i think im getting sick. my nose is both runny and stuffed up at the same time. im really tired and totally lacking energy....and its all due to this guy:

Yoshida Tatsuya


yoshida is half of Ruins, a japanese prog-rock project founded in 1985. hes currently touring the states searching for a new bass player. every show he plays features a set of just him live on a set of drums playing Ruins songs along with pre-recorded bass lines, and then a set of Ruins songs played with a pre-arranged guest bass player from that city. the deal is that he hopes to find a new bassist for Ruins by using this unconventional method of discovering new talent.

the sweetest part of this story is that my friend and long time musical collaborater Mahlon Orrin from The PB Army was chosen to play both the detroit show and the toledo show. yoshida didnt bring drums with him,and he had to source a drumset in every city he went to(well, technically his guest bass player had to). i donated one of my drumsets to be used at the toledo show. thats like letting eddie van halen use one of your guitars!

yoshida stayed at my house for two days while he was in the area for these shows. he was sick, i think he had a cold...thus my being sick as well. its kinda cool knowing that i got a cold from one of the most amazing drummers in the entire world, though!! hes a really cool guy to hang out with. we bonded over red wine and videos of famous drummers playing at a drum festival. his english is very limited and my japanese is non-existant, so we communicated through music/drum terminology and hand gestures. it took me a minute to figure out what he needed when he was trying to cook dinner, but we had a great conversation about hi-hat clutches and drumheads!

everyone should check Ruins out, its amazing that this stuff is performed live!!

heres a link to the Ruins page on their label's site...MP3 available!!

heres a link to yoshidas sitte for his own label