How do you introduce people to X?

LunaSlave · **on:** August 30, 2010, 12:46:19 AM

If you're anything like me, part of the fun of being into Japanese music in the west is randomly exposing other people to something that they've never heard before, and trying to 'convert' them

I love X Japan but if I'm trying to introduce someone to Japanese music, I actually don't introduce them to X Japan right away if I suspect that they'll be turned off by the 80's-ish sound, I start with something else instead that seems a little closer to what they might listen to.

But if I do introduce them to X Japan, I actually find that a video works best. If they're open-minded enough to sit and watch it with me I show them Dahlia Tour Final

I've done this quite a few times, and if they make it through the whole concert, it rarely ever fails...

If it's just someone I'm talking to online and I suspect that they will like X, I usually start with Silent Jealousy, 'cause it's the song that did it for me years ago...

roseofpain84 · **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2010, 12:58:40 AM

I'm not good at converting people....for one thing, I totally lack the patience.
And then, there's also the fact that when it comes to something I absolutely really fucking adore.....I don't take negative comments in a very good way.
Like....maybe you'll be punched before I realise what I did. Or something like that...XD

Anyway, when it comes to X and if I really feel like telling someone 'hey, check out this band...they are my favourites...<3' the song I chose is Rusty Nail. I hardly ever get any negative comments about it unless it's someone particularly closed minded or someone whose taste of music is 180 degrees opposite of whatever X Japan would have to offer. [Like idiots in my stupid country (greece) who listen to completely idiotic kinds of greek 'music' *shudders*)

XVikyX · **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2010, 01:41:49 AM

actually Im not really into convertin' people cuz I think love for music is just a matter of taste..
BUT if someone just asked me about must-hear-songs of X, I'd advise to start with I.V. and some ballad (e.g. Crucify My Love last live, that sounds PERFECT), then Rusty Nail (live 1994), Silent Jealousy (PV), Jade (Yokohama tour 14\08\10) and finally Art Of Life ^^ (which would ultimately convert anyone into a fan lol)
Still, it all depends. I mean, since some of my friends don't like heavy metal I would let them listen to ballads etc..

CharonCaori · **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2010, 01:46:52 AM

I find some of the most ridiculous pictures and live videos I can and show them off. I really love X's crazy style.

TheCrimsonIdol · **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2010, 01:52:40 AM

I only introduce people to X if they ask me which album/song is good to start with, I rarely recommend bands out of the blue.

dilbot · **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2010, 04:37:54 PM

For metal/rock heads you gotta show them something that they can do that others can't. For X it's their lives which make them so unique. So first off, I almost always recommend a live version. X aren't easy listens, so it's best to lay some songs that are a little easier to listen to. Also, especially if the person in said situation does not listen to a lot of power metal, it's best to have a song with Toshi singing in a lower tone. Stuff like that. No need to overwhelm or else it will turn them off. I also just rather they search for it themselves rather than having someone looking over their shoulder.

xxgrplayer · **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2010, 05:31:13 PM

Quote from: roseofpain84 on August 30, 2010, 12:58:40 AM

I'm not good at converting people....for one thing, I totally lack the patience.
And then, there's also the fact that when it comes to something I absolutely really fucking adore.....I don't take negative comments in a very good way.
Like....maybe you'll be punched before I realise what I did. Or something like that...XD

Anyway, when it comes to X and if I really feel like telling someone 'hey, check out this band...they are my favourites...<3' the song I chose is Rusty Nail. I hardly ever get any negative comments about it unless it's someone particularly closed minded or someone whose taste of music is 180 degrees opposite of whatever X Japan would have to offer. [like idiots in my stupid country (greece) who listen to completely idiotic kinds of greek 'music' *shudders*)

i fully understand you!! Here in greece people laugh when you asked them to listen to a japanese song, so i suggest my friends listen first to iv (because it is in english

) otherwise they will say a big NOOOO (ohiiiiiii in greek

).

Unoriginal Name X · **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2010, 07:45:18 PM

If someone asks me to put some music on I just throw up one I think they'll like by X or one of the members solo projects and go from there, though some times the group come up in normal conversation for me ("You're up early" "Yeah, watching a webcast of my favourite Japanese group. Damn time zones.").

Ann1958 · **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2010, 07:56:20 PM

I post X Japan and ToshI songs on my facebook, but all the 'likes' come from other X fans

My youngest daughter could some people get into X music some years ago when for piano exams she played X songs. People came ask her for the music sheets. It were sheets she made by herself

She also made finishing work for the academy about X Japan, and as the people who had to read it never heard about them, they went to search on the internet about their music.
In the music academy at our place, since then X is a little known.But if they are fan, that I don't know.

