"Silly things we've done to promote Shamisen and Bachido!"

Share Your Music
#1

Hi Bachido community!!

I’ve been reminiscing today on how many ridiculous videos I have made along with Kyle, Grant, Masahiro, Anne and Mike Penny over the years all in the name of celebrating and promoting the Shamisen as an instrument with vast and (as of yet ) mostly untapped potential. In my own explorations and with the collaborating bachido members we have come to discover (while still being respectful of its roots and tradition) that Shamisen fits nicely with most Rock, hip hop, bluegrass /country , pop, jazz, heavy metal (even death metal in some cases) and has incredible potential for expressing western classical pieces as well as world music from many different countries and cultures.

In the following videos I’d like to invite you all to walk through memory lane with me and some of the silly ways we have tried to introduce Shamisen throughout our many years of doing this. Everything from dressing up like tiger from Winnie the Pooh, lady GaGa on Shamisen in an airplane cockpit, a Shami tribute to slim shady , 1980s Yngwie Malmsteen shred, demon masks, GANGNAM style, and our very own version of the scary musical Sweeney Todd.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

Enjoy!

#2

You have indeed done a lot of crazy s*** Kevin :slight_smile:

For the international community we all know your videos have been really motivating for people to get started with the shamisen and to feel that it is something feasible. Serious Japanese culture can be scary! This craziness is the perfect entry point. With the foundation that people then get when finding out about Kyle and Bachido, they can enter the more serious culture or continue with crazy silly stuff.

As I’m getting better (apparently I am the master of Hajiki now), I hope I can pull off some crazy stuff too!

#3

wow and not to mention that was some impressive acting in that second clip . . . oh that would be cool if a shamisen tale (sounds like a title) would someday win at the oscars maybe as a best short or feature I would watch that too . . .

#4

Kevin is the true mastermind behind the development of the Shamisen community. He has inspired countless people and it boggles my mind to look back and see all of the crazy stuff we’ve all done!
And what’s even better - is there’s just going to be even more! Mwhahahaa!
I can clearly recall the day that Kevin called me up.
“Grant, we’ve got to flood YouTube with tons of videos; videos about everything and anything. Theme songs, tributes, parodies. This is how we will bring shamisen into a new age!”
Obviously a lot has happened since then!
These are truly some classics in here!

#5

Next step: improv everywhere - thousands of shamisen players in the streets of New York, Washington DC, and at every major anime con in the world! BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAAAAAAAAA…!!!

#6

We must do something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoLU6zKaws

#7

Hah lol :smiley: that video is so epic :smiley: no it’s gonna ring in my head for 2 months AGAIN!!

#8

Oh My God!!! That Sax guy is hilarious! He almost gets arrested a couple of times! That is too funny! Holy smokes! Now the Bachido team has to duplicate that this spring! Foreigners playing Shamisen all over the place! I am so down for doing that! How can Japanese people not love it? They love stuff like that already! Just look at all the ridiculous Japanese prank videos that are up ! Hahahahaha!

#9

:smiley: haha
i hope everyone has seen videos from Remi gaillard

for example…

edit: oh sry not rly shamisen related :stuck_out_tongue:

#10

Lol! That video was hilarious!

#11

were those psycho golfers for real? anyway I am sure such ones are out there . . . sax man great :slight_smile:

#12

Oh Geez! I thought the Sax guy was bad… PAC Man is even worse!
Hahahahahaha! Funny stuff!

#13

Oh, Sax man! What a bother!!!
He made us laugh, though. (^_^;)

#14

Ok seriously guys! This spring! Bachido team! We gotta come up with some crazy ideas for videos! I don’t mean we have to copy sax man and PAC man …we can come with something original! If anyone has any ideas for crazy Shamisen videos this spring, lets start writing them down! Hahaha! It’ll be fun!

#15

Wait outside an elevator with the whole group and start playing when the door opens. Might give some people an heart attack though, so maybe not a good idea. In any case, you can’t anticipate a group of shamisen players greeting you.

#16

^ I like this. Did you see the elevator prank with the fake ghost on youtube? It’d be amusing to have the power go out and all of a sudden you just hear a shamisen playing. Hm. Anywhere where there is darkness there can be a prank played.

I’m going to think of some things while at work today.

#17

Oh man I’m not good at pre-planning shenanigans… At any rate, I’m sure when we all meet up the creative ideas are going to be seriously flowing and we’re gonna come up with all kinds of crazy stuff!

#18

Jonathan, sounds great man! It’s gonna be loads of fun for sure!

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