From Rekuru: Saturday night, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing a local New York City music group called FiRESiGN. Comprised of lead vocalist Aya and bassist Masaki Yamada, the two have a long-standing background in music, with Masaki originally being the lead singer in the heavy metal band Ezo (formally known as Flatback). Coincidentally, Ezo has been named as an influence for such artists as Steve McDonald of Redd Kross and Michael Steele of the The Bangles. With that said, here’s the interview. Enjoy. More »

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is prepping for its annual Sakura Matsuri on May 2 & 3. The weekend-long family festival is a celebration of Japanese culture and arts. This year over 50 performances are scheduled that include taiko drumming, an anime voice actor panel, bonsai pruning workshops, Jpop DJs, and a traditional kimono show. In the meantime, you can keep track of the gradual blooming of the Garden’s more than 200 cherry trees online with the CherryWatch Blossom Status Map! More »

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It’s Sakura Matsuri time again! And that means hanami, the act of going out and admiring cherry blossoms. The most famous hanami hotspot in America is the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It’s going on now in Washington, DC, and the blossoms are said to reach their peak this weekend. With clear skies and temperatures in the high 50s Saturday and high 60s Sunday, it’s a great weekend to visit DC! The annual spring event celebrates the gift of Japanese cherry trees from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki to the city of Washington, DC. (Back in 1912!) More »

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I’m always looking for music that has a real feel to it. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I like listening to the type of music where you don’t know the lyrics and you just like the beat; you’re just having a good time dancing and singing along with it. But most of the time, I want the music to move my soul and grab a hold of my heart and make me feel passion – whether it’s from hate, love, or sorrow – running throughout my veins. One day, I came across a musician-producer by the name of Taiyo Na. I bought his album Love Is Growth, which I love. I decided to talk to him about it and about his career. More »

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This is an archived blog post. Jason Linetsky is no longer a Ningin blogger.

The sounds of hip-hop, Soul, and a little violin filled the air in one of the trendiest Brooklyn bars, Public Assembly, as Resonating Awareness Worldwide (R.A.W) brought together the coasts for the AM Classic. At first it appeared to be a coastal split with East Coast artists taking up the stage in one room and West Coast in the other but the tech and audio crews created a more harmonious idea. The main room focused on the spinners, scratchers, and MCs mixing their beats with a little freestyling flair. Artists from both coasts came up including Hydroponikz, Magnetic North, the Misnomer(s), and the combo of DJ Dstrukt, Dumbfounded, Youthinasia, and Lyraflyp. The back room had the sounds of live musicians with Heather Park, Cynthia Lin, Kelly Tsai, and Warhol Soup. Filling out the rest of the bill for the night were Jay Legaspi, Deep Foundation, DJ Boo, and Brooklyn’s own Koba.

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