I N T E R V I E W B Y M I C H E L L E T Y M O NO P E N I N G A R T I C L E B Y D E N N I S A . A M I T H

I M A G E S C O U R T E S Y O F AV E X E N T E R TA I N M E N T, I N C .

A J ! - E N T S P E C I A L F E AT U R E A R T I C L E A N D I N T E R V I E W

J!-ENT Celebrating our 15th Year Anniversary

CAMINO

ttention all J-Rock fans! The Japanese rock band CAMINO will be performing in Toronto, Ontario on Nov. 14th courtesy

of J-Rock North Promotions Inc. and will take part in fan activities at Dot-Con on Nov. 15th and 16th, also held in Toronto. The band name which is derived from the Spanish word “pathway” was formed by guitarist KIKU who is known for his work with the band Misty Eyes and also for pop diva Hamasaki Ayumi and many others in the Japanese music industry. Using the band name as its con-cept, Kiku brought together musicians with completely different musical styles and combine their musical “pathways” to shape a unique sound known as “CAMINO”. The group debuted back in 2003 with their album “arise” which was both released in Japan and the US. “arise” was so well-received that shops in both countries had sold out of the al-bum in less than a month. The group took part at A-Kon in Dallas, Texas for their first performance in the US in 2003 and approached soon after by Bandai Co., Ltd. to use their song “Going on” in the commercial for “Battle Darts” and another commercial for DeAGOSTINI magazine featuring their song “truth or lie”. The members then received attention for participating in the “Kamen Rider 555 Song Collection” in 2003 with an image song for main character Inui Ta-kumi titled “Double Standard”. In 2004, the demand for CAMI-NO brought the band back to the US with performances in San Jose, Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C. taking the stage along with bands such as Do As Infinity, Psycho le Cemu and Ta-maki Nami. In 2005, the group was asked again to perform, this time in New Orleans and also took part in the rock event “Born to be ROCK 1” held at the Yokohama Blitz. In 2006, the group returned with a solid performance at Seattle’s Sakura-Con and took part in the “ROCK IN

JAPAN FESTIVAL”. In May 2007, the group had their first anime-tie in with the CD single “Nostalgia”, the theme song for the TV Tokyo anime series “Kotetsu San-gokushi”. In June 2008, the band released their first major label release, “Story”, which was used as a theme for the series “To-mika Hero Rescue Force”.

J!-ENT: For those who are new to CAMINO and your music, can you please tell us a little bit about the band?HAYATO: Our band has five members and we all get along great. We strive to be a band that can be friendly to ev-eryone.KIKU: We’re a hard rock band that makes songs that can be enjoyed by various audiences!

J!-ENT: Who are your major influences musically or otherwise?

HAYATO: We have quite a few but we have a lot of influence from rock bands from the 80s for the most part.

J!-ENT: You’ve played at a number of anime conventions in the US in the past but did you enjoy playing in America? Also, what do you think about anime and Japanese culture be-ing popular in the US?HAYATO: The American audience has been very welcoming and our concerts in America have been very fun and en-ergetic. So, they have been great ex-periences.RYOSUKE: We are all fans of anime and watch it as well, so it makes us happy that it is popular in the United States!

J!-ENT: Looking at your MySpace, you have a lot of fans around the world. How does it feel to have so many fans overeseas?HAYATO: It makes us very happy! We want to do more concerts overseas and have a great time with everyone!

2 J!-ENT

CAMINO: THE INTERVIEW

CAMINO (from L-R): KIKU (guitar), RYOSUKE (keyboard), HAYATO (vocals), REHIT (drums) and TAKA (bass). Image courtesy of Tearbridge Productions and Avex Entertainment Inc.

A

J!-ENT: If you weren’t in a band, what kind of job would you be doing? KIKU: A firefighterTAKA: A manga artistREHIT: I would be working at a candy store.HAYATO: A teacher

J!-ENT: If you could perform at any place in the world, where would that place be?HAYATO: ParisKIKU: Machu Picchu (laughing)REHIT: AustraliaRYOSUKE: ItalyTAKA: England

J!-ENT: You guys have performed at many anime cons and had songs used in anime and video games. But do you happen to have a favorite series?HAYATO: We love video games! As for anime, we love “GHOST IN THE SHELL” and “AKIRA”. Also, we read “JUMP” ev-ery week! (laughing)

J!-ENT: Are there any artists, Japanese or foreign, that you would like to col-laborate with?KIKU: Steve LukatherTAKA: Ozzy OsbourneREHIT: Dream TheaterRYOSUKE: Madonna and Jackie Chan (laughing)HAYATO: No Doubt and Pink

J!-ENT: Do you have any hobbies or in-terests other than music?HAYATO: Photography and drawingKIKU: FishingTAKA: Pro wrestling gamesREHIT: Video gamesRYOSUKE: Street Fighter 2

J!-ENT: If you could take a week off from work and go to any country or city without having to worry about money, where would you go and what would you do?KIKU: Eat hot dogs in the Bahamas!REHIT: Go to Shikoku and eat tantan men.TAKA: Go to America and watch WWE!HAYATO: A space trip!RYOSUKE: Go to Madison Square Garden in New York and watch a NBA game.

