MARI IIJIMA
www.marimusic.com
Mari Iijima is an accomplished singer and songwriter who has released numerous top 10 albums through Victor Entertainment Japan and Warner Music Japan. She wrote all of the music for her critically acclaimed debut album “Rosé”, which was produced by renowned composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Throughout her career Mari has worked with the music industry’s greatest musicians including Alan Parsons Project, Toto, and members of the John Mayer Band. Her 2004 release, “Wonderful People” was a smash hit and stayed on the top of an Indie album chart for over 5 consecutive weeks. Mari has won several awards including the FM Osaka Best New Artist Award and the Japan Audio Society Golden Jubilee Award 2 years in a row, which is voted on by both Japanese & American judges. She was also nominated for the 2000 Los Angeles Music Awards Best Pop Artist Award for her first independantly released album “No Limit”. At the 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Mari won a Best Song Award for her song “Unspoken Love” from her album “Wonderful People”. In addition to singing and songwriting Mari has also appeared in film, television, and on radio in both Japan and the U.S. In 2004 Mari starred in the short feature film “Green Tea-r” and also wrote and performed the film’s theme song, “Petal”. “Green Tea-r” won the top honor of Grandprix at the Takarazuka Film Festival in Japan, Silver Screen Award at US International Film & Video Festival, and was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. Most recently Mari played Lynn Minmay in the animated series “Super Dimension Fortress Macross”, making her the first actor to voice the same character in both English and Japanese. In November 2006 Mari released her 20th studio album, “Uncompromising Innocence”, which she wrote, arranged, and produced, with collaborative contributions from David LaBruyere (John Mayer Band, Sugarland), Michael Chaves (John Mayer Band, Low Millions, Mandy Moore), and Mick Karn (Japan, Dali’s Car).

In 2007, Mari has received proof of entry for the 50th Grammy Awards provided entries for ‘Swim’ a track on her 2006 album “Uncompromising Innocence”. Her listed entries are for the “Best Female Pop Vocal Performance” category and the “Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)” category. On Sept. 21, 2009 Mari released her 21st studio album “Echo” through her own label MARIMUSIC worldwide.

KESHIKI
KESHIKI means ‘landscape’ in English and as one could comprehend from the band name, their endeavors to create songs that would bring visions of landscapes to whoever listens to their music. This band is well known in not only Japan, but all over the West Coast of the United States as well because of their formation in Los Angeles. It all began in the United States, and the way the members united to form KESHIKI was quite peculiar.

Vocalist Jun (ex-vocalist of hit band camino), moved to the United States to pursue his singing career and met bass player Kenta (ex-bassists of L.A. based band Breeze). Shortly after, Kenta met guitarist Yu and played a few jam sessions together which subsequently led to the two working with Jun on the KESHIKI project. Then, Yu invited his old friend Yushi to the United States to help work on the project in May 2007. Around the same time their drummer, Taka, was introduced to the members and officially joined the band, creating “KESHIKI.”

The members of the band have a history of musical talent and experience under their belts. Vocalist, Jun was the former front man for the band camino in 2002, and performed at various anime cons in the United States. His breathtaking vocal style and melodic voice attracted many American fans during his camino days. After leaving camino in 2004, Jun decided to work on a solo project until he was invited by a friend to work on the KESHIKI project in L.A.

Yu, the main composer behind KESHIKI, developed his skills through majoring in music composition in college. Before venturing off to the United States he worked as an indie artist. Not only did he write music for bands, but he also contributed his works to independent movies and video games.

Former bassist from L.A. band Breeze, Kenta, lured his fans with his unique sense of music and charismatic looks.

Last and certainly not least, drummer Taka might be the newest member of the band, but he certainly isn’t a newbie in his musical career. Like Yu, Taka went to school for music. He attended music school before taking the offer to join KESHIKI in the United States. After two years of arduous musical training, he met the members of KESHIKI and decided to put his talent to the test.

As soon as the band added a new drummer, they performed their first live concert at an event called Jrock Extended Party and successfully gathered 300 audience members. KESHIKI continued gaining momentum and played at numerous venues afterwards, most recently at the famous Whisky a Go Go prior to their relocation to Japan.

The band’s activities are different from other bands; they played free concerts at senior citizen institutions and traveled to Palm Springs and carried out an unplanned concert to collect signatures for a petition. Thousands of people gathered in 2 to 3 days to attend their concert in Palm Springs.

KESHIKI’s renowned and unique way of promoting themselves attracts an audience of all ages.

The members write their songs together as a band. Mainly, Yu and Kenta come up with ideas for music composition and lyrics after repeated jam sessions in order to create unique melodic tracks.

In 2008, Ryuusei and Jinra joined with founders Hayashi and Umi. The band played at venues celebrating Asian culture, such as Fanime’s MusicFest with bands from Japan, as well as Anime Expo, the largest anime convention in the United States. With a plethora of shows under their belts, akai SKY strives to share their distinctive sound with the international music scene.

They can be heard this Spring opening for Japanese band Kazha on the West coast leg of their tour, or by tuning into the television show, Visual Crunch, now airing on MYX.