Thanks to martyfriedman.com for the following article:
Starting in June, Marty will have his own daily column in Tokyo Sport (“To-Spo”). The column will feature his outlook on his music, TV, and experiences in Japan as well as around the world. Tokyo Sport is the highest circulated sports/entertainment newspaper in Japan.
In other related news, The Yomiuri Shimbun will be doing a full feature on Marty in July. If we can get a translation of this, we will try our best to get it on the site.
The TV show, `hebimetasan` which features Marty each week as a regular is a smash hit! The premise of the high energy show is to introduce, explain and have fun with (as well as make fun of) heavy metal/hard rock music to the mainstream, for people who would otherwise have no contact with the genre, such as the show`s host, idol/model Yoko Kumada. (think discussing the merits of the likes of Velvet Revolver, Soilwork and Andrew W.K. to Cindy Crawford or Anna Kournikova) Each week in Marty`s `Metal Spirit in Japan` Marty exposes the unlikely links between Japanese folk music and heavy metal hits. The overwhelming response to the show has put Marty and Japan`s top television production company into talks of an exclusive contract. More news here as it develops.
Check it out here!
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/heavy-metal/
Marty is also the featured guest on `Tokyo Style shakaijin no susume` (focus on society people Tokyo styleE a highly rated show on MX TV. A different segment featuring Marty will be aired each week for 4 weeks in May. Each week will feature a different interview with Marty. Among other things, he will discuss his latest song, `Street Demon` which is the theme song for Japan`s top soccer TV program `FC Tokyo Hotline` (shown every Thursday and Saturday).
In recording news, Marty took a break from his solo album recording schedule to play guitar for AVEX artist Arashiro Beni`s next single. The song will be released on June 1st and will be performed during the halftime show when the NFL comes to Japan for their exhibition game. The song was produced by multi-platinum producer CMJK (Ayumi Hamasaki, Hitomi, Penicillin).
