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Contribution] Neighbors Higashijujo Tsubasa vol.5｜I'm 36 years old and made my debut in a band. Why don't you join a band? Neighbors Higashijujo Music Festival Report

2025-06-05

This is a corner where we ask residents to share their experiences in social apartments with us. This time, we would like to introduce the column "Second Youth, Social Apartment" vol.5 by "Inoue Tsubasa," a resident of Neighbors Higashi Jujo.

In April, the second music festival was held at Neighbors Higashi Jujo.

At Social Apartment, events are planned by the residents themselves, not by the management. They range from casual events like going somewhere for fun to large-scale events like the music festival introduced here, which is held in a rented space.

What they all have in common is that they are all triggered by casual conversations.

I always wanted to be in a band. I played percussion in a brass band in high school and could play the drums, but I had never formed a band, and it was one of my dreams that never came true until I was 36 years old.

Last year, a few of the residents organized a music festival, and for the first time in my life, I was able to form a band and perform. It all started with a chat in the lounge.

'I'd like to try out for a band.'
Then why don't you organize a music festival?"

The idea was to organize a music festival where the residents of Neighbors Higashijujo could perform their own music.

This was in April of last year. On April 6, the second music festival was held after a year's absence.

After practice, we went to the studio and had a drink at a Chinese restaurant. Days like a band member.

This year's festival featured pop, acoustic, jazz, musical, a cappella, and taiko drumming. A whopping nine bands performed. Last year there were five, so the number has nearly doubled.

Many of the band members were doubling up, and I played drums in both the pop and jazz bands.

We played seven songs. With this many songs, it takes a good amount of time to practice. We started practicing in the studio about two months before the concert. Not only did all the band members go in together, but I also went to the studio several times a week for individual practice for the drummer.

Band practice at Studio J

I really appreciate Studio J in Higashi Jujo, which is a 10-minute walk from my house and can be rented at a reasonable price.

This music festival was the third time I performed in front of an audience. Besides the festival, we performed at Social Summer Outing, an event hosted by Social Apartment. I am planning to perform with my band again this year.

The scene at the Social Summer Outing in 2024.

Compared to last year's festival, where I played drums for the first time in more than a decade, I think I spent much less time practicing this time.

Almost all of our band members had not played since they were students, so last year everyone had a hard time. I was happy to see that everyone's level of performance had improved by this third performance.

The following five songs were performed this time.

Kaze ha Blowin' Love / Chatmonchy
Ammer / Kariyushi 58
The Beginning / ONE OK ROCK
more than words / Sheep Literature
Kaiju no Hana Uta / Vaundy

In addition, the jazz band performed the following two songs

You Like Whiskey / Sayuri Ishikawa
Fly Me to the Moon / Frank Sinatra

Going into the studio for band practice was one of my very first dreams, as I had wanted to be in a band since high school, and looking back, I think it was a good thing, even though it was a lot of work.

After playing at night, we went out to a Chinese restaurant and had a few drinks together, and it was just like being in a band, which I had dreamed of.

On the day of the show, my adrenaline was exploding. It's so much fun! I exclaimed.

On April 6, the day of the festival, after practicing in the studio, we headed to the venue.

The flyer was designed with the theme of "Spring Festival/Harusai" in mind. Designed by resident Ami-chan.

The venue was a live music club called Space With in Iidabashi. A total of nearly 70 people, including performers, gathered for the event.

The festival started with a performance by a Japanese drum band.

After a powerful taiko performance, a musical group performed a song from "Wicked" and other songs. The lively performance naturally brought smiles to everyone's faces.

After that, it was the turn of the jazz band, in which I also played the drums. I have always wanted to play jazz drums, so I really enjoyed it.

The band, consisting of a violin, viola, cello, and keyboards, played a piece from Ghibli. Elegant melodies echoed through the air.

Then the acoustic band performed one piece after another.

It was refreshing and fascinating to see the residents, whom I have usually only seen singing at karaoke or other venues, singing with the band.

Seeing a new side of everyone is one of the joys of such events.

Then it was the turn of the serious a cappella team of Neighbors Higashi Jujo alumni/alumnae. The many Heisei songs sung a cappella were heartwarming.

Next was a performance by the World Neighbors Kiyosumi Shirakawa band, who were invited as guests, and the audience was excited by their Vaundy-inspired song selections.

Finally, it was the turn of our band, HJJ Band Club.

The band played "Kaze ha Blow ka Koi" and "Ammer" with a lot of excitement, but the tempo of "The Beginning," running at over 190 BPM, caused the adrenaline to explode.

They swung their sticks twice as hard as they had practiced, and by the time the song was over, they were drenched in sweat.

The band cooled down for "more than words" but exploded again for the encore, "Kaiju no Hana Uta" (Flower Song of the Monster), and they ran quite a bit.

The guitarist, Yuki, turned around several times and told me I was going too fast, so I slowed down, but then I started running again, and faster. The BPM kept rising, and the drumming was ad-libbed and pounded. The band members were all fired up.

After all the performances were over, the band members exclaimed, "This is so much fun! I exclaimed. **I was having such a great time. I think all the performers must have felt the same way.

The audience was standing and grooving at the end of the show. When I left, one of the audience members said to me**, "That was a lot of fun.

Thus, the 2025 Music Festival ended with a great success.

At Social Apartment, anything is possible if you want to do it.

The festival started with a simple question, "Why don't you start a band? The second Music Festival, which began with the question, "Why don't we have a band? I think we were able to make it a place where all the performers could showcase their music and have fun.

I hear that such music festivals are being held at other properties as well. This event would show how active the residents of social apartments are in playing together.

I hope to be able to continue holding music festivals at Neighbors Higashi Jujo in the future, and I would like to continue my dream of having a band, which has been my dream since high school.

I would also like to thank the environment of Social Apartment, where I was able to realize my dream of "playing in a band," which I had not been able to realize for more than a decade, with a light touch.

I am sure that at Social Apartment, anything is possible if you want to do it.