00:00:01 John Daub: Greetings everybody. This is the Kodo Taiko Center. This is where they train. Kodo is one of the most professional, it's an amazing professional taiko group. They have been doing performances for so many years all across the world and they're about to embark on a European tour. They're leaving I believe at the end of this month and they're training and they're giving us an open inside view of what they do.

00:00:31 John Daub: This is very rare indeed. So stick with us for the next 30 minutes or so. They're going to be playing a song. Let me get out of here. I have to actually take off my shoes to get into the center. Alright. It's a very traditional place. Tons of taiko drums inside of there. You can hear them warming up inside. Inside those doors is taiko everybody. So exciting. If you've ever gone and seen Kodo perform, it is such an intense, such an emotional show when you watch them and you hear the beats. You can tell it just kind of matches with your heartbeat. Therefore, it leaves a really strong impression on people. I've never met anybody who was disappointed. Let's put it that way.

00:01:36 John Daub: So they have an Earth Celebration here on Sado Island in the summer. Tickets for that will be going on sale in May. The website opens in April. So there's still some time. But we're going to get an inside look at how they perform. They train. What they do is intense, everybody. It's like the military. And I'm here to kind of get an inside look at their lifestyle. What makes it so challenging to be a member of Kodo. Look at that. This is how they're practicing. The performance hasn't started yet. They're going to start at 10 o'clock. But until then, we get a little chance to take a look at what they're doing with different drums. Warming up inside of the training hall. This is where they train.

00:02:18 John Daub: Every day, stretching, warming up. I've seen them doing voice stretching as well. So taiko drumming is more than just physical. It's very mental. You have to be in tune with the rest of the troupe, the rest of the group. There's all kinds of different taiko drums you can see here. The ones that are on the ground. Each one has a different sound. It's part of the team. Part of the sound altogether of all the beats. Each one having a different rhythm to the song. To the music of it all. It's beautiful. And it's intense. If you ever watch a performance and watch them perform, it sticks with you for months. Almost for a year when I hear the taiko drums giving me energy.

00:03:09 John Daub: All of the taiko drummers for Kodo have a two-year apprenticeship. It's extremely challenging to be one. But anybody can be one. That means you could possibly apply if that is your dream. They do have non-Japanese members of Kodo. The name of the piece that we're going to be hearing is called The Hunted. And they're performing it. They're going to practice again at 6:15. But you can see the schedule is pretty intense. And there's our time slot right here. That's me right there. Live. That's us. Click the thumbs up button, guys. Encourage me to do more of these behind the scenes, inside looks and amazing stuff from all around Japan.

00:04:02 John Daub: But I saw that at Earth Celebration. That massive drum over there being banged. Those drums that are up on the stilts there. It's a different kind of taiko drumming than the one. Just a different kind of muscles. And yeah, when they're on the stage, the dudes have their shirts off and my god, they're ripped. I'm saying that like just. They're keeping really good shape. And you can see that. Part of being at a taiko live concert is that there's a performance value to it. It's not just banging a drum. You have to add performance to the art of it.

00:04:44 John Daub: And that's what we practice and train for every day. Waking up at quarter to seven. I've been here. I've been up since five o'clock. I came over here at five o'clock in the morning with a couple of friends to come here to film them from the moment they wake up till now. He's on the fue (flute) right now. Wow, this is intense already. Just the practice is intense. Over here you can see the copies that they have. So each of the performer has their own little area where they can put their sticks. And some of their personal effects while they're training.

00:05:27 John Daub: Alright, now they're really. We're getting close to the start time. They're supposed to start at 10 a.m. for this performance. And the way that they train, everything is very, very regimented and starting on the minute of the hour listed within the schedule. They keep to schedule. Filming this for a story about Kodo I'm producing. There's my camera right there. And I have a GoPro going so I'll be recording what they're going to be playing today as well. Second push start. Now recording. Two minutes to go everybody. He's watching the clock right now making sure that everybody starts on time.

