Gogy Esparza

On Monday, through the introduction from my good friend Eugene (Hypebeast) and Ephraim, I had the honour of meeting the multitalented Gogy Esparza. Gogy is a Massachusetts native and is currently living in NYC. He is a gifted photographer, as well as a barber when he is not shooting. Gogy mainly shoots with a film camera, and his works show his creative and raw talent.

I had dinner with him, along with Ephraim and Simon, who is also a correspondent for Hypebeast. We ate at a bbq lamb restaurant and the meat was damn good. Thanks to Ephraim on this! If you want to know where the good eats are in Tokyo, Ephraim's your man. Afterwards, we went out for drinks at Kinfolk, where we met some more people; Gérald, Kevin, Pavan and Stefan. It was a good night of good discussions, laughter and smiles.

Gogy is in Tokyo for his second solo exhibition at Le Baron de Paris for his photo book titled "Lighttime". Please check out his work and website at http://www.gogy.me.

Thanks for stopping by and i'll catch up with you all soon.

Peace.

For more photos, click HERE.

Dez Einswell @ Kicks Lab Tokyo

Friday, April 30, I headed into Tokyo with the STOKYO Japan crew to the Dez Einswell event at Kicks Lab in Harajuku. Dez is a really down-to-earth, talented and humble individual. You can check out the photos on Flickr HERE.

DJ P-Luv on Global Noon News Extra - Jan.27

My homie, DJ P-Luv gave a short demonstration and talk on Global BC's Noon News Extra to help promote the Red Bull 3 Style Competition. This year he is defending his title at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on Jan.28, 2010. If you're in Vancouver, you definitely don't want to miss this party. It was crazy at last year's competition and it's gonna be crazier this year. For the first time this year, 2010, Red Bull will be hosting the championships in Paris. Good luck to all of the participants! Move the crowd!!

For P-Luv's interview on Global BC, click HERE

For information on the Red Bull 3 Style Competition and dates, click HERE

Happy New Year!! It's 2010!

Happy New Year to you All!! Yes i'm late, but one of my resolutions is to provide you with weekly updates on this blog. I spent my new year with friends and family in Vancouver. Actually on NYE, I chilled out with wifey and my brothers, DJs P-Luv and OMG, at Bar None in Yaletown. We celebrated the new year together and had sandwiches at Duffin's for our after hours hunger. (Is that English??) Anyways, the year has been great so far. Thank you all for a great 2009! I wish you all the best for 2010!! Like Tupac said, "Keep Ya Head Up". Peace to all!

The Playface

Hello everyone!

It's been a long time again. I've been busy working and helping out the W+K team with their project with Playstation. I've been asked to edit the web videos for the Playface campaign. Below is the TV spot which was edited by London's Dayn Williams. Just recently I recorded some video with Takeshi at the Playface event in Odaiba at Mediage. There were some PSP and Playstation 3 setups, as well as the Playface booths where it captured a gamers expressions in 360 degrees with 18 cameras recording simultaneously, like "the Matrix" effect. More information and a detailed description on W+K's blog.

Hope everyone enjoyed their summer.

http://www.wktokyo.jp/blog/?p=2021

http://www.wktokyo.jp/blog/?p=2035

Hanabi!

Hello all! Hope you've been enjoying your summer holidays.

It's been another long minute since i've posted anything, but the past few weeks i've been kinda busy working. Aside from my teaching job at Gaba, I worked with W+K on a Nike project and recently on another Playstation project. Busy, busy, busy....

Anyways at the beginning of the month my lady and I, along with her brother and family travelled up to Niigata Prefecture to visit some relatives. Niigata is popular for it's fireworks festivals and I have to agree on that. I've never seen a fireworks display over a landscape. Nothing comparable like the ones I usually see in Vancouver at the Celebration of Lights. You be the judge of it. Below is a video I took of the finalé and I had to pan a lot because my lens was not wide enough to catch the whole landscape.

Enjoy!!

W+K Tokyo Lab Presents “VIDEO MUSIC” - March 28, 2009

This past Saturday, W+K Tokyo Lab hosted another event, "VIDEO MUSIC". A night filled with great visuals, music and people. One of W+K's artists, JEMAPUR, did a couple of sets, giving the crowd an experience not to be forgotten. Also, Jemapur will be doing an hour exclusive set on W+K Radio, tonight at 1am (9am-Thursday PST).

"VIDEO MUSIC" was held at Roppongi Hills, at Mado Lounge on the 52nd Floor (great view!!).

For photos of the event, please go here.

Also please check out W+K Tokyo Lab's Blog here.

Funny how time flies...

So today marks my one month anniversary since i've moved to Japan. Life's been pretty chill for now until I get the proper docs to allow me to work. I've been seeing old friends and trying to meet some too. I've been spending most of my time at home and practicing my hiragana and katakana, as well as learning some Photoshop, After Effects and Illustrator skills from online tutorials. The one thing I need to do is polish up my cover letter, so that when my visa arrives, i'm able to work a.s.a.p. I've been trying to occupy my time up with online tutorials, surfing the web, reading a book and occasionally stepping out of the house to go for short walks around the neighbourhood.

