BACKMASA
BIOGRAPHY
Masa is a
singer-songwriter, who has always liked the challenge of the
unknown,
and he's never been afraid to take step right up to meet it.
Masaaki Takahashi
was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1972, At 18, with his parents
divorcing and his school
friends going off to college, Masa looked for a life he can call
"His own".
A Japanese friend has lived in New York told him of experiences
in America.
He saved up money from his day job to get an airline ticket and
move to U.S.A.
Masa arrived in L.A. in 1992, 19 years old, knowing no one and
speaking no English.
He found a place to live and applied for residency.
Receiving residency later on, he worked in a warehouse as a
laborer. For next 5
years he immersed himself into total foreign culture, learning
language and the
customs via personal interaction and television.
Masa describes those years were some of the hardest times he ever
faced.
The isolation brought on by the inability to communicate with
anyone was the toughest
part for him.
Through a chance encounter in a music store in North Hollywood in
1997, age 25,
Masa picked up a guitar for the first time. Although having no
musical training
and no background, he found he could strum a rhythm onthe
instrument. As he strummed,
he started speaking words over the rhythm. At that moment, Masa
realized a way
that he could communicate that did not require directinteraction
of anyone else.
He saved up his tips from delivering Domino's Pizza and got an
Ibanez acoustic guitar for $279.
After a musician friend showed him some basic chords, Masa
started writing songs
about his daily life and adventures in the new country.
In 1998, he moved to Portland, OR, invitation from hisex-roommate
from his early days
in California. Masa continued working on guitar playing and
songwriting.
He even took his guitar to work, practiced at lunch everyday.
Although he never played publicly, Masa knew that being on stage
in front of an audience
is where he was desined to be.
And he started seeing playing music is the only thing makes his
life to be called "His own".
A co-worker, whose brother had a history of recording in
Nashville,
suggested him to go to Music City, U.S.A.
In November of 1999, Masa hit Nashville like a storm.
He got a job and a place to live on the very same day, on the
third day he went on stage
for the first time at the Gibson Guitar cafe during thier
songwriter open mic nights.
Since then, he has been a non-stop performing and self promoting
machine.
Billing himself as "The Modern folk Rocker", Masa
started playing out everynight of the week,
sometimes 2, 3 clubs in a night. His songs like, "She's a
country girl but...", "Tell me Judge Judy",
"My American girl" made his name spreaded quickly,
helped building a diverse and dedicated
following.
In April 2001, he was one of five winners in the Tin Pan South
Songwriter Contest with
"Please, Please, Please and Hey, Hey, Hey".
And he performed for Tin Pan South showcase following year.
His songs has been being played on various college radios,
helping him being known
who is "Masa" in different regions in U.S.
In 2002, Masa was voted as "The best postmodern folk
artist" in a local publication,
Nashville Scene.
The most recent credits include appering on Nashville Late Night
Show with Bob Wolf on NBC Ch.4,
and The Bat Poet Show on Ch.19 cable acess as a musical guest.
And opened for the former teen movie idol, Corey Feldman.
By Rob Chidester