Shintaro Sakamoto Bio
Shintaro Sakamoto is a Japanese music composer, producer, writer and singer based in Tokyo.He began his career in 1989 as a member of the rock band “Yura Yura Teikoku”, where he played guitar and sang. YYT released 10 albums over the course of 21 years, disbanding in 2010. After 20+years with psych legends Yura Yura Teikoku, in 2011, Shintaro launched a solo career and started his own record label, “zelone records.” He released his debut solo album “How To Live With A Phantom” to critical acclaim in Japan in 2011, and Other Music Recording & Co. licensed the album for US/EU/UK release in 2012.In 2014, Shintaro released a split 7-inch single with Mayer Hawthorne for Record Store Day, and then released his 2nd solo album “Let’s Dance Raw.” Once again, Other Music Recording & Co. licensed the album for US/EU/UK release (and it reached #2 on Billboard’s “World Chart” in October, 2014).
Shintaro’s 3rd solo album “Love If Possible” was released in Japan in 2016, and “Love If Possible” was released digitally worldwide on January 2017.
Mesh-Key Records NYC issued an LP of “Love If Possible” for US/EU/UK in September 2017 and a split 7-inch single with Devendra Banhart was also released in Germany. Shintaro gave his first solo live performance with his band at the WEEK-END FES in Cologne Germany. In 2018, he had went to live peformance in China (tour), Netherlands (Le Guess Who? Fes), London and Mexico (Tropico Fes.). In 2019, he joined a song "Volta e meia” with Devendra Banhert on the Brazilian rock band, O Terno's new album "atrás/além”. In the same year, he succeeded US headliner tours (SF, SR, Chicago and NY). And in 2022, 6 years since his last album, Love If Possible, Shintaro has completed his fourth solo album, "Like A Fable". From this album, digital and physical distribution to the global except Japan will be Secretly Distribution, and LP vinyl will be released worldwide in 2023.
In 2023, Shintaro performed at the RISING festival in Melbourne, Australia, and this year, he headlined the first day of JOYLAND 2024 in Bali, Indonesia.
Bobby Oroza Bio
After years of grinding as a sideman in the Finnish music scene, Bobby Oroza has stepped up to make his voice heard. Always with an air of crude romanticism, Bobby pushes towards an expression transcending the borders of soul and rock balladry. His dark and intimate debut single ”This Love” didn’t take long to reach the ears and hearts of a worldwide soul music community and is already a proper classic amongst the lowrider and soul collector scenes. Bobby was born in Helsinki, Finland into a family of musicians and artists. During frequent family parties Bobby ́s Bolivian grandfather would pick up a guitar and sing Latin canciones and Cuban classics. Bobby ́s mother is a singer and his father a gypsy-style jazz guitarist. All his siblings work in show business and music. As a kid, Bobby was lucky to grow up surrounded by his parents’ record collection which included early jazz and blues, Motown hits, gospel ensembles, and doo-wop groups like The Drifters and The Clovers. The Soul records were balanced out by Brazilian ones, African ones, his mother’s collection of North and South American folk songs, and Nuyorican Salsa albums. All of these influences show up in Bobby’s music.
Bobby started working professionally as a musician in his early teens. His main instruments are guitar and percussion. Before finishing high school Bobby decided he needed to experience the rhythmic source that had inspired him the most, and travelled to Santiago, Cuba. There he studied percussion and singing intensively for months. Since his return he’s been producing, recording and performing music to make a living for his family. Teaming up with the Timmion Records house band Cold Diamond & Mink, led by Jukka Sarapää, Sami Kantelinen, and guitarist/composer Seppo Salmi, he has a tight quartet of musicians to support his vision. With his instant classic, debut album “This Love” Oroza has shared his strange and unique shade of Soul with the world, creating a cult-like following for his sound from Finland to sunny Southern California and beyond.