08.03 (Sat)
October Babies was born by Japanese singer Toko Shiiki and bassist/arranger Erik Santos. The songwriting duo met in Tokyo in 2002 while Erik was resident composer for the notorious butoh dance/theater group Dairakudakan. When Toko moved to the US to study photography in 2005, the couple produced their debut CD "Ao-zora Radio" (Blue-sky Radio), named after Toko's monthly podcast of the same name.
Joined then by guitarist/vocalists Dale King and Mike Ouellette, and drummer/singer Ben Lorenz - the October Babies have an upbeat super-smile dance energy and so do their audiences.
Their lyrics are predominantly in Japanese, though their bright spirit is not lost in translation, with music as their vehicle. Their original songs are a catchy multilcultural potluck of funk, jazz, R&B, reggae/ska/dub, techno, latin, drum&bass, rock, surfpunk, hip hop, downtempo, orch pop, blues, Okinawa folk, and ... they love variety, don't you?
They've won major Japanese music competitions, like J-WAVE MUSIC HYPER MARKET and Yahoo Japan Indies Jump, and Toko just was voted the Outstanding World/Reggae/Ska Vocalist at the 2011 Detroit Music Awards.
Check out their cool videos, available at your ... More Biography
Joined then by guitarist/vocalists Dale King and Mike Ouellette, and drummer/singer Ben Lorenz - the October Babies have an upbeat super-smile dance energy and so do their audiences.
Their lyrics are predominantly in Japanese, though their bright spirit is not lost in translation, with music as their vehicle. Their original songs are a catchy multilcultural potluck of funk, jazz, R&B, reggae/ska/dub, techno, latin, drum&bass, rock, surfpunk, hip hop, downtempo, orch pop, blues, Okinawa folk, and ... they love variety, don't you?
They've won major Japanese music competitions, like J-WAVE MUSIC HYPER MARKET and Yahoo Japan Indies Jump, and Toko just was voted the Outstanding World/Reggae/Ska Vocalist at the 2011 Detroit Music Awards.
Check out their cool videos, available at your ... More Biography