If you've ever started a new venture, if you've ever moved to the big city, if you've ever begun a new life you'll understand how I felt. I was young and in a totally new country. I had moved to Osaka, Japan after living my whole life in Orlando, Florida. People might think Orlando is a fun place to live because we have Disney World, Universal Studios, and beaches on both sides of us. But if you're not on vacation, Orlando is pretty ordinary and can be a bit dull. Moving to the other side of the world was my way of shaking things up.
My first year in Japan was what some call the "honeymoon" phase. It's the time where you're just excited walking out your front door every day because you never know what new adventure awaits you. This feeling of excitement is something I have rarely experienced in my life since that first year in Japan.
Now after being back in Orlando for over a decade I wanted to make an album expressing my feelings about that time and about the country of Japan itself. The first single from the EP is called Sunrise on a New World. It releases Friday, October 25, 2019. This piece is a piano instrumental with some light percussion. The melody is my attempt to convey feelings of joy and excitement, but since my music often sounds melancholy I'll let you judge if it accurately conveys those ideas. The full EP entitled Japonica expands on the instrumentation to include solo violin and strings. I hope you enjoy it.