About 2 weeks ago, I went to a live show in Kichijoji, Tokyo, with Ephraim and Masako, to check out Hifana and some other live acts. This was my first time seeing Hifana live and to my surprise Semba-san and a group of percussionists and musicians, Kargamos, with Hifana collectively played great music. I had the privilege of meeting more of the W+K Tokyo staff through one of the Creative Directors, Shane Lester, that I had met while on my trip to L.A. last November. They are all personable and great! It was a good night of great music and company.

While the hunt is still on, i'll do my best to update you all on a regular basis.

For a review of the live show, please go HERE.

For photos of the evening, please go HERE.

Video of the Hifana and Semba show soon to follow.

HIFANA @ Star Pines Cafe (Tokyo)

HIFANA (W+K Tokyo Lab) will be performing live @ the Star Pines Cafe in Kichijoji this Saturday, Feb.28. Also part of the musical lineup are IZUPON, Cinza Dopeness, Kyo Sakurai, Senba and karugamos. If you are in the Tokyo area, please come check them out. It's gonna get LIVE!

For more information, please click HERE.

Christmas @ the Bays to the Hastings Set Boxing Day Blowout

In the early eve of Boxing Day, I celebrated another Christmas Dinner at the Bays. I've known most of my friends there since elementary and it's always great to spend our annual Christmas dinners together.

Afterwards, I headed down to the Biltmore Cabaret to the Hastings Set Boxing Day Blowout which featured a live set from Love and Electrik and Omar Khan. As always, great music by the duo and Omar, as well as the DJs (DJ She, Bles-sed and Niña Mendoza).

To view photos of the evening, please click HERE.

<< Rewind << 2008 Birthday and Zerohour Christmas Gift Exchange

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Yeah, yeah, I know i'm a tad late. Doing a lot of catch up now with posts. My apologies.

So this post features my 33rd Birthday, as well as the Zerohour Gift Exchange at Hapa Izakaya in Kits. As always, it was a night full of laughter and smiles. My secret Santa got me a triple threat of Tim Hortons Steeped Teas. Love it! Now I can enjoy my double-doubles at home. I received another special gift from my cousin John and Patti. For my birthday gift, they made a custom Munny for me. Thank you!! Love it! Also a special thank you to the Hapa crew for the shot, which Bryan shoved my face in first. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season, despite the really bad snowfalls we've had.

For more photos of the night, please click HERE.

Love & Electrik @ Shine - December 18, 2008

Round 3 - Love and Electrik performing at Shine Nightclub in Gastown. As always, these 2 put on a great show. In attendance we had the Freshest Kids minus one, DJ Bles-sed, Omar Khan, Jojo, Mr. Brad Dijkman, NaRai, DJ Relly Rels and the Hastings Set.

To view photos of the evening, please click HERE.

Saturday Was A Good Day

Dec.13, 2008:
Let's see, where shall I begin...

2pm:
Oh yes, none other than Love and Electrik performed their second performance at Beatstreet Records out of the Five Feats of Strength Tour. Their first performance of the tour was the night before at the Sweatshop for the Schools Out For Winter event, which was hosted by Team Cream. Their next performance will be at the Shine Nightclub this Thursday, Dec. 18 with the Freshest Kids DJs and special guest DJ Bles-sed. For more information on Love and Electrik, please visit their MySpace page HERE and their blog HERE. I took some video footage of their performance at Beatstreet Records, which I will post shortly.

For more photos of Love and Electrik, please click HERE.

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10pm:
Next up, I went to the Camilla D'Errico art show which was hosted at El Kartel on Robson St. She is one of the many favourite artists that I admire. She's such a cool person and real easy to talk with. I had the privilege of meeting her at her first show, about 2 years ago at El Kartel. She signed a t-shirt for me then and signed another one now. Thank you!! Also in attendance was Vincent Chan, who was featured on Hypebeast.com recently, along with his partner and a good friend of mine, Matthew Miyagawa from Finale Design. And last but not least, Santa stopped by for a drink. For more information on Camilla D'Errico and to see more of her work, please visit her website HERE.

For photos from Camilla D'Errico's show, please click HERE.

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Midnight:
And last but not least, I headed down to the Royal Unicorn for the Studios' Film and Music Industry Party. Music was provided by Cheeky Disco (in a monkey suit. What?!), Small Fame and Saint Expedite. The night was great with good music and good company. Thanks again to Justin for the invite! :) Please visit www.thisisthestudio.com, to view more of their work. I also have some video footage of Small Fame's performance, which I will post up shortly too.

For photos of this event, please click HERE.

Good night :D

the Good, the Bad, the Hastings - Friday, November 28, 2008

Once again the Hastings Set put on another great gathering. The DJ's for the evening were DJ She, DJ Niña P. Mendoza and DJ Bles-sed. The musical acts were Chin Injeti, Omar Khan, Love and Electrik, along with Narai, and Emotionz. The evening too was entertained with dance routines from two excellent dance groups: Stone Foxx and the SVS Style Dance Crews. On behalf of the Hastings Set; we thank you for your donations. Peace, love and the Hastings!!

