S.S.T. Band and Motoaki Furukawa Collide

This Saturday will see the resurgence of two game music performing legends: Blind Spot (formerly SEGA S.S.T Band) and Motoaki Furukawa, the original headmaster of Konami Kukeiha Club. The two will combine forces in Osaka for a performance aptly named “Blind Spot with Motoaki Furukawa”, set to give old game music fans a treat from the golden age of video game music.

This isn’t, however, the first time Blind Spot members have begun movement. Last year in the summer of 2011, the 6 members which include Koichi Namiki (guitar), Kimitaka Matsumae (keyboard), Joji Ijima (guitar), Masato Saito (bass), Hisanori Kumamaru (drums), and Shoji Morifuji (keyboard), all original members aside from Shoji Morifuji, held a concert in Tokyo to launch their resurgence and was met with great success. The band has been slightly overshadowed by H., another off spring of S.S.T. Band and thought of by many as the true successor to S.S.T. Band due to the powerful presences of Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, the famed composer for Daytona USA and Shenmue as well as an all around recognizable personality of SEGA music along with Hiroshi Kawaguchi, who composed almost every old SEGA arcade game you know from After Burner to Outrun. H.’s frequent activity, including performances at SEGA promotional events around Japan, Nico Nico Douga broadcast “Game Music Night,” and Mitsuyoshi’s heavy involvement in SEGA vocals and GEONDAN activity has given the them exposure and a strong following from SEGA music fans. Blind Spot however, represents a larger chunk of the original S.S.T. Band and is creating a buzz among fans with their recent resurgence. The remaining 5 members have been out of the game music scene for a long time, pursuing their own personal projects, however their drive to perform has once again been rekindled, and as a fan, I couldn’t be happier.

Blind Spot held their co-event in Tokyo last weekend on February 25th which reportedly was another big success. Osaka fans get a special treat with the addition of Furukawa and Voyager, who reside in nearby Kobe. This isn’t the first time Furukawa has found himself involved in Kansai-based live game music activity either, when he suddenly appeared as a guest on stage with The Black Mages in 2004. In addition, a pre-party event will be held on Saturday, March 3rd in Osaka to get things started, in the form of a video game DJ event and talk show with keyboardist Kimitaka Matsumae, guitarist Koichi Namiki and Furukawa that will be broadcasted live on Ustream. I will have the pleasure of performing at this event alongside chiptune wizard Hally, KAZ a.k.a. HIGE, and others. The pre-party talk show can be viewed via live cam, and is scheduled to begin at 17:00 on Sunday, March 3rd Japan standard time. Be sure to check back at OSV for our interview with Blind Spot members Kimitaka Matsumae and Koichi Namiki where we will discuss the members’ current activity and their relationship with Sega counterpart H.!