We made this live cover for a Christmas program here in Tokyo. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/3Qoh2dAQ4oM

Happy Holidays everyone!

Listen The Snow Is Falling Live Session (Yoko Ono Cover)

We made this live session for the pilot of Buddhagaya TV. If you'd like to see the session and how we made the music, please check it out here:
https://youtu.be/rOdqjubeG1o

Also if you'd like to perform on Buddhagaya TV, we're always looking for cool artists making lo-fi experimental DIY stuff, so reach out to us on instagram or here. For an idea of the stuff we're looking for, here's the 1st episode: https://youtu.be/YRzgbWZlYTQ

Next Buddhagaya TV will be coming soon. The music revolution will be televised.

Radio Cars live in the studio for Buddhagaya TV (2021)

We made this with a Casio Rapman and some other shnizz. Hope you enjoy!

Casio Rapman Truths (FAWM Demo 2022, Tokyo)

Taxi Siesta (Demo 2013, Tokyo)

This was a DAW-less demo we made for February Album Writing Month using reverse looping and a cassette MTR to record.

Waking Up From A Dream (FAWM Demo 2022, Tokyo)

This is a one-take DAW-less improvisation we did for February Album Writing Month, recorded on cassette.

Letting Go (FAWM Demo 2022, Tokyo)

Another little improvisation we did for February Album Writing Month, recorded on cassette.

Deep in the Jungle, Where the Ocean Meets the Trees (FAWM Demo 2022, Tokyo)

This is like a micro-grunge inspired set with a monotribe, a streichfett string synthesizer, ukulele w/ fx. One of our last demos for February Album Writing Month. Let's see if we can do 1 or 2 more before tomorrow...

Pretty Windows (FAWM Demo 2022, Tokyo)

Update: we played this song live if you'd like to see the video... https://youtu.be/V_le5F-l08w
-------
We made this today, and it's thrown together really quickly and is just a jam we did, and then a one-take vocal (would've re-taken if it wasn't almost 2 am here in Tokyo), but seems like something we might come back to later. February Album Writing Month coming to a close...

Space Raga (FAWM Demo 2022, Tokyo)

Sorry we've been really inactive on here for awhile because we were so busy preparing for BTV! Thanks everyone who joined us for some all-new experimental music videos and performances. If you'd like to be on the next episode, hit us up on here or on instagram and let's chat.

This is the audio for our performance. It was an old demo we put aside for years and recently started re-working because it felt like the time to pick it up again. We wrote this song for Tota Kaneko, an avant-garde haiku writer and peace activist. We loosely translated one of his haiku as “Wake up there might be a war, so wander in the flower fields” and used that as the chorus of the song and the inspiration for the other lyrics.
If you'd like to check out the video: https://youtu.be/2Kv8EgKv20g

This was a DAW-less setup, using midi and live looping. Gear: CZ-101, SA-1, RC-202, SP-404MKII, Model D, Microfreak, soprano ukulele, Voice Live Touch, Keith McMillen 12-step, Streichfett string synth, and lots of fx pedals. 

And if you'd like to check out the whole stream with the other artists, here it is: https://youtu.be/2wEen7IqtOw

Thanks for stopping by!

Lyrics:

Robot hand to robot weapon
"Having a war is so much fun! 
Robot country's number 1,
land of the rising, sinking sun"
Robot friends, it's just begun
They'll teach us through animation
Propaganda to color in the schools 
Everyone follow the robot rules

Wake up there might be a war, so wander in the flower fields

Vote for Robot A or Robot B 
or skip it all and watch TV
It'll show you how fun life is 
if you drink lots of robot "fizz"
Government-issued conversation topics 
7-D glasses take you to the tropics
Who needs a holiday?
Work yourself to sleep every day 

Wake up there might be a war, so wander in the flower fields

Robot hand to robot heart
Put down gun, be still, be smart 
Inner world holds mystic treasure
Government feeds us robot pleasures
That way we won't protest the laws that we detest
I'm sure you can figure out the rest...
This is a robot loyalty test! 

You've let the propaganda take you away from critical thinking.

Come and wander in the flowers...

"Robots In The Flower Fields" Live Session For BTV Ep. 2 (2022)

Back in February we recorded a jam session that we liked, so we decided to revisit it for BTV. If you'd like to see the whole "TV show", it's here: https://youtu.be/V_le5F-l08w

If you'd like to see just this performance: https://youtu.be/MrHsnaD2nsg

BTV (Buddhagaya TV) is a throwback to retro MTV streamed live from Tokyo. If you're a band/artist who'd like to send us a video, let us know!