Myself I got my other daughters into X by playing them many times when driving the car.
And I got into X by my youngest daughter 7 years ago now because she always sang X songs and played them on the piano.

The friend of my youngest daughter is into X because of her and me.

It is family business here

Yurga~ · **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2010, 11:50:27 PM

Simply thing:
first of all I don't bother to speak about X Japan (or other Asian musicians) to people
who don't know nothing about Asian music's culture~ This is just pointless~
Second - If I know that person likes classical music then I am showing some X's ballades
especially where Yoshiki is playing piano~~~ That's how my mother began to accept him
and his music, he he~
The last thing I am showing to other people is appearance of X~
Just becoz my country is like big village and somehow almost all Asian looks like
females for my country's people.... And this really pisses me off.....

And I just noticed one thing, a lot of nowadays people don't like X's music just
becoz it is "hard to understand and sounds kind a old fashioned" (Da hell? O_O)
They used to music like nowadays k-pop songs..... They really have no idea what
are they missing, right?~

vayz · **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2010, 06:19:20 AM

It depends on the music taste of a person. If he/she is into ballad then I'd share X Japan's ballad songs. If they are into rock then I choose the less metal sounds like weekend or rusty nail. If they are into metal then I have them listen to Blue Blood or Sadistic Desire and if they are into other genre then I let them listen to Art of Life, Rose of Pain or Kurenai. But like Ann, I don't know if they become fans. There are few who wants to watch their lives with me and my son. At home and in the office, they are familiar with Japanese music coz I always play the music of Ozaki Yutaka, Bz', Luna Sea, L'arc en Ciel, Buck Tick, Miyavi and of course, most played is X Japan's. I am very proud to be a X Japan fan.

Brandon · **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2010, 07:26:21 AM

Its very hard to introduce people to X I find.

I mean, if you tell somebody to listen to X Japan just out of the blue, they go to YouTube and Google Images and they simply don't understand what they are looking at and listening too. You often get the pictures of the early visual kei X with the 80s look, then you come by a mix of ballads, progressive metal, and thrash metal songs often sporting their distinct fashions, from the very best to the very worst of the costumes. So upon first impression, they will be turned off right away declaring them terrible musicians because of their extreme and misunderstood style.

I haven't pushed many of my friends to get into X or visual kei, or Japanese music really. Whenever i'm trying to express my musical taste when somebody asks me, I often use the phrase "visual kei" and "Japanese rock and metal" and they just look at me like i'm speaking a different language. Most people are just turned off when I say "Japanese metal" and just say "...oh", and never talk to me about music ever again.

I've converted some people over too stuff like Dir en grey and D'espairsRay, but thats easy. X Japan is a serious challenge, because they have very notable stylistic change between releases, especially the thrash metal to progressive metal transition where they drop most of their visual kei with the exception of hide to some degree. Plus, because of their extreme involvement with visual kei, it really causes some head scratching to westerners.

Its too much work for me to convert friends to X...it would be better to let them ease into it themselves. Thats how I did it, when I discovered X Japan, I came across the video for the Last Live version of the song "X" and it blew my mind, I couldn't get enough.

XVikyX · **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2010, 03:53:03 PM

Quote from: Yurga~ on August 31, 2010, 11:50:27 PM

Simply thing:
first of all I don't bother to speak about X Japan (or other Asian musicians) to people
who don't know nothing about Asian music's culture~ This is just pointless~
Second - If I know that person likes classical music then I am showing some X's ballades
especially where Yoshiki is playing piano~~~ That's how my mother began to accept him
and his music, he he~
The last thing I am showing to other people is appearance of X~
Just becoz my country is like big village and somehow almost all Asian looks like
females for my country's people.... And this really pisses me off.....

And I just noticed one thing, a lot of nowadays people don't like X's music just
becoz it is "hard to understand and sounds kind a old fashioned" (Da hell? O_O)
They used to music like nowadays k-pop songs..... They really have no idea what
are they missing, right?~

same here. People in my country are too conservative -_- One should pay attention to music, not only look. Oh well, that's that.... And you're absolutely right, they have no idea what they're missing *_*

Palma · **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2010, 04:06:58 PM

I actually have/had a pretty easy time with this. Most of the people I know are already familiar with J-pop and J-rock so talking about X is not a big deal.
When it comes to the visual kei well, most of us grew up with Twisted Sister, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest etc., and lived through the New Wave era so X's look has no shock value what so ever.

