me playing the trumpet for one year. In all fairness, the trumpet was loud and I had nowhere to practice except at school.  At my first concert on the band, I choked big-time!  I used to have video of the performance, but I think I burned it out of embarrassment.  Very few people clapped, and I almost jumped out of my chair and ran out of the auditorium. The biggest let down was that the Elementary kids played first, and frankly, they were better.

I gave up Trumpet, but undaunted appealed to the schools newcomer music instructor for guidance.  She asked me if I could sing. I said I love singing. In the shower, walking home from the bus stop, or any other time I was alone.  She told me she was starting a choir and suggested I join.

What a difference! I went from screeching terror with a trumpet to 1st tenor in the choir. Then irony hit.  I was the worst trumpet player ever, and I am sorry to my band for putting them through such torture, but I got my come around when I joined choir.  The only other guy in the choir besides me.  He was completely tone deaf, but our teacher encouraged him and he kept trying.  So many times I had to bite my tongue and not tell him how much he sucked, and I wondered if the guys in band were the same with me.

Regardless of the suffering, I managed to do well.  Our final concert was packed.  We were singing songs from Disney's Aladdin, and I had a solo part singing Friend Like Me. It was amazing how much of a rush it was to sing in front of so many people.  Just my instructor on Piano, my mic and hundreds of people that genuinely enjoyed listening to our performance.  After my solo ended with an emphatic HA! Arms stretched out and a big genie smile on my face, the crowd stood.  I've never had a standing ovation before, and never since.  The feeling was incredible. I felt like a star. A shooting star!

When the show was over, I realized I was a falling star.  High school was ending, and so was my student life.  There was no college waiting for me.  I had a 2.9 GPA, and no money for college.  I got a single scholarship for vocal music at a community college, but it only covered the music courses and not the entire tuition.  The only way I could go to college was to take student loans, but the only way I could get student loans was if my parents co-signed the loans, and my parents made it clear they were not willing to do that.
So, as the crowd left the auditorium, I stood at the door and thanked everyone for coming.

Everyone smiled at me as they left and said my performance was good, great, brilliant and the like.  Each compliment was a nail in the coffin of my conscience and realization of my dark future.  The town I lived in was thirty miles from Phoenix, and only cared about country music.  My music was rock and I was out of place. One man, tall and strong as an ox shook my hand and told me to promise I would continue singing. I smiled and thanked him, but he did not let my hand go.  He said he wouldn't let me go until I had promised. It was hard to make that promise. I didn't have any belief in fulfilling it, but his grip was getting stronger. I don't know if he saw my conflicting emotions, but he was severe in his tone.

"Promise me!" He, said.

When I finally promised, he made sure to get my full name right and said he would be waiting for my music. It was six years before I finally went to college on student loans without my parents. I studied English and also took electronic music composition.  I made a fifty copies of a CD single, Send in the Clouds, with a buddy of mine that played guitar. The CD sold out, just before I came to Japan.  I made a total of 10 dollars after production costs.  Though I have done some music composition since, I haven't kept my promise.

I tried to learn guitar, but just couldn't get the hang of it.  When I married my talented wife, like any dutiful Japanese girl growing up in Japan, she had a piano keyboard.  I started plucking at the piano last year. I have had no lessons, but the piano just kind of makes sense to me.  I have decided to give music another try after meeting Graham Smith.  I am going to practice a song on guitar and a song on piano for the next open mic night.  I will do a song of my own on piano, and a cover of Hey there Delilah by Plain White T's. I'm going to practice until I have them both down and ready to go.

Wish me luck.

Graham Smith: Live at Riverst - pre-interview meetup.

Over the weekend I was able to meet up with Graham Smith for a pre-interview concert.  The venue was a place called Riverst in Niigata, not too far from the train station.  My wife, a talented amateur photographer, went with me. I met Graham before his show in the back of the venue selling his most recent CD titled NOW.

Graham is a very down to earth musician and is passionate about rocking the crowd.  It shows.  He was there early before the first two bands came on, and stayed late until the last customers left.  When I met him, he smiled and shook my hand heartily and said, "thanks for coming!" I insisted the pleasure was all mine, and it was, but I also noticed he had a bit of a hoarse throat.  "I caught a cold." he told me nonchalantly.

We talked for a while about his music, living in Japan, and getting people interested in his work.  I met his bass guitarist, Elliot and his drummer, Sean. Both awesome guys! Then it was his turn on the stage.

I was surprised how well he handled himself on stage.  Sure he had a cold, but he was still hitting the notes and was impeccable on the guitar.  Watching his fingers move as he rang out his riffs was a spectacle!  He played The Emperor's New Clothes, Come on Out, and That Hole's Still Here from his album then finished off with a cover of White Stripes, Fell in Love with a Girl. It was a great show!

Afterwards we talked a bit more offstage and I was able to drink with Sean, who is also a DJ. Overall, the night was great and I am really excited to have Graham Smith on my show in the first week of March.  Stay creative Graham, It's good for you.

Photos by R. Isobe.

Breakdancing, DJing and the CEO of FUN!

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Today I have the pleasure of announcing the newest Grinning Studios podcast! Last week, my interview with Control Freaks, DJs Tha Boogie Bandit and Foxx Boogie!  The podcast is up and ready for download.  Check out the podcast page for more info on the show and links!

One of the greatest guys I have to give a shout out to is Masatoshi!  CEO of Fun for Control Freaks!  Masatoshi is a great guy and life of the party at Boogie Bandit's DJ events.  Masa, you the man!

Due to Softbank (no love here) and a cooking appearance from Foxx Boogie's girlfriend, (making eggs and bacon,) this episode took days to get edited and published!  All worth it!  This interview was crazy fun and I think you will love it!

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