Journeys Guided by Sound

#Hopi #JAKAM #journeys guided by sound #JUZUakaMOOCHY #mesa #NativeAmerican #Roadtrip #Music 2023.02.10

So Asano, who had already arrived in LA, and our family of three met up at the car rental shop we had booked and off we went!

Los Angeles itself is also a city built in the desert, but once you leave the urban area you are immediately in the wilderness.

And shortly afterwards to Las Vegas, the world’s most famous tourist? attraction.

If you go further into the middle of the city from Las Vegas, the very Babylon of civilisation, you will find yourself in a city that is THE Republican area.

It’s sort of unique, like there’s only white people there, it’s more like a conquistador’s town, or something like that.
Anyway, it’s the America we know, but it’s definitely not the America we knew a thousand years ago. It’s a town that can never be said to be indigenous, but has been forced to bring in the ‘Western Western’.

The discomfort was more pronounced coming from LA, a city that is no longer a racial melting pot, and in a way I felt as if I had entered the core of the US as a nation.

It appears that everyone took a little walk together.

A gun shop, but not a second-hand shop, like a Hard Off, with used guns lined up behind used guitars.

It is not a model gun.

As you may know, the National Rifle Association is the largest? support group for the Republican Party,
and in the memories of many white Americans, the establishment of the state and guns are inseparable.

A symbol of masculinity and a sacred weapon for winning true freedom?

As someone who grew up in Japan, where guns are completely regulated, guns are naturally out of reach.

I grew up close to Shinjuku, so the sole from the gangster world was somewhat realistic, but…
Or it’s clearly not.

I don’t think it’s still the case, a world where men are given guns by their fathers at a certain age.

That would only happen in a very specific few houses (lol) in Japan.

We just drive on, dragging such a strong sense of discomfort and rejection with us.

And before you know it, you are entering a complete desert area.

Suddenly cut off from current civilisation and

Under a starry sky, which would never be seen in Japan, the world was revealed and

Four men just walking.

So-called petroglyphs are usually all over the place.

There are quite a lot of forums like the one below, and the place is probably so full of ruins that there is no need to build a museum for every single one.

And then, just keep on going to the navel of the USA.

I also did some childish things in the city park where I refuelled on the way.

Anyway, this view goes on.

The closer I got to Arizona, the more I saw, the more the faces I saw were of the so-called Native type.
There was even a skate/BMX park built for Hopi/Navojo kids.
I didn’t have any particular interaction with them, but I used to skate seriously myself, so I felt a lot of empathy and emotion.

https://youtube.com/shorts/2TeaBjwfE3c?feature=share

The shadows of Navajo and Hopi are clearly visible from the park and elsewhere earlier.

Incidentally, one of Asano’s and my own interests is Hopi and Navajo fought several bloody battles 2-300 years ago.

From their own perspective, there is no apparent difference between the Navajo and the Hopi in terms of appearance.
However, from the literature we read, the Hopi were the original tribe of the area, and the Navajo, whose culture of imitation, such as Navajo accessories, has become famous worldwide, and whose population is 3-40 times larger than that of the Hopi, no longer seem to be the superior tribe today.
However, I could not yet ask questions about the dark past of them, I could only feel many things.

There is no doubt that we are getting closer and closer to the Hopi mesas, but at any rate there is not much information about them.
It was 2010, so I could search the internet, but even then I think there was less information about it than there is now.
We proceeded to ask people with that kind of face about the location.

We look for accommodation and discuss our itinerary to our next destination until we fall asleep.

Incidentally, I don’t know if this is the case all over the US, but almost all the cheap motels we stayed in this time were run by Indians.
Maybe there are Chinese people in the back of them, but I was a little concerned about how they are developing their business.

And they are getting further and further away from human habitation.

Below is the museum where the meteorite fell.

The above may be hard to convey on a considerably large scale, but just one of these falling on Tokyo would probably destroy half of the city.
The fact that no meteorites are currently falling may in a sense be a miracle.