Chocolate · **Reply #14 on:** September 27, 2010, 05:09:05 PM

For myself, its quite a challenge to get people listen to X. Because almost everyone in my country are listening to pop and stuff, and the ones that listen Japanese music go usually for Gackt, Miyavi, the GazettE, KAT-TUN, and, at some point, bands like Buck-Tick or Nightmare. Basically, I hardly ever found another X fans.
When I tried to introduce people to X, I just showed them songs like 'Art of Life' or 'Rusty Nail', which are 'softer' songs, but I didn't really gave any results. I mean, to listen to the harder ones, you need to be really into J-Rock.
My greatest success was, without a doubt, my best friend. It was about 1 week after I discovered them (watching The Last Live), so I just went at her home and showed her the DVDs. She took some time (not too long), but she's really into them right now.
The problem is that people here aren't really used to the Japanese stuff (music or culture or anything - though I'm a well-known maniac), so it's quite a problem that X (and most of the Japanese bands) are singing in Japanese. But I guess I'll wait a little longer so that the new album comes out, and I can corrupt the young minds *evil grin*

Beauty/Broken · **Reply #15 on:** September 27, 2010, 05:25:47 PM

If they're an old school metal fan, it's easy. Give them Art of Life.

If they're a casual music fan, start with I.V. as it sounds modern. An unfortunate fact is that a lot of people get turned off the idea of X because most of their catalog sounds so dated.

Best tip I can give is just not to come across as being too keen or eager. Don't push things, if they take the bait and they get interested on their own accord then great, but you can't force someone to like something, it has to captivate them in it's own right.

Also, let the music do the talking. Don't go introduce them with long stories of Yoshiki or Hide. Keep the back story out of it unless they ask, in which case you're obviously making strides, as it shows they're genuinely interested.

ForeverFades · **Reply #16 on:** September 30, 2010, 07:14:57 AM

I always do the two basic songs- Silent Jealousy and X. It's not hard for me at all. I'm like "What do you like?" most people say "I like everything" and I'm like "HURRRR, sure, listen to this", and I put on some Silent Jealousy. Most people instantly react to the drums and the guitars when it hits. After the guitar solo, I'm like "Alright, now wrap your face around this" and give them some X.

If they make it that far, which is often but sometimes it's a matter of time and if we're getting a good drink going, I hand them over some ballady stuff. I converted one friend through I.V. which was kinda unique, I didn't see that coming, but seeing as how I like I.V. and find it to be a good song, I had no qualms with it.

But yeah... Turning people to X-Japan isn't hard in my eyes. It's not a matter of language barrier, but just wiggle that toe in the front door of their musical tastes...

Like, example, I have a coworker, who I asked what he listened to, he was like "I listened to mostly punk rock but now I've really gotten into piano music", and I just handed over my headphones and was like "Listen to this," gave him some Silent Jealousy. He was nodding in approval to the piano intro, and then the BAM of drums and guitars, the crazy drum fills that lead to an 80's tempo, near-punk pseudo-thrash drum along with muted guitar strumming and strong clean vocals... If not for his sentimental attachment to his favorite bands, he said this would be his favorite band.

got another friend of mine through his emotional strife. He felt lost and was in a big slump in his life, and I was like "Bro, listen to this" and sat him down and we watched Art of Life from start to finish. At first he didn't get the piano interlude, but now he feels it. He liked them then. Then he came with me to the Yoshiki Foundation event in July.. Born to be Free was fun, catchy, and a helluva good jam. It was then he was immersed. He saw them at the Wiltern with me last Saturday... And now holds his arms in the X with pride.

Music and emotions know no bounds, and I love how X-Japan is proving that in strides.

DopeHead · **Reply #17 on:** September 30, 2010, 10:14:53 AM

Quote from: xxgrplayer on August 31, 2010, 05:31:13 PM

Quote from: roseofpain84 on August 30, 2010, 12:58:40 AM
I'm not good at converting people....for one thing, I totally lack the patience.
And then, there's also the fact that when it comes to something I absolutely really fucking adore.....I don't take negative comments in a very good way.
Like....maybe you'll be punched before I realise what I did. Or something like that...XD

Anyway, when it comes to X and if I really feel like telling someone 'hey, check out this band...they are my favourites...<3' the song I chose is Rusty Nail. I hardly ever get any negative comments about it unless it's someone particularly closed minded or someone whose taste of music is 180 degrees opposite of whatever X Japan would have to offer. [like idiots in my stupid country (greece) who listen to completely idiotic kinds of greek 'music' *shudders*)

i fully understand you!! Here in greece people laugh when you asked them to listen to a japanese song, so i suggest my friends listen first to iv (because it is in english ) otherwise they will say a big NOOOO (ohiiiiiii in greek ).

