Last Friday I was teleported into an amazing event by the sassy and provocative filmmaker/photographer Belinda (Bel's World). It was part of a larger live music event that day, but what got our attention was - its founder Takuma “Gago Gigamon” calls his band – a machinima band. He literally put on an explosive show, lots of lights and even GA-GO dancers! Pounding beats, lots of enthusiasm and a Westernized rock-n-roll high fashion sense were other ingredients.
One of this recent machinima - G-Project 2012 “End of The War” - was among the films nominated in the 2012
Machinima Expo. Takuma tapped filmmaker SL MAG’s umekobutya Beck, an extremely talented Japanese machinimatographer. Takuma edited the film, and did the sound design. You can watch the video here: [
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1mimqvn_c ].
An incredible visual aesthetic is captured in GA-GO’s machinima. There is definitely a Western sensibility in the machinima, and plenty of James Bond-like action. Takuma is a RL rock singer, and he puts on a high intensity rock show in SL. That kind of feeling is captured in the well-produced machinima.
The band members, aside from lead singer Takuma, include Keyboardist Setsuna Infinity, Guitarist Ark Foden, and GA-GO Dancers Pyson Camel and Sizuku3.Vella. The band’s manager is the lovely Yumi Yumichan Allen. The band members in SL differ from RL members. The SL members are builders and creators, and help with the lighting, dance and overall production of the show.
Setsuna is a builder who has been involved in the creation of the Miss Virtual World stage and the sim build for the Ashraya Project.
Takuma feels fortunate to hear his songs in SL, for it has made possible what he thought to be an impossible expression otherwise. To him “the place of expression is Second Life,” a virtual world that allows for new music and new ideas.
In RL, the band is simply known
as "GA-GO" and they are very active in Kansai, Japan.
*Special thanks to Sakurako Watanbe, owner of the Kumashon Shopping
Mall, for hosting the SL event shown in some of the above photos (taken by
S.F.).
I write more about Takuma’s GA-GO machinima in November’s
Magnum: Machinima Review.
And Belinda Barnes-Fitzroy and I will see you at the Expo on November 16th-18th. Details at the
Machinima Expo web site.
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On a personal note, my BOSL Radio show is on hiatus, and I am not sure at this time when and if I will return to the airwaves. There's been some changes to station programming. No worries, your favorites continue on BOSL Radio, even from SL musicians. I was there from the start (April 2010) and I thank Persia Bravin and CC Teardrop for being part of that wonderful experience. I will continue to blog the music scene for now. Radio has been a major part of my life - RL and SL, and I will miss the opportunity to support the SL live music scene in my own small way, by broadcasting and promoting SL's talented musicians. You never know in radio - I might be back tomorrow or five years from now in another virtual world. LOL.
Saying that, I was very happy to purchase
AcousticEnergy's long awaited debut CD the other night. I am glad he finally made good his promise of producing an album, and I am saddened I didn't receive it in time to air it. I will wear it out, however, by listening to it over and over in between his SL gigs. Check it out here, under his RL name,
http://www.jamesolmos.com/#!home/mainPage
:) Soni, catch you on the grid.
