Komuso Tokugawa
Gig Seeker Pro

Komuso Tokugawa

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band Blues New Age

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

The best kept secret in music

Press


"Kelly Services Expands Presence With Launch of Virtual Headquarters in Second Life"

NASDAQ: KELYA) (NASDAQ: KELYB), a global human resources solutions provider, today announced the launch of its virtual headquarters in the three-dimensional, on-line world of Second Life.

-- The second half of Kelly's virtual presence will debut on Friday, October 26, 2007 at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. SLT). Grand opening activities will include a streaming, live blues concert by renowned musical resident Komuso Tokugawa (come early as his shows tend to fill up quickly).
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=785026&k - Marketwire


"Coming to a House Near you!"

http://slnn.com/article/komusohousetour/
GRID-WIDE - While the blues slide guitarist and harmonica player extraordinaire who drives the avatar Komuso Tokugawa is actually in Tokyo, Japan, his avatar is all over the grid. Komuso, as he is known by his fans, has been performing at a torrid pace this month as part of his “House Rent Walkabout Tour.” Having already played over twenty dates in February, Komuso is a busy fellow indeed. His “Walkabout Tour” will continue tonight with a party at SLNN editor Garret Bakalava’s house and then into next week with several other dates.

The genesis for this “Walkabout” comes from both American blues tradition and from Komuso’s Australian roots. “In the tradition of itinerant Bluesman everywhere, I decided to go on walkabout, to play for my supper, or, actually, bed, board, tips, and whiskey/machine oil and err...whatever else crosses my path.” With an incredibly loyal following in SL, Komuso was able to secure dozens of residences to play, night after night, to bring his music to, in his words “the best private residential locations on the grid.”


The most interesting thing about this tour is that Komuso is eschewing the traditional bread of butter of SL Live musicians, bars and night clubs, in favor of playing people’s homes. The “House Rent Boogie Tour” or “House Rent Walkabout Tour” as it has been called, aims at bringing the blues to people’s homes. “It’s awesome because I was able to come and see him here because it’s at my friend’s house and I wanted to be sure and be here for the party. If it was at a club I might not have made that effort,” said a newly minted fan after a recent house show. “I’m in his blues fans group now too, I’ll definitely come back and see him again.”


Komuso has his own music stream, which allows him to provide music to the land of any property owner with enough land to handle the kinds of crowds that Komuso brings with him. Having been building his following for in SL for almost two years, Komuso can summon quite a group of fans to almost every function.

While on this house tour, Komuso continues to play clubs and other events as well. Upcoming gigs include a show to celebrate his second birthday in SL, the first in a regular series of Sunday Jam sessions, and a gig at Club KT on March 9th. In between those dates, he will be coming to a house near you.

The next time you hear the neighbor’s music turned up way too loud, you might want to peek over the fence and see what’s going on, especially if it sounds like “the noisiest low down gutbucket red hot rockin' bottleneck boogie slide n'harp” coming from a “cyborg from the bad side of the bitstream.” It might well be that your neighbors are hosting a show by Komuso Tokugawa. If so, climb over the fence and enjoy the ride.


For a complete listing of Komuso’s upcoming dates, check his website at http://www.sonicviz.com/music/members/6/index.php - SLNN


"Komuso Tokugawa rocks the first day of the year"

http://npirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/komuso-tokugawa-rocks-my-day.html
Just past midnite this morn and again near midnite tonite... rockin' to Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher, Komuso Tokugawa-style. Closure for the first day of the year. Jurin Juran, thanks for those TPs. - Not Possible In Real Life


"Tokyo and Taiwan Real Time"

http://sl.impressrd.jp/e/2007/12/04/442
Translation:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://sl.impressrd.jp/e/2007/12/04/442
- Impress R&D Japan


"MagSL first anniversary event will be held"

http://sl.impressrd.jp/e/2007/12/07/457
Translated:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://sl.impressrd.jp/e/2007/12/07/457
Image: http://sl.impressrd.jp/files/images/0712/071207_ph07.jpg - Impress R&D Japan


"SLeb Interview: Komuso Tokugawa, SL King of the Blues"


SLeb Interview: Komuso Tokugawa, SL King of the Blues

November 16, 2007 by VJ Shojo
http://slebs.wordpress.com/2007/11/16/sleb-interview-komuso-tokugawa-sl-king-of-the-blues/

In the first installment of the SLeb interview series. I talked with Komuso Tokugawa. If you’ve been is Second Life for any time at all, you’ve probably seen Komuso in concert. His red robot Avi sings and plays a unique blend of old blues tunes with a dirty electric slide guitar and a mouth harp sound.
In many ways Komuso is the next logical evolution of the street performer, wandering the bitstream instead of the sidewalk. I caught up to Komuso last week as he was beginning his “House Rent Tour ” in SL.

SLebs: If you can put it in a paragraph, how does an Australian find himself in Tokyo broadcasting American blues played live into cyberspace?

Komuso: I was originally here from ‘94 to ‘98, then went back to Australia. Moved back here nearly 2 years ago. I’ve traveled and worked in a lot of places, and always jammed on harp and slide wherever I’ve ended up. I started a blues band with some friends when I was here in Tokyo last time, which is still going btw. When I moved back I started a little three piece Boogie band with some of my old japanese band-mates. I had to start singing though, as no one else wanted to do it! Story continues below…

SLebs: You’ve been on Second Life since March 2005, How did you find out about the Metaverse and how long did it take you before you started streaming live music into Second Life?