Same in Slovakia

radicalblues · **Reply #18 on:** October 03, 2010, 05:57:13 AM

"Listen to this sweet motherfucking song"

Then I show them Blue Blood live in 2008, then rainbows are cummed. Then I search moar random YouTube videos.

The best way to show music is just... show it!

sukisyo · **Reply #19 on:** October 10, 2010, 08:12:31 PM

I have lots of difficulties converting people to X. Mostly because when they know it's a Japanese band, they automatically think it's some anime-fangirl wannabee band. And that's really insulting, since I believe that awesome music doesn't have racial or cultural barriers. (It's especially bad because I'm in the animation industry and anything too Japanese-y/associated with anime is immediately frowned upon.)

Also, most of the people I know are so normal and try to have "grown up" tastes that it is a little disconcerting.

I've been trying to introduce a friend to X since the concert, and I'm pretty much going on "Do you trust me? Do you trust that I have a good taste in music? Then listen to this.."

ranba · **Reply #20 on:** October 18, 2010, 04:10:32 AM

The song that converted me, and at least one of my friends, is Dahlia. I know it gets a lot of hate, but it is hella accessible for new fans. It sounds modern, and it has a really good melody. All you need is that hook, and it opens up all the other X songs. I know for years I tried to listen to songs like X and Endless Rain (both of which I love now), and never really "got it" until I got into Dahlia. I think I lot of people get into bands this way, by starting off with a more mainstream song.

Shadow2222 · **Reply #21 on:** October 18, 2010, 05:31:50 PM

Well, I must admit that I am new to the band AND the forum (Hi everyone

), and the first song I heard was Art of Life, which may scare people away because of the length, but my favorite band is Dream Theater, so I had no problems with that

!

Within the week that I have found out about them, I have heard all of their studio albums, watched at least 100 live youtube videos and the full Yokohama (2010), Hong Kong (2009), and hide Memorial Summit videos.

Anyways, I showed my friend (who I also converted to like Dream Theater over the course of about a year - he hated them at first and now loves pretty much everything they have done) Art of Life and he likes it a lot.

I showed him the entire Yokohama recording as well, and he is a big fan of their stage presence.

Also, to continue my rant, I am a guy, but Heath and Sugizo

ashtrayxx · **Reply #22 on:** October 18, 2010, 10:55:39 PM

Welcome Shadow2222:)

I think the lives are X's strongest point, so I go by that. I also try to not get people to take them too seriously at first. Most people I've introduced X to are shocked and think it's funny, but good. Some of them turned into some pretty hardcore fans.

Astralmind · **Reply #23 on:** February 03, 2011, 07:45:13 PM

Just felt like throwing in my 2 cents, seeing how I've faced this a few times and started to get into X back over 17 years ago (yikes!).

There are number of reasons why introducing someone to a new artist (music or else) can be a challenge. In X-Japan's case it's even more challenging. So... here's what I've observed:

Cultural Issues: Where do you live ? Living in Canada, Quebec more precisely, I can say that like most north americans we are failry limited when it comes to "new" music options. Commercial radio rules everything and the whole "I want to fit in the crowd" vibe is omnipresent, no way out of it. That doesn't help much.

Counter argument: While X-Japan are everything but conventional pop music, they have a very diverse catalogue, albeit limited in size. The fact that they can appeal to old school Heavy Metal fans, classical music aficionados, sappy ballads lovers as well as more recently NuMetal/Pop rock radio listeners means you can lure people in if you adapt your strategy. Pic the proper song(s) that would suit that person best and from there, try to open up their horizons (most of the time it'll fail but at least it will be one or a few new songs in their world). Forget about the whole Japanese thing: While fans of X-japan actually take this as a positive thing, most average foreigners will see this as a turn off. Bring them up as a great bunch of musician. Aswell, forget about videos - focus on CDs/mp3s. Once again while fans love the over the top Visual Kei stuff, most non-initiate will freak over and discredit the material before even hearing a single note simply due to the theatrical nature of X's act.

Age/Generation issues: Most of X-japan's repertoire was written in the early 90s and considering Japan's love for the overly dramatic and cheesy it is... well... mostly outdated by today's standards. If you are dealing with people in their mid 30s to 40s they'll most likely tell you that it sounds just like the crap they either loved or hated when they were young. Mid 20s to mid 30s are an interesting crowd as they grew up with little landmark music relases that they can truly recall so most of these peolpe general tastes are either widely diverse or underdevelopped. Under 20, well good luck - pop and being cool fitting in is critical at that time for a lot (NOT ALL!) and tying in with the other point above you'll have a hard time.

