DJ MARU

About me:

DJ MARU - Kobayashi  Maru - began his involvement with Japanese rock in the late 90s, when Visual Kei rock was not yet familiar to the general public in Italy, and Japanese music was only known by a very limited group of Japanese language and culture students.

In 2001 he began his carrier as DJ in Local Clubs and Cultural Associations, hosting events about 70s-80s music and introducing in his playlists a number of songs and videos by Japanese artists.
In the meanwhile, he continued his personal research about new Visual Kei bands.
By studying the Japanese language (DJ MARU carries a 4th Level Japanese Proficiency Certificate) he was able to obtain direct information from specialized Japanese magazines and web sites.

Starting in 2005 the Visual Kei rock began to take-off also in Italy, and DJ MARU started to looking for a nightclub, with some specific requirements, accepting the challenge and realizing a visual style j-rock event.
While this new musical trend is well appreciated by the public, it is still very difficult to find a venue for one or more events as freelancer.
Currently DJ MARU is waiting for a good chance and working on a stunning project.
He spent the year 2006 studyng the j-rock movement in Italy and in Europe, as the increasing frequency and number of Japanese bands touring the Old Continent has caused the fandom to become even more sophisticated and demanding.
In this time DJ MARU continued to play and work with other DJs and Clubs, improving his professional and event managment skills (from scaffolding, to live event management, audio theory, safety regulations, promotion and marketing, web design).

From the late 2007, DJ MARU launched an italian language only website (Land of Visual) and blog (Visual Blog) as part of his forthcoming activities. His name is seen often in English- and Italian-language forums and social networkings sites (Gaia Online, LiveJournal, Last FM and Myspace); he starts promoting Visual Kei Bands with Yesasia Affiliation Program.

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