00:06:48 John Daub: Once this song starts called The Hunted, I'm not going to be talking at all. I want you guys to really immerse yourself into this. So give me a thumbs up for this and definitely leave a comment below if you're watching this in playback. What did you think of this concert all the way to the end? At the end of it, I'm going to be introducing you to Leo, who is also a member, speaks very good English and will give you some insight into not just the piece but being a Kodo member. The training that's required and some of the things that they do to perform at such a high level because they are all very, very professional with their craft and trade.

00:07:28 John Daub: And I don't know there are too many groups. There are a lot of really good taiko groups in Japan, but I don't know too many that are better than Kodo. They were at the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics stadium last month. So I'm going to be introducing you to more of these groups. I hope you can enjoy it. It's been a while since I visited the Kodo, and I haven't been able to do this for a long time, so I'm not sure if I will ever be able to do this again. So I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm going to be able to walk around and show you from all the different directions.

00:08:30 John Daub: So I already mapped out a course. I'll be walking around the back and the front of them. I just can't go through them. So this is going to be pretty interesting. Next time I'm going to be walking through the back and the front of them. When you watch them perform, you're not allowed on the stage. Of course not. Whoa, it's a big drum.

00:10:09 John Daub: The piece starts here in the corner, I've been told. So for those of you joining us, we're in Niigata on Sado Island. This is Kodo. One of Japan's top taiko groups. About to go on a European tour at the end of the month. We're here. An inside look to see them practice live. It's a rare look inside of the daily lives of one of the world's most famous taiko groups. We're moments away from the start.

00:11:29 John Daub: I can talk now? Okay, I can still talk. That's Leo. How you doing? Yeah, we'll talk to you later. After the piece. Focus, focus, focus. It's pretty neat. And in the back there, they have even more taiko drums. They have all the tools that they need to experiment. And come up with new songs. And the group's always innovating. Coming up with new tunes that they'll perform all around the world. They have albums. And it's just an amazing thing. They always have new talent coming in. And once you're Kodo, you're Kodo for life. It's like the Marines, you know. You're part of an elite group.

00:12:22 John Daub: And that's worth, I think, if you're young, in your 20s. You're interested in taiko drum, like to an extreme. Trying out for to be a Kodo member is. It's a serious thing. And I think it's something that people should aspire to try to do. If you really love this art. Just try it out. You never know. If you do make it in the group, you're in for life. It's awesome. Touring around the world. Playing drums. It's living the dream, man.

00:12:57 John Daub: This is inside of the inside the training hall. I can walk around? Okay. Yeah, I'm gonna walk around. Do that stretch. Can I make fun of me? I do that stretch. Looks like a baseball bat. Taiko drumsticks come in all sorts of different sizes and shapes and weights. Wow. So I can walk around this direction while they're playing. This is pretty cool. As long as I don't. I can't walk through them. Because I don't want to get hit with a stick. That was coffee beans. But then this all makes a very specific sound that's necessary for the piece they're about to perform. They're preparing right now.

00:14:06 John Daub: The piece. It's called The Hunted. So if you're joining us, the piece is called The Hunted. And it's about six minutes long. And it's extremely intense. So I think you're gonna love this. It's hardcore taiko. This is hardcore taiko. This is gonna stay with you the rest of the day. I don't know if you want to watch this before you go to bed. Because you're gonna be so cranked up.

00:22:56 John Daub: Can you hear the applause? There's no applause because this is training. This is practice. But that was incredible! That's incredible. That piece is called The Hunted. And you can just feel the intensity. Not just in the drum beats. But if you're in front of there and you're watching. Then you can see the intensity on their face, right? That was intense, man. Thanks. That's just practice.

00:23:21 Leo: Hi guys.

00:23:22 John Daub: How long have you been part of Kodo?

00:23:25 Leo: I joined the apprenticeship in 2014, 2013. So you do two years of apprenticeship. And I've been a member after that. So I would say five years. Five years.

00:23:44 John Daub: Wow. And the apprenticeship is. Again, I was telling everybody. The apprenticeship is pretty tough.

00:23:49 Leo: Yeah.

