Written on: August 1st, 2022
Hello. Are you feel good? I recently just watched the documentary "Fishmans: Fighting Spirit". The documentary highlights the band's preparation for their concert, Tokon 2019; it was a special concert because 2019 marks the 20th year since the band's frontman, Shinji Sato, passed away. To be quite honest, the film was kind of boring and there really was not that much substance than their 2022 Fishmans Movie. I say this because, probably over half the film (which has a runtime of 1hr 30min.) was just the band members jamming, which is still cool but there weren't that many scenes of... talking or interactions, which is what I would have wanted to see more of personally. But to me, I still enjoyed my watch for what it was to me.
To me, the documentary was a view into the eyes of couple middle aged men in their 50s who were once bandmates, jamming together; almost certainly trying to relive the past and in memory of the late frontman of the band, Sato. Someone in the documentary said something along the lines of that Fishmans are together to this day and still going strong because they have some sort of regret and that actually makes sense, given the history of the band and leaving of members (which I knew from the 2022 documentary!). The current Fishmans band has 3 people, who left the band at one point. Jeez, if only they played that hard when Sato was alive! (jk). But it's definitely sweet with a melancholic note since these are all people that worked with Sato and trying to make his legacy alive for as long as possible, so whatever tribulations there were with the Fishmans band, I suppose it remains in the past. There was especially one bittersweet moment that actually made me tear up in this boring film and that was the ending; where they show the opening song of the actual concert. The song is "Oh! Slime" and was traditionally used by the Fishmans as the opening to all their concerts as it serves as an introduction of the members. Usually, back in the days, Sato would be the last one being introduced("And the Vocalist... Sato!). So for this rendition, they actually put in Sato's voice and also Honzi (another key figure in Fishmans that unfortunately passed away in 2007) as the last introductions, which gave a very sentimental and reminiscent vibe! A very poignant gesture and show of respect to the late band members to remind people that they are always alive through Fishmans. I was touched. I still think Sato is irreplaceable in Fishmans and I watched their concerts, yeah, it's nice to see modern Fishmans content but it lacks the... Shinji Sato.
But yes, there really isn't anything interesting in this documentary. Although, there was a point where Kinichi (drummer) was talking about getting back the groove he had when he was in Fishmans and that he lost his groove. I don't know why but that scene was impressionable on me. I believe in the groove and Kinichi was certainly groovy. Gives me a perspective on my own art that, I should always put groove in the first and foremost. If I can't groove to it, then it lacks the sauce it needs... lol? I am sure whenever you look at a picture or listen to a really great piece of music, there is some sort of internal feeling/groove that gives you a sense of certainty, "ah yes, this is really fking good". I think capturing that feeling is important and I certainly think that Fishmans makes me feel some type of groove. I can extend onto this because I've always thought that, what separates really good and really great for me is this internal essence, (AKA drip AKA swag AKA sauce), that really touches you. It's probably different for everyone. What I find groovy might not be the same to another person and vice-versa; but there is indeed a universality and perhaps why some songs like "Fly Me to the Moon", Debussy's "Claire De Lune", russian hardbass will always evoke feelings and goosebumps (for me, I guess). Anyways, maybe for another blog post.
My verdict is that I think this documentary is a nice little sequel for those who have watched their main 3hr documentary (Fishmans 2021). Although the 3 hour one was released later, it helped to have watched that first so that I could get to know the other band members a little better in this documentary. If Shinji was the main focus and got all the spotlight in the 2021 Fishmans Movie, then this 2019 documentary exposes you more to the other members; but still kind of really boring and without any real substance because I kind of just stared at them doing practice jams for an hour and a half. But for me, any Fishmans content is good content. Still enjoying their music a lot! Been thinking of getting Fishmans merch and, it's not the coolest, but I kind of want to show my love for these fishies... Well, that's all for now. Until next!
Written on: July 20th, 2022
Hello everyone! At work today, I just watched the 3 hour long documentary film on the Japanese band, "Fishmans". I know, I have quite the part-time job where I am able to just watch a 3 hour documentary if I feel like it. Recently, I've been absolutely smitten, absolutely entranced by the Fishmans. I will spare you the biography, but if I may say only one thing about the band is that, there is nothing quite like the Fishmans that I have listened to. I've known Fishmans for about 4 years. I was introduced to them by my friend, H, that I met in first year university; he showed me the song "Baby Blue" and I thought it was some of the coolest sounds I have ever heard in my life. I loved the vibe. I remember downloading their entire discography shortly after and tried listening to them on my 1 hr 30min commute to school; but the passion did not last long then. I thought the vocals were a bit hit or miss for me in their other songs and, quite frankly, the songs were kind of long. I did not have the patience to sit down and listen to 5+ minute songs when I could just enjoy catchy BTS or Big Bang songs (I have now repented, worry not). Furthermore, one of their most critically acclaimed albums, Long Season is just a single song that is over 30 minutes! It's a work of art that lives up to the 36 minutes. I've always hated longer works because they tend to drag on rather than adding more, but Long Season certainly adds on as it continues.