Live Studio Session of "Space Raga" for BTV

We were just messing around with a portable computer-less set-up to bring with us on our camping trip in Okinawa, so this was a test run jam. Maybe it'll evolve into a song.

Hamsadahwani Jam

We brought a bunch of instruments with us to Okinawa, but then were busy camping and swimming and enjoying the sunshine and barely did anything musical at all!! Then the last night we decided we better do SOMETHING with the instruments and stuff we brought, so we threw this together. Just a little improvisation about remembering to just be.

Atman (Just Be) Okinawa Demo

This is a song from our album, and then we did a (long) jam session after, inspired by Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat and Gorillaz.  You can watch the video/see the gear setup here: https://youtu.be/G19oI06H3L4

BTV is a recurring event we do every few months. Watch it for all-new live music and performances!

Live for BTV--Five More Minutes to a Raga Beat

This is our first attempt at a modular track...ever...and our first demo for February Album Writing Month this year. (A late start, but we're trying new things, so what can we do?) 

Gear used: Modular synth (Tip Top CB808 + other FX), Yamaha CS01, Behringer Model D, Crash Pad, Super Space Drum, Yamaha REX 50 (for reverb).

Dream Spaghetti (FAWM Demo)

A demo we threw together for February Album Writing Month. Not really ready for human consumption, but that's how FAWM goes!

The next station is...nirvana (FAWM Demo)

A silly little Omnichord demo we made for February Album Writing Month, recorded on cassette.

meditation tape (demo)

Just made a video for this song:  https://youtu.be/SbblMcqSyIQ
Subscribe for more videos and performances <3

We have some Buddha machines that we bought in Taiwan, which Holly sampled through the monotribe and then we threw in some ukulele, vocals, CZ101, and percussion.  Meant to be like a little shot of zen.  Made for FAWM 2016 in rural Tanzania.  

Lyrics:
(Buddhist chanting throughout)
When did I become so weak?
When did I forget how to speak?

How can you be zen in Tokyo? 
Everyone's in cruise control.
How can you ben zen in Tanzania?
Everyone's always yelling at ya.

Habari za happa?  (Swahili:  How is everything here?)

Dharma Machine (FAWM Demo 2016, Tanzania)

This is our song #6 for FAWM 2016.  We are using a monotribe, a kaossilator, ukulele, Casio SK1, various percussion including a Wavedrum and a mokugyo recorded in our home in Tanzania.  Thanks for listening.  

Lyrics:
So much of my life I tried to hide
Under big t-shirts, books, hair tied
Listening to albums I always laughed or cried
I spend too much time inside inside

Sometimes the things we think about the least
Impact a lot like saying please
Bought a toy keyboard in a random shop
Wrote one song and then I could't stop
Kyoto, Barcelona, Tokyo, I'll bring my toys and make a show

Dharma

Dharma Recycle Shop (FAWM Demo 2016, Tanzania)

SK-1 vibes from Santa Marta, Colombia.  Thanks for stopping by.  

A La SK1 Rosa (Demo 2016, Colombia)

This is our first song for FAWM (February Album Writing Month--14 new songs in 28 days), so it is a pretty rough demo, but it's a start.  Also, I am not a native Spanish speaker, so please forgive my weird pronunciation/phrasing.  We made this with an Omnichord, a ukulele, and a Voice Live Touch.  Thanks for listening <3  

Lyrics:
Luz, ¿porque has desaparecido?
Siempre fácil encontrarte, aun dolido
Rayos a la luna, pasión oportuna
Alma brindada como tequila comuna
Toma pulque aguamiel
Espero en mi triste máscara piel 

me odio por decirte algo mal
Porque sin tu soy un pilar de sal 

¿Como caminar cuando prefieres esconder?
Una ruta imperfecta, un gallito traer
En la cama sueño de ritmos que no puedo recordar
Despertar es morir, esperar, reencarnar

No tengo hogar para regresar
Como estrella borracha, huir y tornar

Luz te espero

Luz, Te Espero (FAWM Demo 2017, Saitama)

We are rediscovering instruments that we haven't used in a year and a half since we have been away from Japan.  Today features:  the Casio Rapman!!!!  Last year we lived in Colombia, and we visited a friend in Medellin for a couple of days.  This is about the thoughts we had while we were there, a sort of lyrical journal.  