For photos of that evening, please click HERE.

Tokyo.Ten @ Gallery Nucleus

-with Shane Lester, Eric Cruz and Gino Woo
-

This is Day 2 of my visit to LA. It started off on Melrose Ave. to La Brea Ave, checking out stores. During that time, I was caught in a thunderstorm (booo!!).

That evening though was the purpose of my trip: W+K Tokyo Lab - Tokyo.Ten Show in Alhambra. I was very fortunate and privileged to have met the Creative Team of W+K Tokyo Lab; Eric Cruz (+cruz), Shane Lester and Gino Woo (Woog). The show presents a compilation of work from artists that have collaborated with W+K Tokyo Lab. Tokyo.Ten is a compilation of DVD, Book and Blog that chronicles their entire audiovisual output since they began five years ago. The exhibition included prints, dvd and cd artwork, and a video presentation. Music was also provided by Woog, Shane Lester and Nanopaul. For more info about Tokyo.Ten and the exhibit, please click HERE.

I have become a big fan of Hifana since discovering them while living in Japan back in 2003-2004. I have frequented Shane Lester's blog to see what's been going on, as well as W+K Tokyo Lab's Blog too. Last year, during my trip to Japan to visit my lady, I had the opportunity to see where W+K Tokyo Lab's studio in Roppongi was. To see them in person though was weird, just because I would always see them on their blogs.

Please check their work out at www.wktokyolab.com/ and at www.wktokyo.jp/.

I have been following their work since I discovered their profile in December 2006 on Apple's Pro web page. Thank you guys!!

It then ended off with dinner with my friend Mikee and my cousin Lisa and her friend, Lolly, at Wockano in Pasadena.

For more photos, please click HERE.

Love and Electrik @ the Bayside Lounge - Sept.20, 2008

Love and Electrik performed at the Bayside Lounge last night. As I have missed their 2 shows from the previous Hasting Sets parties, i've finally managed to catch them. While sitting cozy in the lounge, sippin' on my Gin and Tonic and snackin' on some nachos, I listened and grooved to the sounds of Love and Electrik. This duo consists of Roxy Aiston and Kevin Mah. If you would like to learn more about them and their music, you can click HERE.

I LOVE ROBOTS!!

For photos of the show, please click HERE.

Common and N.E.R.D. @ Malkin Bowl - Sept.17, 2008

It has been 6 years since I last saw Common perform and I have to say that my second attendance to his show was amazing. Again with a live band and a small production, I was very happy to have attended this show.

I went down to the show with my cousin John and one of my best friends, Bryan. DJ Pump (Eh Team DJ's) opened up the show, and was followed up by N.E.R.D. They too put on an amazing set. N.E.R.D. is so alive when they're live. The one thing I really appreciated and took to heart was what Pharrell said on stage for a young 12 year old and to the youth . He gave a mad shout out to them which I thought deserves mad respect, as well as stressing education.

Common on the other hand, still shows how a gentleman should be. I'm really looking forward to Common's new album, "the Believer", which will be released in November 2008.

Click HERE to view photos of the show.

The Hasting Set - Freedom -- Sept.12, 2008

And, to last but not to least, to the triple-threat weekend that started it off...... I arrived around 4am to the party and the place was still live. As always, good vibes and good music. Always a pleasure to attend a Hastings Set Party, early or late, because it's always all good! See you again.

For photos of that evening (morning?), please click HERE.

SVS 3 Year Anniversary @ Plush - Sept.13, 2008

The SVS Style Dance Crew celebrated, and not only brought the sexy, but the real hip-hop, to the stage at Plush Nightclub for their 3 Year Anniversary. From songs from Digable Planets to Pharcyde of the 90's, the ladies delivered a memorable performance. Another video of the performance will be coming soon. But for now, check out the video below. Thanks to Rowe for coming through and taking more photos, as well as to OJ for the SVS Style banner, and to DJ Hedspin (Eh! Team DJs/ Kut Co./ Heds Up Marketing) for the dope music track! Be sure to check SVS' website and blog.

Check out the photos HERE.

3rd Annual Livestock Block Party

Tomorrow, Sunday, September 14, Livestock will be hosting it's 3rd Annual Block Party in Gastown again. Last years BBQ was packed and the street was just buzzing with good vibes and great people. With DJs on rotation throughout the day, b-boys and b-girls rockin' the moves, food catered by Guu (mmmmm...), and a 4ft skateboard mini ramp. This year there will be a dance competition as well as a mini ramp contest. Be sure to come on down, cuz the weather is gonna be great again. Also, be sure to sport a Livestock tee to show your support, and if you don't have one yet, they do have some shirts in stock. Hope to see you there. The event is on from 1pm to 7pm. For more details, please visit www.deadstock.ca.