CHIBA-KEN
Rock / Alternative / Metal
It was a cold December morning when I awoke from my alcoholic blackout said lead singer and founder of Chiba-Ken, George William Freund. Someone stirred in the bed next to me. I grabbed my knife
(George rambled through the rest of his experience in Tokyo, Japan with unparalleled enthusiasm. However my phone kept vibrating in my pocket, distracting me from his sprawling point. Should I see whos calling? Should I interrupt him? These thoughts raced through my head. What set him off on this rant? What had I asked him? Then I remembered, I asked him
the same question that I have asked countless bands. Why start a band? Here, in short form, is
the bands response.)
George William Freund (lead singer, keys): It turned out that the person next to me was a blonde-haired female, 56, Caucasian, which was odd, me being in Japan. I asked her where I was, her simple hyphenated reply was the name of a town, a town that would change my life forever.
That town was Chiba-Ken.
Justin M. DAmelio (bass): Chiba-Ken is actually a prefecture in Tokyo, not a town. Its known as
Japans leading exporter of spiny lobster. The name derives from the Chiba family, who once
was the ruling family of the region.
Jason DAmelio (drummer): I like lobster.
GWF: Thank you Jason, we all do.
(At this point Elias Dionysus Tannous, the passionate Mediterranean guitarist answers his
cell phone, yelling instructions in Greek to some poor soul on the opposite end of the line. He
hangs up and apologizes.)
Elias Tannous (guitar): Chiba-Kenis a hard rock band that has been together for 4 years. In that time we have put out a demo, an EP, and the full length album Are We Innocent?.
We are sponsored by Sam Ash, Vic Firth, Jgermeister, LoveNico Clothing, Little Paw skateboards
JD: Basically, were fucking good.
GWF): I can sit here and tell you that were gonna be the biggest thing since The Rabbit dildo, but how do you know? Ive seen band bios, that are obviously written by the band themselves, that say shit like if Metallica and Beethoven had a child, it would be Nut Sex. Then you see the band play and they suck, and Im like, Are you serious? Did you actually use your bands name and
Beethoven in the same sentence?
ET: I love when bands call themselves Pink Floyd-esque.
GWF: Yeah, thats another widely used term. What can I say? Were a good band. Put us on-stage and judge for yourself.
ET: We paid our dues playing the NYC scene for 2 years straight. Its such a tough city, but if you
can make it there
GWF: We did a mid-west tour in 2005 and found that we were huge in Kansas. They were
spinning our EP Faces of the Moment in Wichita and it was getting a huge response. That
show was awesome. We had women throwing themselves at us and offering up their houses for
us to stay at.
JD: Rock n Roll, man.
ET: We got our album Are We Innocent? distributed nationally by Koch Distribution and Sony Red Online. Weve been playing tons of shows to promote the album.
JD: We all moved into a house together last year that also serves as our rehearsal space. Its great, we practice there and we also throw parties and everybody gets fucked up. We have
kids come out to the house that are underage, and we consider it our duty to make sure that
they have an amazing experience.
GWF: For some of them, its their first time getting drunk or seeing a womans bare breasts. Theres
no better feeling in the world then watching a childs face light up when he sees an amazing
pair of tits for the first time. Its at those moments where I know we are doing something right and
are making a difference in these kids lives. In closing I asked the band what their goals are,
what they wanted to achieve
ET: Everybody wants to be a rock star. When you see a band on TV you see 1% of what it means
to be in a band. Its the hardest thing Ive ever done. We see so much talent out there, but talent
alone wont make you a success.
GWF: Music has always spoken to me. I cant get away from it. I tried once and it kept calling
me and found me again. I gave up everything I had to do this and Ive been happier since. I
can die tomorrow and be content with having achieved something that a lot of people dont get
to experience, which is, giving yourself fully to something you believe in.
JMD: Of course it would be nice to be rich and not have to worry about the consequences of your
actions.
GWF: That would be cool too. I would like to trash at least one hotel room and not have to worry
about paying for it.
JD: Yeah, and do some drugs off of a prostitutes body, but not have to worry about if shes clean or not, because shes a high class call girl and your roadie checked her out before handthat kind of piece of mind is priceless.
(There is a brief moment of silence after Jasons response.)
JMD: Yeah I want to be rich.
GWF: Yeah Im gonna change my answer, I want to go to the top.
ET: I just noticed that my initials were ET. Thats kinda funny.
Band: Great movie.
(Great movie indeed. Chiba-Ken. A great band and a great group of people to be around. May we all go to hell except these guys.)
Location: Long Island, NY
Members: George William Freund- Vocals, keys
Justin D\'Amelio - Bass
Jason - Drums
Elias - Guitar
