Meet the Hopes Music Video

Not too long ago, I got an email from an old friend whom Im used to work with at peaceboat saying that her friend was a music video director and was looking for someone who fit my profile for a shoot. Even though it takes a while do to it, this is the nice thing about being established in an industry- you don't even have to look for work, usually it comes to you.

 In any event, as a favor to my friend (and to further foster their relationship) I agreed to do the job at a cheaper rate than I usually would, and from there, they let me know the time and location of the shoot. The shoot itself was for a band called "Meet the Hopes". Originally I thought was derived from a major scandal that happened a few years ago when a meat production company called "Meat Hope" was bleaching rotten meat to make it look good and selling ground up pig hearts as beef. In actuality though the name just comes from their desire to live a life that gives people hope. A much more pleasant theme indeed.

Setagaya Koen (Park), where we did the first half
of the video shoot. 

 The shoot itself took place in two locations, one was Setagaya Park (which I'd never been to before) and the other was in a music studio in Sangengaya, near where I lived. The guys were a pleasure to work with. Like most Japanese professionals (though certainly not all) they were very modest and easy to work with.

 The song is called "Te no naru hou e" (Follow the Clapping), and like a lot of shoots it ran all day and well into the night. After the shoot was finished, I was invited to a small hole-in-the-wall bar called "Warp" where they were going to play live and preview the video. Pretty cool stuff. I also got to see Hunting Doney Holes (a punk/ garage band girl band that was also featured in the video) perform as well as a few other groups.



Some were great, some were just okay, but either way, what I got from the experience is that there is still a lot of untapped talent and raw creativity here within the Indie scene here that may never get the kind of exposure that it deserves because unfortunately Japan still seems to be locked into the same studio system that the states was using in the fifties. (I.e. where a few people are selected and then taught to sing, dance and act, and those people are just used for everything). In that respect, I am really glad that I can be here to support their efforts, both as a fellow entertainer and as a patron.