Counter argument: Pretty obvious: you can tap in the oldies nostalgia by bringing up artists from their time and highlighting the fact that if they liked it at some point there is nothing wrong with still liking it today. For the younger crowd being different can also be a way to fit in so there is a cool factor to it. Overall it depends mostly on people's ability to welcome diversity in their musical repertoire... That being said, different age groups will certainly react differently to X and you have to take that into account too.

Beyond that you have the usual challenges met with whatever "new" kind of music you try to share with anyone... it's a shame that a lot of people will ignore X-japan because of their looks or sappiness but that's part of life. Keep in mind that X-Japan is also an highly emmotional type of music that IS cheesy... insecure people will most likely turn it away because "it doesn't sound cool".. X-japan's music grows on you over time and you learn to see what's beautiful about it. It really is a journey and honestly, this is why I still like them so much after many years. I feel a personal relationship to their music that I have never felt with other artists. At the same time, I can very well aknowlege the fact that they aren't the best at much (muscialy on any instruments, lyrics wise, release wise, live performance wise etc..) but somehow they manage to create something that reaches me in a different way. Tastes are personal after all, sometimes you just can't explain/justify it!

XVikyX · **Reply #24 on:** February 03, 2011, 09:01:16 PM

@Astralmind yeah, some people *actually, most people* are too concervative and, when seeing some video of X, might be pretty shocked *and it's OK*

That's what happens when I try to play some X-songs to non-fans of Japanise culture

Well, everyone to his taste, so I'd never try to convice them that X are sooo great and "must-hear" musicians. But I just wish people wouldn't be biased against something unknown :\

blur · **Reply #25 on:** February 04, 2011, 04:29:50 AM

Quote from: XVikyX on February 03, 2011, 09:01:16 PM

@Astralmind yeah, some people *actually, most people* are too concervative and, when seeing some video of X, might be pretty shocked *and it's OK* That's what happens when I try to play some X-songs to non-fans of Japanise culture
Well, everyone to his taste, so I'd never try to convice them that X are sooo great and "must-hear" musicians. But I just wish people wouldn't be biased against something unknown :\

I know how you feel.I just let them hear..until they are asking me...

Jrockergirl · **Reply #26 on:** February 15, 2011, 05:06:08 AM

I just play my itouch normally and when it comes up people listen most of the time. my friends ask me who this is when they are in my car because in their cars we listen to theirs and we all learn about new music.

I even took a few of my friends from anime expo over to the club2themax for the yoshiki charity and we stayed for the filming and they loved them.

Elfa_Nocturna · **Reply #27 on:** February 23, 2011, 12:57:16 PM

Well, here in my country is happening something funny.

Although the "i-want-to-fit-so-i-listen-to-(mostly USAs)-crappy-music-on-the-radio" happens a lot, theres a big and growing community of selfcalled "freaks", that consist mostly of youg kids that are really into japanese stuff, (most of the time)crappy anime and (with some cool exceptions) crappy cosplay. This trend is becoming more popular every day, so japanese music isnt THAT rare now. This people usually already knows the band, or anyway, if you say "japanese" is an instante like

There's a 3rd group of people that consists in 20-30s that listen to western rock music, who are more difficult to convert.With them i start by choosing the song that best fits with their likes, but when they are narrow-minded i end up with reaction like "this sounds crappy" or "it's to eighties for me".

In spite of all that, I've won with most of my friends that aren't that keen on japanese music, but just because I think x Japan is more near to 80s and 90s western music than to jrock nowdays.

elanor · **Reply #28 on:** February 23, 2011, 09:28:33 PM

for people I know it works over classical music, my colleague is skilled in classics, playing flute, her elder son cello, the daughter violin and piano,and the younger son drums, so I told her I do listen to a band where in the drummer is a pianist and guitarist plays the violin, now she is listenin to X sometimes while driving her car
and for a little child of a friend I brought for the B-day a t-shirt with Yoshikitty on, because that little girl is surrounded by Hello Kitty stuff in any way and I tried something new and so we started talking about and the other day I gave a CD and we will see, what will happen...

skwerly · **Reply #29 on:** March 05, 2011, 09:07:29 PM

Before going to their concert, it was difficult to explain. Saying they're a legendary rock band from Japan doesn't cut it. Trying to explain their history gets too long and just makes me look like some kind of rambling fan. Now I let them judge for themselves by showing them the YouTube of wohjai's amazing vid of Yoshiki & Sugizo's piano/violin into Kurenai, performed in Toronto:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EkZkUUyObw[/youtube]

So far, everyone that I've shown it to were thoroughly impressed. Will they become fans? Who knows, but there is at least a respect for X Japan.

How do you introduce people to X?

CharonCaori

Shadow2222