00:23:49 John Daub: So you spent two years in a mountain. And you have no phone, no internet, no YouTube.

00:23:55 Leo: No YouTube.

00:23:56 John Daub: Sorry. The apprentices aren't watching this.

00:23:58 Leo: Yeah.

00:23:58 John Daub: And you live in this abandoned middle school on top of a mountain. And you wake up at five in the morning. And you run like 10K every day.

00:24:09 Leo: Yeah.

00:24:10 John Daub: It's pretty intense. You harvest your own rice.

00:24:11 Leo: And it's a lot of fun.

00:24:14 John Daub: Yeah. And what did it feel like when you made it to the group? You were accepted in after two years.

00:24:19 Leo: Great. Relief.

00:24:22 John Daub: Right. Because it's. Not everyone makes it. It's a really, really tough selection process.

00:24:31 Leo: Yeah.

00:24:32 John Daub: So there are years when nobody makes it. Maybe only one person out of the whole class makes it.

00:24:38 Leo: But fortunately, me and a lot of my classmates made it.

00:24:45 John Daub: So. Yeah. I want to talk a little bit about your career. You talked about the piece in your tour that's coming up. This was called The Hunted.

00:24:50 Leo: Yeah.

00:24:50 John Daub: What can you tell me about it?

00:24:52 Leo: So this piece is actually pretty old. I would say it. I don't know when it was written. In the 80s, there was a movie called The Hunted where Kodo did the soundtrack. And so this is actually the title, the theme song of the movie.

00:25:11 John Daub: Oh, cool.

00:25:12 Leo: Yeah. So we've kind of reinterpreted it. Yeah. And kind of reworked it into kind of our repertoire right now.

00:25:23 John Daub: So. Yeah. Kodo gets. Well, commissioned to do a lot of pieces, right?

00:25:27 Leo: Yeah.

00:25:27 John Daub: For TV commercials, for movies. It's pretty incredible. And you're going on tour in a couple of weeks.

00:25:35 Leo: Yeah. So until April, right?

00:25:37 John Daub: Wow.

00:25:38 Leo: We're close to three months, two and a half months. We're going to be traveling all over Europe. About 30 shows. Yeah. In two and a half months.

00:25:48 John Daub: Oh, sprechen Sie Deutsch?

00:25:49 Leo: Yes.

00:25:50 John Daub: Oh, really? Whoa. We got a lot of people from Germany that are watching. Oh, really? Yeah. All over the world. I think we're going.

00:25:57 Leo: Berlin is, I think, our last show of the tour.

00:26:00 John Daub: Oh, cool.

00:26:01 Leo: I think we're going to like three or four cities in Germany. So, yeah, it's a lot of fun.

00:26:07 John Daub: Yeah, it is. And, I mean, do you get a chance when you're traveling to see any of the places?

00:26:12 Leo: Oh, yeah, definitely.

00:26:13 John Daub: Yeah. Yeah. So we have maybe a day off. We have a day off somewhere.

00:26:18 Leo: Usually, you know, once or twice a week or in between shows. So we get to just travel around, sightsee, you know, eat food. Relax.

00:26:26 John Daub: Yeah, yeah. Because you're intense during training.

00:26:28 Leo: Yeah, exactly.

00:26:28 John Daub: It's so intense. It's crazy intense. So these are like your brothers and sisters, you would say?

00:26:35 Leo: Yeah. Definitely.

00:26:36 John Daub: Yeah. Yeah. So I think when you spend a lot of time together with people, like I do with you, you become kind of like family.

00:26:41 Leo: That's important.

00:26:43 John Daub: Great. I was really impressed with it very much. So, yeah. So, and probably I'll see you again in the Earth Celebration.

00:26:49 Leo: Yeah, definitely.

00:26:50 John Daub: Which is in the summer. Is the date decided?

00:26:53 Leo: I don't know.

00:26:55 John Daub: It's in August, right?

00:26:57 Leo: It's August.

00:26:58 John Daub: The website goes up in April. The tickets go on sale in May. And definitely, the summer is such a wonderful time to be on Sado Island because the weather's warmer than today.

