SAN FRANCISCO — New People has just announced a dynamic musical line-up designed for J-pop lovers as part of the live programming for the 2012 J-Pop Summit Festival.
The annual cultural event, now in its fourth year and presented in association with the Japantown Merchants Association, will be held across San Francisco’s Japantown district on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 25-26.
Free performances by Kylee, The Akabane Vulgars, All Ages, Capital, and the Bay Area Girls will be featured. These live sets will take place on the main stage of Japantown’s spacious Peace Plaza, located across the street from the New People venue at 1746 Post St. Check the dates below for each performance.
The J-Pop Summit Festival is a yearly summertime gathering for fashion, film, anime, video game, technology and music fans as well as Bay Area residents, and tourists visiting the city. More information is available at www.J-Pop.com.
• The Akabane Vulgars (Aug. 25)
This is the first-ever West Coast appearance by The Akabane Vulgars, an all-girl power trio hailing from Tokyo. The group, composed of sisters Yumi Uchizono on guitar and vocals and Miki Uchizono on bass, is joined by drummer Kei Sofue.
The Akabane Vulgars formed while the members were still in high school and have gone on to enjoy a wide following in Japan with their unique brand of bluesy-rock vocals and soulful lyrics. The band is heavily influenced by Green Day, Joan Jett, The Beatles, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Japanese groups such as Blankey Jet City and Thee Michelle Gun Elephant. T
The Akabane Vulgars have released a self-produced CD, “The Rumps Smolder at the Gloom,” as well as a three-song EP, “We Need the Riot, Our Riot, Your Riot.” The band is preparing to record and release their full-length debut on a U.S.-based record label later this year. More information is available at: www.akabane-vulgars.com.
• Kylee (Aug. 26)
Kylee is an upbeat 18-year-old pop singer/songwriter born to an American father and Japanese mother. She is currently signed to Sony Music Japan and has become a fast-rising multicultural star that is developing a major following in both the U.S. and Japan.
Kylee has been featured in the U.S. on the “Today Show,” and her second single, “missing/IT’S YOU,” released in 2010, was featured heavily in a commercial for online apparel retailer NISSEN. In 2011, she performed for an audience of more than 50,000 people at an official Major League Baseball game and also sang for President Barack Obama during a visit to her home state of Arizona earlier this year. More information is available at: www.facebook.com/kyleeofficialfanpage.
• All Ages (Aug. 26)
The San Francisco-based rock band All Ages formed in 2005 and has thrived as a national and international live touring musical act. The band is heavily influenced by J-rock and has performed in Japan with preeminent acts such as The Pillows, Noodles, Red Bacteria Vacuum and many more. In 2008, All Ages was featured in the documentary “Pop! How Japanese Culture Took Over My Life.”
All Ages opened The Pillows’ 2011 NAP TOUR and Red Bacteria Vacuums’ California tour in June 2012. All Ages recently released the single “42 Sub Machine Guns,” now available on iTunes. More information is available at: www.iloveallages.com.
• Capital (Aug. 26)
Capital is a prolific artist/scholar from Los Angeles, already featured on over 20 albums ranging from rock to Japanese hip-hop to Brazilian electronica alongside artists such as Marco Bosco, Airto Moreira, Paulo Calasans, Swing Out Sister, Del the Funky Homosapien, DJ Nozawa and more. His latest release, “Floats on Flat Tires,” combines Brazilian overtones with electronic beats.
Capital has a master’s degree in J-pop music research, and also speaks and sings fluent Japanese. He has toured extensively in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Brazil and has performed at numerous music festivals, including Japan’s massive Fuji Rock Festival. Capital’s performances also have been broadcast in Japan on Space Shower TV, and he recently performed live on KTLA’s “Good Day L.A.” More information is available at: http://www.capitalguitar.com.
• Bay Area Girls (Aug. 26)
The Bay Area Girls are a dynamic all-girl rock band consisting of five talented 12- and 13-year-olds. They first got together to perform at their school talent show, which then inspired them to take things to the next level to entertain people of all ages as a band. Their musical repertoire ranges from the likes of Joan Jett to Avril Lavigne, Miley Cirus, Journey and Bob Markey.
Among their notable gigs, the band has performed in “A Tribute to Armando Peraza” (the notable former Santana percussionist), as well as a concert at Yoshi’s in San Francisco with Pete Escovedo and Sheila E. Last year the girls appeared at the J-Pop Summit, where they covered “Four Seasons” by Japanese pop diva Namie Amuro. More information is available at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bay-Area-Girls/139005686184005.
“Live music is a huge attraction at the J-Pop Summit and each year we strive to present a diverse array of unique artists from Japan, or ones that are heavily influenced by the J-pop and J-rock genres,” says Seiji Horibuchi, president/CEO of New People Inc. and co-chairman of the J-Pop Summit Festival Committee. “This year we look forward to welcoming the alternative rock punch of the Akabane Vulgars and All Ages, the pop sounds of Sony Music Japan’s Kylee, as well as hybrid music stylings of Capital, and the rock and roll-inspired fun of the Bay Area Girls. Several more musical acts and live programs will be announced in coming days that are sure to make this year’s J-POP Summit the biggest and best one yet!”
Other pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, theatrical film premieres, live art performances, and celebrity appearances. Innovative artists from Japan will join a variety of product merchants and food vendors from the Bay Area to offer an array of pop-inspired products and delicacies for sale in open-air displays on both sides of Post Street, the main Japantown thoroughfare.
For more information on New People, visit www.newpeopleworld.com.