Lyrics:
Paper obol under my tongue
In Medellin, the night is young
What ships, what bodies of water?
Shadowy streets, I float, I dodder 
Cumbia spills like aguardiente
Laughter, dancing, viva la gente
Flocks puff blunts in pleasant parks
There’s fun to be had after dark 

Will someone put coins on my eyes
If this city shows its shady side?   

But not all enjoy this Saturday night
Women cluster in heels, dresses tight
A gun to the head in the middle of the night
Learn to live with this kind of fright
Broken Sisyphus drags a cart of boxes
An infinite hill, load made for oxes 
How can a man deal enough bad karma
To rack up this kind of torture?
How can a man deal enough bad karma
To rack up this kind of torture?

Is karma-apocryphal?  
Makes us feel safe, exceptional  

The people who vote against peace
Are the ones who need it the least
The people who don’t give money
The ones drinking the sweetest honey

Medellin Mythology (FAWM Demo 2017, Saitama)

This is part of a 16-minute improvisation we did with a couple of friends in our tiny home music studio, then Sushi Neko stripped it down and added some lyrics on top. Demo for FAWM (February Album Writing Month), so quite a gritty mix. Thanks for listening. If you're in Tokyo, we'll be playing a gig with these two friends this Sunday 3/3, so come on down!

Hanami (FAWM Demo 2019, Tokyo)

Recorded in our home studio in Tokyo, Japan. Monotribe + electric ukulele = minimal synth vibes, like sakura on a spring day. 

We play all around Tokyo and Japan. If you're in Tokyo, come to one of our shows. Album Art by the talented Amanda Martin (The Weirding Way).

Consider supporting our music on Bandcamp! https://santadharma.bandcamp.com/album/sakura-high

Sakura High (2019 EP Version)

This is our first demo for FAWM (February Album Writing Month). Life's been busy and we didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to this, but we were trying to make something kind of grungy. Came up with a basic chord progression, played around with it for about an hour, threw down some lyrics in 10 minutes or so. Did one take of vox, guitar, and beats. Then did a take of bass and Casio noise. 

Context: 
Just scrolling through social media, you see a variety of excuses and "I'm not racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic, but..." (and you know if you have to say that before what you say, there's a pretty good chance what you're saying is exactly what you're claiming not to be. The lyrics are intended to be tongue-in-cheek, and hopefully get the message across.

Lyrics:
If anyone’s racist it’s not me
Not a racist cell in my body
I’m the least racist person you’ve met 
The fact you called me racist makes me upset 

Chorus:
Not me, not me, not me can’t you see?
Not fair, not fair, not fair, your words scare
I’m label-free, label-free, until you correct me
Then I’ll fight, I’ll fight, I know I’m right 

I’m not a sexist, no not me
Just cling to science and biology 
But only the parts that suit me
I’ll explain my way through my self-pity 

Chorus 

Bridge:
Why’s it so hard for you
To not say the things they’ve asked you to?
Why’s it so hard for you
To listen to what you shouldn’t do?
Why’s it so hard? 

Some of my best friends are gay
I just don’t like when they look at me a certain way
I’ll police what’s in everyone’s pants
In case there’s any chance of kinky romance

Chorus

Never Read The Comments Section (FAWM Demo 2020, Tokyo)

This is our first song for February Album Writing Month. We used a RE-101 (a space echo machine), a Ravish Sitar pedal, Yamaha PSS-F30 (Indian version), Hoffner bass, and a (Radel Digi 108)midi tabla machine.

We're Holly and Tomo, based in Tokyo. Thanks for listening!

Tabla High (FAWM Demo 2021, Tokyo)

This is essentially just a jam session we did tonight on our recently-purchased cassette player--if you want to skip the super jammy part, go to about 45 seconds in.

This is our 3rd song for February Album Writing Month. Recorded in our home studio in Tokyo. We were eating BBQ chips and no good name was coming to us, so for now this is the BBQ chips cassette.

BBQ Chips (FAWM Demo 2021, Tokyo)

Just a little 4-track cassette demo we made for February Album Writing Month about weird dreams.

Weird Dreams (FAWM demo 2021, Tokyo)

Tokyo-based experimental pop duo and creators of Buddhagaya TV. If you'd like to be on the next episode, get in touch! 

This space is for demos and rough tracks. A bit about us in Tokyo Weekender:
https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2021/01/santa-dharma/?fbclid=IwAR2KtemX45Z7GaFxUA_I7VL-a0YsyMCDrQvEoh-Bkkim9TiWdGOa2J2boJE

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