Introducing Make Believe Bonus
For those who want more on-the-ground writing / need more of my rambling
Starting this week, Make Believe Melodies introduces Make Believe Bonus, a new weekly post for paid subscribers.
This additional post will take a more Tokyo-centric view of Japanese music, pop culture and more. This means more writing on live shows, festivals, venues, interesting places and so on. Whereas regular posts aim to be generalist with touches of the personal mixed in, Make Believe Bonus will be more personal (i.e. what I do and see) with dashes of bigger picture. The first edition, going out Friday, June 9th, will look at three live events I recently saw and what they say about post-pandemic live music in the capital.
More explanation and personal justification below, but first…please subscribe to access this new weekly post (or take advantage of a seven-day trial to see if it’s your thing).
The most important detail — nothing about how this newsletter / blog has functioned until now will change. I’ll still put out a round-up post on Mondays, and try to write one other essay / interview / post at another time in the week available to all, though that depends on my schedule. Old entries remain free for all.
Since Make Believe Melodies started in 2009 (geeeeez), the goal has always been to share music from Japan to readers outside of the country. Even as the scope of what I do has changed in the decade-plus since to feature more looks at the J-pop industry and trends manifesting in entertainment, that guiding principle — allow people to get a sense of what is happening in music here — has remain central. Blocking that off never felt right, and I still want to make sure the artists and stories coming out of Japan can reach anybody.
I have been thinking for a bit now about offering something more, though, for subscribers willing to pay a little for this publication. I was never sure what, though, especially without blocking out the main parts of Make Believe Melodies for people. I thought maybe a series about the discographies of older artists, but I think that’s better served being open. I briefly considered a more industry-insider angle, but realized that would be exhausting to do every week. Posts about music-centric movies? I nearly though, screw it, do something wacky! Convenience store reviews are back in rotation, or maybe offer a guide to local sento worth your time! But, uhhhh, better to stick with music.
I finally found an approach I think I’m happy with, though, inspired by two developments.
Live music / ecosystem rebounding: I remember going to a random Wednesday night Otoboke Beaver / FIRE BOYS show in Koenji in the spring of 2022 and feeling a weird rush of excitement — is this a good idea??? For the previous two years, events like this were rare — anywhere, and for me personally — but this moment marked a real shift that the situation was changing.
Now in 2023, live music / shows /parties feel…vibrant again? It’s not just familiar names returning in force, but also a new generation of younger creators introducing new events that are emerging as important gatherings (see Kyun Desu for one example). Non-Japanese acts are touring here again, and coming in pretty swift succession. Most importantly, the livehouse and club ecosystem seems OK for now. The biggest worry during the pandemic is that a bunch of clubs and venues would shut down…which, sadly, did happen. Yet out of that has come a new Tokyo (and beyond) live music map, with new spaces small and huge open for business.
Hell, one of the reasons I’m starting this now is because I’ve had the chance to go to so many live shows recently…and have no place to write about them. I don’t know how juicy events that have already happened in Tokyo are to readers, so this seems like a good approach to bonus writing — a diary, of sorts, of what I see in the metropolis. Which, ties into…Tourism: …something that is completely inescapable now. Borders are back open, and Japan’s status as a tourism hotbed is back, baby! I’ve dabbled in this world before — if anyone ever flew on Ethiopian Airlines in, uhhh, 2017, maybe you saw my “what to do in Tokyo” feature — but I figured offering looks at interesting music-related places in Tokyo (and, hopefully, beyond) could help people as they put together their own Japan itineraries. And hey, if you aren’t hopping on a plane over anytime soon, you could experience some interesting places secondhand.
Later this Friday, I’ll share the first subscriber-only post, looking at a few recent shows I’ve attended and what they say about live music in the capital this year. From here, these posts will be more about how muisc interesects with the metropolis I call home — while the regular posts are largely objective posts with sprinkles of the personal, this premium tier will be personal with dashes of the bigger picture.
And, I’ll make this decleration right now…if 10 people subscribe by the end of June, I’ll go to the new Robot Restaurant, and write about it for you. How could you not bankroll that idiocy????
But in the end, this blog will still function as it always has…but with a little extra for those who want to throw a little more towards Make Believe Melodies. Thanks so much for reading and subscribing, it truly means the world to me, and I hope I can keep offering a peak into Japanese music for you.
Written by Patrick St. Michel (patrickstmichel@gmail.com)
Twitter — @mbmelodies