Shux Wun @ ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT show in Osaka, Japan!

Interview with SPEECH part 1 "JAPAN"

Interview with SPEECH part 2 "BLOODY"

Interview with SPEECH part 3 "IMPACT"

Shux Wun the force is with you! No ticket, no camera access, timing is everything... and some luck! Here I'm planning my attack on New Years Eve...

It was New Years Eve going into 2010 and I was determined to make my way into Billboard Live in Osaka, Japan to catch the performance of a longtime favorite group Arrested Development, and also to get an interview with SPEECH, the lead vocalist. The problem was the fact I had no ticket to the sold out event, and no media access whatsoever! I shot an email to the record label the day before and requested an interview... no response. A friend of mine works at the hotel they checked into just days before the show, so I had a note slipped under the door where Speech was thought to be staying which explained who I was and what I was hoping to do... no response. Plan C went into effect early afternoon New Years Eve.


I headed down to Billboard Live during the day to see what kind of attack I could plan on getting what I was there for. Timing is everything... standing outside of the entrance was a man smoking a cigarette watching me take photos of the BIllboard Live sign. He asked me politely in Japanese if I wanted to get in the photo, and as I handed him my iPhone he began framing me up and snapping away. I thanked him gracefully and asked what he was doing there. He told me he was working at Billboard Live as the lighting director. I explained to him that I was planning to interview the artists performing tonite, gave him my card, and he asked if I wanted to see the inside of the club. Yes!


He escorted me in through the back way where the artists enter, passed the kitchen, the green rooms, offices, and came out of a door that lead us into the club. As he brought up the lights for me I got a chance to visualize the amazing performances that must've taken place there over the years as I gazed at the stage. I took a photo with him in front of the stage, he gave me his card and requested that I come back later that evening so that he could introduce me to the booking manager to make sure I get my interview! Needless to say... I did. Later I met the booking manager who introduced me to the manager of Arrested Development, who informed me that she couldn't promise an interview but would put me +1 on the guestlist to enjoy the show.

Arrested Development rocks Billboard Live in Osaka, Japan.

Arrested Development really brought the house down, the show was high powered energy... dancing, singing, rapping, and live instrumentation. Tasha has an incredibly powerful voice, and Eshe was dancing the whole time! Even the drummer David came out popping like a robot for minute! The other mc named 1 Love ripped the mic to shreds I might add... and the guitarist JJboogie & bassist Za' kept the groove hot. Even the 70something year old member Baba got up from his rocking chair and danced doing the limbo! You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. I was not allowed to film the performance, needed clearance from the venue execs and it was too short notice.


They brought in the new year with a countdown, my champagne glass clinking against everyone elses around me, spilling out of the glass and all... I slid backstage with the group after the show and proceeded to sit down with Speech for the interview, but less than a minute after sitting down we heard the entire audience screaming and hollering like there was some emergency. Speech asked me "What's going on?" As I listened a little closer I smiled and said "Sounds like an encore to me bro, go do your thing!" He couldn't believe it, he wasn't sure and I said "Yea man, that's an encore clap." He apologized to me (as if he needed to), jumped up and called the band from the green room telling them they had to do just one more song for the people... they did more than just one!


Finally dropping backstage again, I wasn't sure if he'd have the energy left to do an interview so I was just going to thank him for the amazing show and let him be. He looked at me before I could even say anything, smiled really big and in a big voice said "I'll definitely do that interview now brotha, what do you want to know?!"

Backstage with SPEECH after interviewing him for music&strength TV


Some of the rest of the band Arrested Development... Tasha, Baba, 1Love, and Za.


A dedicated fan with T-shirt and newly autographed classic album.


A night to remember at Billboard Live Osaka, Japan.