New trailer is out today! Man I wish I knew who was playing those sweet licks.
Haha!
wooo! Just about two and a half months until Kubo is finally available to go and see! I still havent seen the film all the way through but got to hear some of how the soundtrack is coming along recently during a trip to L.A. last week where I met with Travis Knight (the director of Kubo and the Two strings and lead animator at Laika). He played me bits and peices of the finished soundtrack and it seems I might be actually featured in a lot more of it than previously anticipated. I figured much of what I recorded would be edited down but was surprised to hear several peices that had me playing almost all the way through. Im very excited for August!
You met Travis Knight! Jelaous!!!
I will have to wait even longer than you guys. They postponed the release till 27th of October. Poor us!
Nevertheless looking forward to it very much. We also tried to reach the film distributors and cinemas to offer them some live Shamisen music for premiere and other screening events. We thought it would be a great oportunity to show the audience that this kind of music is present in our country. But we haven’t got much response yet. 
Just one message asking for a later retry since they couldn’t tell if they are going to show it so far. 
Wow! That would be cool! Do you know if it is ok to mention the other Shamisen Player who worked on the soundtrack? I dont want to say the name yet in case they dont want to make the announcement yet.
Check out this awesome article with a visit to the Kubo set (the first section has some spoilers). The set and all the props are amazingly well done!
Cool! Thanks for posting that!
If only I would get the opportunity to hear that stuff live man. That would be so awesome. What I would do for that.
Well I finally got to hang out with Hibiki Ichikawa recently in Berlin. I’ve been holding back for a Loooong time from mentioning his name here because I wasn’t sure if it would be cool to do so. But yes. It seems to be Ok so now I will officially announce here… The Shamisen players featured in the film Kubo and the Two Strings are. . . . . . (drum roll) Hibiki Ichikawa and myself , Kevin Kmetz.
Don’t want to push anyone but if you want more of these kinds of news, you should attend Shamicamp sometimes. You can hear all these stories and more. 
I am proud of you Kevin and Hibiki San! can’t wait to hear you in August.
I wish you could have power on translation of title… In French it is Kubo and the Magical Sword… Where are the strings?
(Facepalm)
Oups… I just started reading the thread in reverse order and I noticed that Patrick already mentioned it. Martina too… I will put the fault on excitement
I just… I just want to know when it comes out in Japan.
The Shamisen players featured in the film Kubo and the Two Strings are. . . . . . (drum roll) Hibiki Ichikawa and myself , Kevin Kmetz.
That’s so cool!
For those interested, the score for the movie is out now for purchase and streaming. I’d avoid it if you’re afraid of spoilers from the song titles. Dario Marianelli composed the score and it sounds fantastic. Can’t wait to see the movie and hear it all come together.
. . . there is a 160 pages artwork and production background book available on even the european amazon.de (while the cd is not yet) so anyway I guess I will rather look at that than keep trying to avoid seeing spoilers as that might not be realistic anyway unless I would take a break of months from bachido and facebook and all until the movie comes out around here end of october I think . . .
I went and saw kubo on Friday. It’s a fantastic movie and the Shamisen music is awesome. When I got home I went and bought the soundtrack.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but i have to say loving the soundtrack. The shamisen in my guitar gently weeps is so beautiful. Kevin, you awesome mate.
I particularly liked the song Kubo plays when monkey tells him about his parents. Awesome
Thank you everyone! So glad so many people seem to be enjoying this film!
In France that will be “Kubo et l’Epée Magique” (Kubo and the Magic Sword) and october 12th.
Update for my countrymen : In France, no more Sword ! It will be “Kubo et l’Armure Magique” (Kubo and the Magic Armor) and september 21. For those who have seen the movie, has “armor” more to do with the topic ?
Encore un titre différent? Mais ils sont fous ces Français!
But I watched Kubo twice already and two strings, sword or armor are all parts of Kubo’s quest. Each object is magical and is necessary at a certain point in the story.
But you can put shamisen at the top of the list is by acknowledging the fact that it is used many times in the movie for different purposes and the music is there to support it even when we don’t see it on the screen.
I personally prefer “two strings”, not only because it is related to shamisen but also because it keeps the mystery about the reason why there is only 2. The sword and the armor don’t have such strong meaning in the movie so I don’t feel it is the best description for a title.