The Samurai Guitarist, otherwise known as Japanese-born LA-based rock star MIYAVI, is revitalizing his partnership with Amazon Music to host an exclusive free performance on the Amazon Music App on March 26th. Merging the two worlds of ground-breaking technology and ever-evolving music, MIYAVI is setting out to unveil to the world a truly epic virtual live performance — the likes of which have never been seen before. Originally premiering back in December on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, the show, titled MIYAVI Virtual Level 5.0: Synthesis, found an abundance of ways to push all of the boundaries by figuring out how to perform live in a world devoid of live performances.
Being a project that was fully conceived and executed during an international quarantine, the crew heavily tested the bounds of global collaboration.
The entire creative team (and almost all of the artists involved) were working together digitally from their own homes across the United States, Japan and Italy. After massive amounts of hard work and discovering the impossible could be made possible, MIYAVI and his squad became focused intently on, and incredibly grateful for, the opportunity to redefine live production around a mindset of sustainability.
Now being re-released as clips from the show, the innovative and creativity-driven international collaborations will be available to stream on Amazon Music as singular performances, as well as arranged in a playlist, similar to a visual album. Eager to continue evolving the ways that technology and music work together, MIYAVI is leading the music industry into what may become a norm for future live performance.
For this musician, actor and philanthropist, the show was also an opportunity to speak out on issues we face as a society today. The talented guitarist puts it, “This year, the unprecedented spread of diseases has transformed the global economy we had become comfortable in; as a result, it has become a year for musicians to reconsider the message we convey in our music. Climate change, refugee issues, hunger, poverty, inequality and pandemic — look around. The world is on fire. How can we deal with the global problems we face? How can we commit to the future of the planet through music and art? There may be a limit to what we can do, but we may find a new way of life by fusing with technology.”
Art and technology have always found a way to fuse themselves into our society.
They reflect how the world is changing and lay bare our most vulnerable aspects. Oscar Wilde once said, “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” Yet, through this individualism, we all find a way to come together. And, this is especially so through music. Music is the true universal language… the language that can speak through and, probably more importantly, to everyone who hears it. It can be a gateway into shared worlds we never knew we had access to. After what has happened in the last 12 or so months, the idea of connection and togetherness has never been needed more. It is nice to see artists continuing to shift and grow along with the world, always using their art as a reflector to what is happening around us. Make sure to catch MIYAVI hosting these exclusive performances, live on March 26th only on the Amazon Music App.
Behind the scenes look at ‘MIYAVI Virtual Level 5.0: Synthesis’:
Video courtesy of CyberAgent FutureLive Group & Cyberhuman Productions
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