open Cultures Unite (1x1 with GeneralDirection)

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Firefighter

“Ooooo~! You have a music hall?” Ayla asks excitedly. “I wanna go to the music hall!”

Silver smiles and Charlotte giggles a bit.

“Can’t say I’m surprised!” Charlotte comments. “That has you written all over it.”

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"Music hall it is!" Fukami says, and leads the way.

They pass through the city and a large red gate before going to the music hall, which has a very industrial steel build to it. There are tons of different musicians just hanging around, talking to themselves. "Trust me, when you come here, you are guaranteed a different music experience every time." Some of the walls are littered to the brim with posters of different musical acts. Some are faded with age, some are brand new.

Still, Fukami goes over to the event schedule. "Hmm... Last night, there was a yodeling concert. There's going to be a punk rock show tonight. However, if we stick around, there will be a ska concert in a few minutes. Things tend to get more lively when the carnival has opened up, and it has this week."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Firefighter

Ayla looks up at the music hall with wide eyes, fascinated by the architecture. Inside, the three kirin followed Fukami over to the schedule.

“Oooo~! Punk rock sounds like my scene! Well, maybe not exactly, but pretty close!” Ayla exclaimed. “Uhhh, what’s ska?” She asks with a puzzled look. “I’ve never heard of that kind of music before.”
 

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"Ska is rock music, but with a horn section. Trumpets, saxophone, tubas, those kind of instruments. An underappreciated genre. But the best thing about this music hall is, if you're not interested in the concerts or if you're waiting for your turn to perform, there is a series of practice halls that have been sound-proofed. There's even a free-form studio, where you can play with other bands, try other genres, and just experiment. Some ponies came here a solo act, but after leaving the free-form studio, they were part of a band and had connections." Fukami explains.

He even points to some old posters where Fukami guest starred with other bands, acting as an additional headliner. It's clear Fukami doesn't mind playing any genre.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

“Sounds pretty amazing!” Ayla nodded her head as Fukami talked. “I’d be willing to check out this ska concert.”

“Hmm, Fukami? What sort of bands did you used to play in?” Silver asks, looking at the posters that his samurai friend pointed out.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"Regular seats or skybox seats?" Fukami asks.

He then turns to Silver. "Any band, really. I'm not tied to one genre. I just enjoy being part of the experience, learning new genres and discovering the music of different lands." Fukami explains.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

“You mean, skabox seats?” Ayla replied with a goofy look on her face.

Charlotte giggled and Silver groaned but still had a smile on his face.

“Ah, ok, well did you have a favourite genre at all?” Silver asks.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Fukami laughs a little. "Well, somepony's got puns." He retorts, giving Ayla a wink.

He answers Silver's question with a shrug. "I am a wonderer. A pony that loves to explore and discover new cultures and new things. I am more than happy to play any genre, as long as I can be part of the experience. In fact, because of my travels, I've been able to bring in so many pieces of outside culture to this corner of Japone. I really wanted to show--" Fukami starts, but is interrupted. "Hey! It's Fukami! Wandering Wolf!" One of the random musicians says, bringing his friends along. "The local samurai sang Wandering Wolf? That's crazy!" His friend says. Fukami has to smirk a little. "I may have perform some songs that became local hits around here. 'Wondering Wolf' is one of those songs." Fukami whispers to Silver and the rest.

[Silver Slate]

@Samurai Toshigami

Silver smiles and nods. “It’s very interesting to me to see how much influence you’ve had on your region. Something to be proud of for sure.”

“Hey there!” He turns to greet the newcomers. Ayla and Charlotte also smile and wave.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"Come on, Mr. Samurai. Come and perform with us! We all wanna hear Wondering Wolf again." The musician begs. Fukami looks at his admirers, then at Silver and the rest, and rubs the back of his head. "Oh, I don't know... I came here to show my friends a good time. I didn't really come here for that." Fukami says. "They can join us if they want! It's a jam fest for all. Come on!" They egg Fukami on. He thinks about it. "Only if my friends want to do it."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

“Hmm… I have to admit, I’m kinda curious to find out what this ‘Wandering Wolf’ song is all about.” Ayla remarks. “I’m down. Let’s do it!”

“Ooo~! Jam session? Count me in!” Charlotte exclaims.

“Sure, Fukami, we can all hang out together, that sounds like a good time to me.” Silver nods and smiles in agreement.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Fukami shrugs. "Out voted. Let's go." Fukami says before the random musicians lead the way to a recording room that has been heavily sound-proofed.

Inside, even more musicians are lounging around, trying to come up with some tropical sound with steel drums and such. But that changes when they see Fukami enter. "Hey! It's Wondering Wolf!" one of them says. "Wondering Wolf!" Another echoes. Fukami has to calm them down. "All right, everypony. Easy. You're gonna hear the song and maybe more. Just be sure to be nice to my friends and someone get the right instruments ready." Fukami says. Right away, the musicians begin to move and re-arrange the setting. Some get out guitars and other rock music instruments. "Now usually I like to play flutes. However, this song calls for a harmonica." Fukami explains as he searches his personal collection of instruments. "If it's a wind instrument, I'm all over it."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

Once they enter the roon, the three kirin look around and take in all the sounds while the musicians greet Fukami. He seems to be a bit of a big deal here.