We are very small and in this big world, in the universe, we have to live humbly. And when we come to this area, we have to feel it.

And finally, the mesa.

For details,
Other people’s websites, but for reference.

A series of landscapes that no longer feel like planetary exploration.

A frontier of a much different dimension.
We can’t help but wonder why we are in such a harsh place.
A world that is no longer properly described on locally purchased maps.

Aim for 1st and 2nd mesas by asking around in small shops.

In one small shop, we bought a cup of noodles and water, and asked the woman who owned the shop some questions.
The woman was a Hopi.

‘I hear that in the past the Hopi and Navajo fought and went to war, but are there any such conflicts today?’

The woman then said,

‘Men and women don’t care about that when they love each other!’

Shocking! lol

In a way, it’s a very feminine view, and that spirit of not clinging to the past is poignant!

‘I’m afraid not.’

It kind of cleared up the blurriness and made me feel better.

Yeah, it’s love…

To be continued…

画像に alt 属性が指定されていません。ファイル名: JUZU-アー写0708.jpg

J.A.K.A.M. (JUZU a.k.a. MOOCHY / NXS /CROSSPOINT)
http://www.nxs.jp/
soundcloud / Bandcamp / Twitter / Facebook

Born in Tokyo, he started playing in bands and DJing at the same time when he was 15. As a DJ, his innovative and original style has taken the world by storm, and his activities have quickly expanded from huge festivals to underground parties both in Japan and abroad. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba. In 2003, he went on a recording tour with local musicians in Cuba, and since then he has been recording all over the world, and started his own label, Crosspoint, as a new guideline for world music.
In addition to music production, he also produces video works, picture books and art books, and organized the outdoor festival “Jomon and Rebirth” in 2012. In 2017, he released HIGHTIME Inc. with DJ Tasaka, and in 2018, he released ZERO with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2 STYLE. In 2018, he also started the unit ZEN RYDAZ with MACKA-CHIN of NitroMicrophoneUnderground and MaL of PART2STYLE.
In the same year, his music under the name of J.A.K.A.M. was released in analog form on the French label HardFist, which led to a live performance at the huge 30,000-person Nuits Sonores Festival, followed by a DJ tour of Europe and Israel. In 2019, the production of MYSTICS, a unit with Marcus Henriksson and Kuniyuki of the internationally popular Minilogue/Son Kite, began, and this year, 2021, the long-awaited album will be released. His original vision is spreading all over the world, crossing all genres.
He has been behind the decks at home and abroad with:
Acid Arab (FR) / Adam Ffreeland (UK) / Alex Patterson (The Orb, UK) Andy Baz (Background Records, Germany) / Asaf Sammuel (islael) / Dego (4Hero, UK) / Fabio (UK) / Francois K (NY) / Fred P(NY) / Foolish Felix (UK) / Grooverider (UK) / I.G.Culture (People, UK) / Jeff Mills (Chicago) / Joe Claussell (NY) Nick the Record (UK) / Moodyman (Detroit) / Panasea (Germany) PHOTEK (UK) / Storm(MetalHeadz, UK) / Suv (Fullcycle, UK) / Q-Bert & Inbisibl Skratch Piklz, Mix Master Mike with D-Styles, Yogafrog and Shortcut (US) / Theo Parrish(Detroit) / Terre Thaemlitz (US/JPN) / Tom Wieland (Vienna) /DJ KRUSH (JP) / Flying Lotus(US)/ / Boredoms (JP) / FAUST (Germany) / Dennis Bovell(UK) / Dillinger Escape Plan (NY) / Juno Reacter (UK) /Lee Perry (Jamaica) / LKJ (UK) / Lake Trout (US) / Mad Proffesor (UK) / Mala (UK) / Marcus Henriksson(SW) / Meat Beat Manifesto (UK) / Merzbow , MMW (US)/ Yakaza Ensemble(Turkey) etc. His style keeps evolving and defies categorization.