The Northern Code

Buying a piano at the beginning of the year has been one of the best things I've done in Okinawa as it has led from one opportunity to the next. I accompanied my students in some songs at the 学芸会 (school arts festival), participated in a 4-piece band in the spring called the 役場カルテット (town hall quartet) where we played a couple of Okinawan songs at a cafe, and finally becoming part of what will soon be the greatest rock band Okinawa: The Northern Code.

We are currently three people strong. I play keyboard, Roy (who coincidentally went to UF) plays guitar and sings, and Yuichiro, a teacher on Izena, plays bass and does back-up vocals. A lead guitarist and a drummer may be joining soon, too.

Our first gig was in Chatan at Mary Jane's Rock Bar last month. The bar is said to usually be packed, but we played to a group of about 15. Apparently some famous band I've never heard of was playing on base. We are scheduled to play there again this month on the 20th, hopefully to a bigger crowd.

Our second gig was last week on a base in Yomitan. We were scheduled to play a three hour set outside on the beach. We were also told we would have an open gate so we could invite our friends. In my mind, we would be playing to a crowd of 500, with the majority being single women in their mid-20's. The reality was that we arrived only to be told the gate would be closed, and then after setting up and doing the sound check, we had the show called because of some rain clouds.

I wasn't that disappointed because 1) we still get 50% of the promised pay, 2) the number of people that were actually at the beach were in the tens, and 3) we now have three hours worth of music ready.

We asked to play again sometime and he said he'll let us know about an opening. We then asked to play a few songs since we had set up and everything, and by the time we had finished our second song, the guy's voice comes through our monitors, "So when are you guys free in August?"

Like I said, soon to be the greatest rock band in Okinawa.

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What does The Northern Code mean? The name came before the band. The 'northern' part refers to the 'yanbaru' where we live. The code part is simple:

Rule 1 of The Code: Don't talk shit about other people.
Rule 2 of The Code: Don't talk shit about other people.

By following The Code, you can learn how to lead your life with a positive attitude. Why waste energy on the negative?

A manifesto is currently in the works.