“Hey, everypony!” Ayla attempts a greeting before turning to Fukami. “Umm, I don’t know this song, or likely any of the other ones you play. I don’t suppose there’s any way I can take part, is there?” She asks. “I’d definitely like to if it’s possible at all.”

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

"If you like, you can just watch for now." One of the musicians says, pulling up a sofa for Ayla, Charlotte, and Silver to sit on. "You can get the next one, Ayla-chan. For now, this song it a bit more easy going." Fukami explains with a wink.

He waits for the other musicians to set up with drums, guitars, and such. With his silver harmonica ready, Silver looks at the other musicians and nods as soon as they are reach. Fukami taps out a countdown on his rear hoof, and the music begins.

Spoiler

 

Fukami plays the harmonica at the intro, but switches to singing. When he is too busy singing, he uses his wind powers to make the harmonica levitate and play by itself. And when the music is over, Fukami and the band take their first bow.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

Ayla nods as the kirin take their seat on the sofa and watch as the musicians perform their song.

The song itself isn’t exactly one that Ayla would perform, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that Fukami and the other musicians were very talented and did a lovely job performing the song. Once they finished, the kirin stood and clapped their hooves together in approval.

"Woohoo! That was amazing!" Charlotte cheered.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Everypony in the studio applauds. One leans over and whispers to Charlotte and the rest. "Some years ago, there was a band called Octo Mush performing live. They did acoustic music, mostly; but they weren't very good. Their vocalist was tone deaf, and he lost his timing in front of a crowd. Fukami came up to help, and he created that song on the spot with the band. It stole the whole show and gave the band a second chance. Today, Octo Mush is doing much better, but they'll never forget how Fukami basically saved them." He explains.

Fukami waves his hooves and calms the crowd down. "All right. You got your request, but this next one is a song I like a little better. And I think you'll all recognize it too. It's called Innocent Trap." Fukami explains, and the crowd gets excited, recognizing that song too. "...Oh! Ayla-chan, would you like to do lead guitar? This song has a harder rock sound. Right up your alley." Fukami explains while trading his harmonica for a silver flute.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

“Oooo~!” Charlotte replies with intrigue. “So the samurai saved the day once again! How fitting!”

Ayla’s eyes lit up when Fukami mentioned they were doing a harder song. “Uhhh, yea! Of course I will, I’d love to!” She exclaimed. “There’s just one problem though, I have no idea what song you’re gonna be playing.” She says with a slight nervous laugh.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Fukami motions her over to the band and hovers a guitar over to her. He whispers what key the song is in and other basic information to her. "...That's all you need to know. For the rest, just follow my lead, and you'll be okay. Ready?"

(I honestly don't know what key the song is in. No one has posted any chords or anything for the song. )

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

Ayla takes the guitar with her magic, and nods as Fukami whispers the information she needs about the song to her. “Hmm, oh ok, I think I can manage that.”

She looks back to her kirin friends for a moment who give her supportive cheers and encouragement, then looks back to the musicians. “Alright, I’m ready, let’s do this!” She says with a determined look.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Making sure everyone is ready, Fukami nods. It starts off easy with somepony playing the keyboard, almost giving a classical sound. Fukami soon starts to play his flute along side it. However, in no time at all, things shift. The hard rock kicks in like a gut punch, and the wind in the room changes to be chilling. However, between Ayla's heavy chords, Fukami's vocals, and the flute; it all comes together to sound more like symphonic metal. And like before, Fukami takes turns playing the flute and singing, but there are times where he uses his wind powers so he can do both at the same time.

Spoiler

 

 

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

At first, Ayla is a bit hesitant, not being entirely sure of herself. But she soon finds her groove, and starts playing the chords alongside Fukami and the others. To her surprise, she actually quite enjoys the song, she’s even sing backup vocals if she could understand the lyrics. Meanwhile, Silver and Charlotte were, of course, loving the performance as the band plays on.

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

The crowd applauds when the song ends, but Fukami doesn't want much of it. He directs the applause to Ayla for playing guitar, and the crowd claps a little louder for her.

"Thank you, thank you. But that's enough for today. We just came here to be observers. Ayla-chan, Silver-san, Charlotte-hime, would you all like to check out that ska concert now?" Fukami offers.

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

Once the song finishes, the crowd cheers for the band, and Ayla smiles while taking a bow. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” She says before turning her attention to Fukami. “Oh, is that still a thing? I thought it was just about to start as we came over here to the studio to play our own songs. But I mean, yea, I’m still down to check that out!”

[Samurai Equine 50,971]

@GeneralDirection

Some of the ponies in the crowd seem disappointed, but they completely understand. "It's never too late. Even if we missed the first song or two, they probably will perform more." Fukami explains, putting away his instruments.

As they leave the recording room and soon run into a familiar face in the hallways. "Samurai-san!" Fukami says. "Hello, everypony! I finished my paper work and got a tip that you had all come here."

[GeneralDirection 1,042]

@Samurai Toshigami

“Oh ok, that makes sense! Let’s go check that out, then.” Ayla responds happily.

They don’t get too far down the hallway before they run into Samurai, who has finished up all his paperwork.

 “Samurai!” Charlotte exclaims. “Glad you’re back with us! We’re just on our way to go see a concert, wanna join us?”