Anime Songwriting Workshop began with a memorable experience I had at Anime Boston this year. I discovered a grand piano in a hotel alcove near the registration line. Since nobody stopped me, I sat down and started playing my repertoire of anime and videogame favorites. Continuing for several hours each day, I enjoyed many fun interactive moments with people passing by. Inspired by the support and creativity I saw there, realized that wanted to find a way to share my musical abilities at future cons. I formed the idea of collaborating with a large group of con-goers to write original music and lyrics to an anime theme song. I felt that this would be a great way to do something unique, make some friends, and give something to the anime community.

I continued fleshing out the idea of an anime theme songwriting workshop, and getting the word out. Finally, Bakuretsu Con offered me an opportunity to showcase the workshop in Vermont. I gathered everything together, and woke up at 5am Friday morning and hit the road. The drive up I91 through Vermont has got to be one of the most beautiful roads in the country. Complete with rolling mountains, endless forests, and small villages, it evokes a sense of fantasy. It was easy to get into the mindset that I was traveling on some sort of heroic quest.

I arrived around 10am, in time to plug my panel during the opening ceremony. With a small keyboard and several boxes of swag to give out, all I wanted was for people to show up and have fun. I had a lot to do with the group very quickly, and probably started things off a bit frantically. We began to start improvising original characters and situations.

To me, writing songs is all about the message. Once you truly understand what you’re writing about, the rest will come naturally. The central idea becomes the memorable part of the song. As the saying goes, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus.” The trick is that you don’t start at the beginning, you start at the middle. When I start working with a student, I just try to get them to start talking about what they’re thinking.

This time, I had the pleasant challenge of generating content with a group rather than an individual. I believe strongly in the creative power of anime fans, and we began to explore characters and situations through improvisation. Our group created a comic scene with central characters of a fangirl, and necromancer, and a mad scientist. After honing in on some dominant themes of infatuation, insecurity, manipulation and conflict (and some appropriately ridiculous lyrical phrases in Japanese.), and an intense 2 hours, we had a chorus that I believe is compelling. I was thrilled that people stayed it out, and felt like I accomplished what I wanted to.

After it was over, I could relax for the rest of the weekend. What I really enjoyed about Bakuretsu Con as a whole is how the relatively small size made it feel cozy rather than hectic. As fun as it is to get lost in the Anime Boston crowd, I felt that I was able to get to know people on a deeper level compared to a much larger convention. So much of the fun just stems from meeting people from totally different backgrounds who share the same passions. For my money, gamers and anime fans are the craziest fans there are, and it’s such a privilege to be able to connect with them.

So now I’m back in Boston building my team to produce the first single from Anime Songwriting Workshop, as developed by about 20 contributing writers. To me this project represents a unique connection between the artist and supporters, wherein they become intermingled and inseparable. I’m really excited about this project, and I hope for the chance to do more in the future. For more information on Anime Songwriting Workshop, check out www.2eastmusic.com and contact me about joining the email list. Thanks / Props to…

Valerie Tatro and all the Bakuretsu Con staff members for being wonderfully supportive.
• Spike Spencer, Steve Bennett, and Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe for their hilarious dating panel.
• Christopher Payne-Taylor for the program layout and Photoshop savvy.
• Michael McGarty for consulting on improv theatre.
• Phil Healy for helping edit and bounce ideas around.