J!-ENT: Do any of you have any special or unique talents?KIKU: KaraokeTAKA: Kiki PotatoREHIT: Downing a bottle of Tabasco!

(laughing)RYOSUKE: Street Fighter 2HAYATO: Darts

J!-ENT: If you had to choose one fa-vorite from all your songs, what song would that be?HAYATO: We actually have this unre-leased song that comes to mind... I really want to talk about it but I can’t! (laugh-ing)

J!-ENT: Blogging and reading blogs is quite popular in Japan. Do you guys enjoy blogging?HAYATO: I love it! I do my best to blog everyday and include pictures as much as possible, so everyone can enjoy the entries!KIKU: Of course, I love it! It makes me feel like the world is that much closer!

J!-ENT: Your song “Nostalgia” was used for the anime “Koutetsu San-gokushi”. How was that feeling to have your song in an anime?HAYATO: I wanted to do a theme song for an anime, so I was very happy. Since the song was used in a historical anime, I learned a lot!RYOSUKE: I’m glad that so many people got to hear it!

J!-ENT: From your first CD single to the present release, has there been any change musically within the group from then and now?HAYATO: Nothing has changed really. We are working hard to keep on our path and I don’t think that will ever change. Every day we work hard and do our best. J!-ENT: If I were to look inside your CD or MP3 player right now, what kind of music would I find?HAYATO: Anything from rock to jazz!KIKU: For some reason, I have a lot of AOR...

J!-ENT: For the upcoming year, do you have any plans or projects coming up?TAKA: Right now we are thinking a lot about our future plans. We have to keep working hard!HAYATO: I want to keep working on our album!KIKU: I want to do a show in America again! You, who are reading this inter-view, won’t you please invite us? (laugh-ing)

J!-ENT: In every interview we do a

word play. We give you a word, you give us your definition. Here is our first word:

a. SUCCESSHAYATO: Even if we achieve it, we still aren’t satisfied and continue to work for it.

b. LOVERYOSUKE: Something to get back.

c. SEXKIKU: Sports! (laughing)

d. NostalgiaTAKA: A very hard song!

e. FansREHIT: A priceless gift that’s irreplace-able

J!-ENT: Any last words you want to say to your fans?HAYATO: We will keep doing our best in Japan, so we can keep playing over-seas as well! If you’re able to come to Japan, please come see us! Thank you all for your support and keep cheering us on!

For more information on CAMINO, please visit their official website at:

www.camino-project.comor download CAMINO on iTunes

J!-ENT 3

CAMINO: THE INTERVIEW

J-ROCK NORTH PROMOTIONS INC. CONCERT INFORMATIONDATE: November 14, 2008LOCATION: The Great Hall Centre, 1087 Queen St. West, Toronto, Ontario (416-537-0803)COST: $20 for Dotcon members and pre-regis-tered congoers by Oct. 31st. $30 for general sale at the door.

Tickets are now available. For more information, please visit: http://www.j-rocknorth.com.

This concert is limited capacity and at-the-door entry is not guaranteed. Please come early!

DOTCON INFORMATIONDATE: November 15 & 16LOCATION: Holiday Inn, 370 King St. West, Toronto, Ontario

CAMINO will also make an appearance at DotCon and will take part in various fan activities (Fan Q&A panel, autograph sessions, merchandise sales and more). Visit www.dot-con.com.

Written by the staff of J!-ENT, an entertainment and pop culture website celebrating its 15th Year Anniversary in 2008.

www.j-entonline.com

J!-ENT

Michelle Tymon, has contributed to J!-ENT since 1996 as a transla-tor of Japanese music lyrics and her promotion of Johnny’s Jimusho groups. Michelle’s work includes her involvement as a translator, writer and photog-rapher for J!-ENT. Michelle has interviewed bands, talents and industry professionals. Michelle currently runs mediaoperations in the Northwest region of the US for J!-ENT and

is a graduate of the University of Washington. Michelle grew up with both cultures, living in Japan and the US. She grew up watching Japanese TV shows and anime and listening to Japanese music and has been a fan of Japa-nese entertainment all her life. Other than translating, her interests include writing, art, music, and entertainment. Michelle’s dream is to one day live in Japan and work in the Japanese entertainment industry in some way.

Dennis A. Amith is the owner of the multi-disciplinary commu-nications and design business, nt2099 media and entertainment and founder of the entertain-ment and pop culture website, J!-ENT. Graduating from Cali-fornia State University, Fresno with an educational background in mass communications and journalism, Dennis A. Amith has interviewed and featured many talents and industry profession-

als in the United States, Europe and Asia and is recog-nized for promoting the entertainment and pop culture of different countries to an International audience. Cur-rently residing in California.

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AVA I L A B L E N O W O N J ! - E N T

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