Komuso: I was working in Australia on some “Games for Health” concepts and was tracking the emerging area of social MMO’s back in 2003 and came across SL before it was launched in beta. Initially they did not accept non-US signups for the beta, and then it was not till March 2005 I got around to signing up. The first year I focused on my biofeedback interface research in SL, and travelled the grid taking a lot of snapzilla shots. I was playing more in RL at the time with a bass/drum section. Then I started experimenting using SL for RL song practice around Feb 2006, and then started doing gigs. After a few months I decided to do 100% SL live music as an indie music experiment and dropped the RL gigging [the Tokyo small bar/club live music scene is very much a pay-to-play scene working to the bars advantage], though I do the odd jam now and again with friends in RL at some clubs. I’m also thinking of starting up another three piece and doing some more RL gigs soon, finding the right places to play can be a pain though.

SLebs: Most people in SL know you for your blues music, but you also play ambient relaxation music. Do you find the audience very different for the two types of music? And do you find yourself using the popularity of your blues to steer an audience to your ambient music.

Komuso: There is some crossover, some fans belong to both my groups, but the market for emotional energy music like blues is very different from the relaxation music market in general.

SLebs: I’m cheating a little by doubling up my questions, please forgive me. You seem to be playing two or three gigs in front of Sim capacity crowds every night in SL, Do your fees and tips from playing music in SL substantially augment you RL income? And do you have time to enjoy SL beside playing music?

Komuso: I’m not playing 2 or 3 gigs every night, although I have done ~350 live gigs in SL now I think;-) I’ve learnt an awful lot doing that!.

I do believe competent musicians, like any other professional skill, deserve to be compensated accordingly for their efforts.

At the moment playing in SL is a cross between a small bar and street busking, of which I have had extensive experience of both in RL at various times. Current income potential, while not substantial, is on a par with this. It can also be highly variable, though I do have an average figure that I tend to bounce around. In terms of augmenting RL income I’d have to say any income I get is important to me!

The performer/audience feedback loop is also very similar to the small bar/street performance context, albeit through a narrower delayed communications pipe, but this feedback loop is what makes live music one of the killer apps of SL in my opinion. Reading the chat logs after the gig is always entertaining, as I only get to interact with a snapshots of it - but that is also the same as in RL.

My favorite activity in SL, apart from ripping it up for the pixel-butts in SL, is to random grid travel and see what’s out there. Pull up the map and click…never know what you will find!

SLebs: You don’t have to tell us the name, but do you run an Alt (alternate Avatar) so that you can move about SL incognito? What other artist do you log-on to see in SL?

Komuso: No, I don’t run an alt for incognito excursions. I do use some for filming when I need multiple actors for my machinima project, currently under development http://www.sonicviz.com/music/membe - http://slebs.wordpress.com


"Blue Snow NYE 07"

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/12/31/tonight-blue-snow/

[11:30 p.m. PST] Komuso Tokugawa rings in ‘08 with his mix of ambient and blues styles. It’s a four corners dance venue, so if you can’t get in through Voss, there are entrances in Wengen, Moritz and Zermatt.

Whether we see you there or not, we wish you an enjoyable and safe night! - SecondLife


"Da Shiz: Komuso Tokugawa"

Da Shiz: Komuso Tokugawa
http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2007/07/da-shiz-komuso-.html

by peppermint fizz, seriously cool stuff that's going on desk

In a historic, groundbreaking, academically rigorous, yet fun new feature that someone might conceivably think is serious metaverse journalism - or at least virtual tabloid journalism - here is the seriously cool stuff that's going on desk suggestion for what to do between spamming the Herald comments, crashing sims, and annoying Prokofy. If you like being told of meaningful, fun, or interesting things to do once in a while, leave a comment to that effect, and we'll get a sharper reporter on it at some point. Maybe. Worst case, we'll send Jimbo out to cover the story if the office cat is too busy cleaning herself to be bothered. In the meantime, here's a humble suggestion:

Check out SL electric blues player Komuso Tokugawa. He plays all over the place on the grid several nights a week, so make the effort because his show is a dance party on your computer. Get there early, his blues and boogie pushes sims to the limit and you may have to try a few times to get in. His website has a list of upcoming shows.

Tokugawa is a charismatic performer and a talented musician. His avatar is usually some sort of guitar slinging robot. He plays a grungy electric guitar and harmonica over a digital drum and bass background and jams on classic American Blues songs.

Tokugawa is an Australian who lives in Tokyo, Japan, making his deep knowledge of American Blues especially interesting in a Second Life as a Global Village kind of way. Tokugawa-san rocks.

Posted by Pixeleen Mistral on July 17, 2007 at 10:55 PM in News from Second Life | Permalink
- http://www.secondlifeherald.com


Discography

Downloads and Streams available at:
http://www.sonicviz.com/music/members/6/music.php

Photos

Bio

One foot in the emotionally expressive analogue world of traditions such as deep blues and 1200 year old Japanese bamboo flute, the other firmly in the metaverse of emerging virtual worlds such as SecondLife. Connecting the two through live streaming performances with dynamic, visceral, audiovisual performances.
See my blog at http://www.sonicviz.com/music/members/6/blog.php for more details!

1. "Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream" - Bridging the real world and the emerging virtual worlds with a special brand of loose, raw, boogie blues. Visceral stinging slide guitar and harmonica backed up by AI driven custom programmed bass and drum grooves.

2. Ambient Trance Blues
A real time audiovisual experience inside SecondLife. A new project for 2008! A real time distributed jam between Japan and Taiwan, complete with a custom built generative visuals system to create a relaxed ambient trance blues synaesthetic experience.

3. Relaxation music for healing, meditation, chillout, and relaxation. Brainwave entrainment musical training sets. Interactive musical bio/neuro feedback applications.