00:27:07 Leo: Yeah, exactly.

00:27:08 John Daub: It's crazy windy and cold and snowing here, but we love it. And the taiko drums give me the energy. It's better than coffee.

00:27:17 Leo: It's better than coffee.

00:27:18 John Daub: Thank you, Leo.

00:27:19 Leo: Thank you so much.

00:27:20 John Daub: Yeah. All right. So that's Kodo. It's incredible. And just a few weeks ago, I believe they were at the unveiling of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, which is so exciting to see. And just to get a glimpse of all of us, to see how they train a little bit behind the scenes, how they stretch, they take taiko drumming to another level. The professionalism is extreme because this is their profession.

00:27:45 John Daub: And once you are accepted to become a taiko, a Kodo member, that's your job. I want you to think about that. Your job is to drum. And when that is your job, you get really, really good at it. And you perfect every single piece of it. Every single minute thing becomes very important. And you can see their training over there, the training over there. And they're coached very well by people as they experience members. And they're very good at it. And when they get there to perform, every single thing that they do is very, very, very well done. It's perfected. And I think that gives you not just a great performance, but it affects you emotionally.

00:28:24 John Daub: I remember I was so spent after watching the Earth Celebration this summer for, I think it was four days, four days long for it. And it was an incredible feeling to be there and to witness it live. Actually, Todd here. Todd, you want to get in on this? You don't have to. Todd, you saw them when you were in Stanford?

00:28:52 Todd: Yeah, they blew me away the first few seconds of the performance. Back in the mid 90s. Mid 90s.

00:28:59 John Daub: Yeah. So I know Kodo has been at it for decades. So a lot of people have stories. When you go to see Kodo, just like really top bands, you know, when they do live, you don't forget it. It's like a moment in your life. It's like place marked. I saw Kodo in 95 at Stanford. It's like, that's a thing. It's pretty big.

00:29:20 John Daub: And then I heard that when they did the Boston performances, they would run the marathon first and then go perform.

00:29:25 Todd: Seriously? Yeah. Seriously.

00:29:26 John Daub: And we checked and yes. Wait, what?

00:29:28 Todd: And they became famous for that.

00:29:30 John Daub: Wait, they would run the Boston Marathon and then perform? What? Dude, really? I never heard that before. Late breaking news. They actually run a marathon before they play. That's crazy. I can't. When I run a marathon. I order pizza and I go to sleep for two days. They perform. That's crazy.

00:29:52 John Daub: So what a treat we had here. Just a 30 minute live stream. But thanks to so much for joining me. Do share this if you thought that this was a pretty interesting performance and hit the like button and I put a link in the description. Take a look at it. It gives you some information on the European tour. And if you get a chance to go see them live, do so because like, as Todd said, it's a mark, like a milestone in your life. It's a pretty big deal to go and see them live because I know you got a glue. You can kind of feel it through YouTube here. But it's like when you're in front of them. Every single beat and each one of these having a different pitch hits you in different places in your body in a good way. Just like kind of massages you and makes you feel more energetic and that's what I love personally about it.

00:30:39 John Daub: Can I do taiko? Yeah, no, it's not it's hard. But if you practice you can get better and better at it. But it really is a discipline and a practice and it's something that takes a lot of time. It's the way you stand and control your body, right? Yeah. You've done it before right? Yeah, you wanna. Know you know you it's too late now, but you've done taiko before. What's the most difficult thing about it?

00:31:07 Todd: Physical strength. Yeah, striking it consistently in the right spot over and over and over and over and over again.

00:31:20 John Daub: So thank you so much to Kodo for letting us film. We're getting out of here. I'm going back to Tokyo. But what a treat it was to get an inside look at Kodo guys leave a comment below. Tell me what you thought and I'm pretty sure that they're gonna be reading the comments so if you liked it, tell us what you thought that was The Hunted. See you guys. Have a good day. Have a good night wherever you're on the world. Just look at this drum for five seconds as the thing pops up for you to subscribe and definitely subscribe. Bye guys.