Notes (a tad overdue)

I've been interviewing people on the phone, recording through Audacity, but it's not clear enough. After getting frustrated with recording, I decided to send out a survey to some past and present members of AMOJI instead. I'm waiting for responses. For now, here are excepts from 3 interviews that I think are useful (I'll post the interviews in their entirety later, I promise!):

From Sophia, the founder of AMOJI.

Jess: What is more appealing to you, the looks, or the music itself?
Sophia: well.. I usually listen to the music before I see what the artist looks like
Sophia: so.. I still don't know what A Perfect Circle / Sevendust and such looks like. and I didn't know what Dir en grey looked like when I started out.
Jess: So, looks were always secondary?
Sophia: for me, yeah. looks were a plus
Sophia: but not the main thing that enticed me
Sophia: there are fans that just loves the looks though
Sophia: and though the VK fanbase is all over the world, we'd be kidding ourselves if we said we didn't love the uniqueness and .. emphasis? on looks the bands have
Sophia: a lot of the fans are also adolescents. but I think it's more because it's during this age teens find new stuff to wrap themselves as opposed to the performers intentionally seeking out this age group

From "Mark." He was 17 when he first joined AMOJI.

Jess: So, tell me a little about what you liked in the club's choice of music.
Mark: The interesting thing about the bands that Sophia introduced to me is that the music speaks to you; the music has meaning beyond the words that are spoken. Despite not being able to understand Japanese, the music has a quality that allows it to be understood

From "Ann." She was 16 when she joined AMOJI.

Jess: In particular, tell me about your musical experiences there. (Do you find new music to listen to? Do you bring your own music for others to sample? How do you feel about the musical atmosphere?)
Ann: I started listening to some of the artists that were introduced to me there - i.e. DBSK [a Korean boy band]. I didn't go to the club that many times to bring my own music in to share, but Sophia had a nice way of bringing in all different kinds of music genres, and not all just from one.
Jess: What's so appealing about such performers?
Ann: They were super hot in the "Triangle" video and have pretty voices.


Short analysis: Music always comes first -- but looks still bind the youth culture together.


Oh, and I was wrong in the first post: AMOJI was created in 2005, not 2003. Sophia had started a club in 2003 as well, but that one had nothing to do with AMOJI. I just got them mixed up. Sorry!

References

Here's a running list of articles I've found useful:

Mitchell, Tony. 1989. “Performance and the Postmodern in Pop Music.” Theatre Journal, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 273-293.

Auslander, Philip. 2006. “Music as Performance: Living in the Immaterial World.” Theatre Survey, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 261-269.

O’Connor, Alan. 2002. “Local Scenes and Dangerous Crossroads: Punks and Theories of Cultural Hybridity.” Popular Music, Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 225-236.

Hollands, Robert. 2002. “Divisions in the Dark: Youth Cultures, Transitions and Segmented Consumption Spaces in the Night-Time Economy.” Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 153-171.

All Music Of Jammin' Internations

AMOJI, All Music Of Jammin' Internations, is a student-run organization at Boston Latin School that emphasizes on sharing and spreading international art and music. When the club was first created in 2003, the focus was on Japan -- its music, its manga, its fashion. Although AMOJI is a school-based group, the members regularly attend performances by local and mainstream music artists outside of school. During high school, I was only a part-time participant; I occassionaly dropped by during their Wednesday afternoon gatherings, stayed to watch a music video or two, then went on my way. Still, I felt a connection to the other members of AMOJI because we all had something in common -- an arguably obsessive love for the visual appeals of artists and their performances: clothing, makeup, the way they sing, the way they dance. For this project, I hope to explore this obssession, find out why high school students aged 13 to 18 are so drawn to the visual aspects of music.