Anyways, by some fortuitous swing, I revisited the discography of the Fishmans after I was going through my past likes on Youtube. The song in my playlist was specifically was this one and I was listening to it while brushing my teeth in the morning. Later that day, I was feeling the vibe heavy so I decided to turn on a random mix of Fishmans songs while playing games with my friend, J, all throughout the night. I couldn't just skip songs in the middle of gaming so I listened to their songs in full and, I am exaggerating, but I had an out of body experience haha. I started listening more and more and I was hooked. It was so weird to me, the voice that I thought was off-putting at first was mesmerizing and beautiful to me now. In fact, the lead singer sadly passed away in 1999 and there was a tribute concert sometime in 2011(?); I listened to that and was convinced that there could be no voice other than Shinji Sato digesting Fishmans' songs. His voice fits so well. It's unique and, I actually prefer the rawness of his vocals than the polished and "proper" singing of others (of course, with respect to Fishmans and there are still SOME songs that I do find his vocals kind of off-putting for me). The instrumentals and vocals works so well. I love them now.
And that lead me to watch the Fishmans documentary in a search for more content of this band. I have always enjoyed looking at the person behind the artist. I like watching live performances and interviews of artists that I like because it adds the sense of humanity that, I find, art is all about. After watching the documentary, Sato truly had heart (the same heart/love/passion that I mention in my previous post about June Huh). I believe he said something along the lines of, "I hope to make music that will change people's lives, even if reaches even only one person". It's a bit cliche I know but after reading online community comments, there was a particular story that I thought was cool. This person's grandmother was in the hospital with an unknown condition and this person turned on Fishmans with some sort of intent/hope that their grandmother will be alright and apparently, an hour later, their grandmother was A-OK. I am quite sure that, for that specific person, there will be no greater artist than Fishmans.
The documentary outlined the history of the band and the inner workings of the other band members sans Sato, (since, you know, he's dead). I liked hearing stories about Sato; he seemed exactly the type of person I expected, or perhaps, wanted him to be. It was a bit sad to watch the crumblings of the band (spoiler alert!), but I still appreciated the fact that I was able to watch their history. Especially for someone like me, who was never able to hear them live or even know of their existence since they were active before I was born. That was also another cool aspect. I got to see so much life in the days before I was born. I bet all the people in the Fishman concerts that I watched in the documentary are all probably in their 40s now, probably working at an office job. Hope they are still rock and rolling ^^. Also there was a point in the documentary that had me chuckling because Sato had a funny moment; Fishmans changed labels because their old label was underpaying them and Sato let it out at a concert with some funny remarks (1:04:15). All in all, a great documentary going into the inner workings of the band. I enjoyed my watch. It's a bit hard to find and it's unlisted on Youtube. I only found it after some scrounging on the internet. Should I gatekeep it? I feel like if I publically sent the link, it might get taken down and that's the last thing I want to happen. I think I am going to gatekeep it, but if you (whoever is reading this small website lol) wants it, DM me on Neocities? is that even a thing? idk.
That's about it for now. I think I will remain a fan of the Fishmans for the rest of my life now. The past week has really let me delve into the world of Fishmans. I am grateful this happened, this is truly a wonderful band, whose music makes me smile. If you don't feel good, I sincerely hope you do; maybe some Fishmans could help :P
Written on: July 12th, 2022
Hello World! This is my first post here on this website that is of real content. I felt like I pushed off developing this website and making it come alive because I ended up getting a little too intidimated by what I needed to do. So, I decided to just start writing and hopefully I can fine-tune things on this website along the way. For my first post, I will write about Dr. June Huh, recipient of the 2022 Fields Medal.
I think June Huh means a lot to me, because he is what an ideal mathematician looks like in my eyes. Bear in mind, I know very little about the actual mathematics that he does. It is the way he presents himself and his views on mathematics that draws me to him. I want to express my congratulations to Dr. Huh on winning the Fields Medal, the Nobel Prize equivalent in Mathematics [I actually don't know why there is not a Nobel Prize in Mathematics, I'll google this later]. June Huh dropped out of highschool in order to pursue being a poet. After that did not work out well and him coming to the conclusion that he would be unable to make a living writing poetry, he decided to enroll at Seoul National Universty (as if that was a easy walk in the park for a high-school dropout) in Sciences to become a Journalist. I'll spare you the biography as it is already quite well-documented and I'll link two interviews by him that I especially enjoyed.
I first heard of him in my second year. His story was enticing to me, especially after my rough academic year where I lost a lot of faith and belief in myself. I was no longer sure if mathematics is the path for me, I still think it even now. I wish to one day appreciate the beauty of math as much as Huh does, to be able to see just a bit of what he can see in this elusive world of mathematics. I used to study mathematics because I wanted to implant the idea that I was smart or intelligent, but I found out that I am actually quite lacking. Huh said that he was lacking as well and that he is just an ordinary person. I don't know exactly where I am going with this, but I suppose I find myself drawn towards him because he views mathematics like the way one would with poetry, to express and uncover ideas with love and passion. I suppose I want to be like him; to have that serendipity, to have something that drives one's hearts and to keep honing oneself as an expert. I too would like to do something with love and passion. I don't care about a Fields Medal, but he is quite inspiring. There is real love and awe in the way he speaks about mathematics. Also, he said he only works 3 hours a day and that, "I think intention and willpower … are highly overrated .... you rarely achieve anything with those things.” and hearing that, is reassuring. I used to always try and force myself to study or do X Y Z for n hours so that I can become proficient and and expert, but I always stopped. Just doing what I enjoy; that is the stance I have for now. May Serendipity treat me well. This post was a bit unorganized, but I suspect that many posts from hereon will be unorganized because I will just be writing purely from stream-of-consciousness. Anyways! Please take a look at June Huh's interviews