One of the wolf mask wearing members of the Japanese rock band Man With a Mission is sharing his thoughts on playing the guitar in a new video put out by the famous electric guitar maker Fender. And yes, he wears the mask through the entire video.
Released last week (May 25) via the official Fender YouTube channel, this new video is the sixth episode of a series called Feedback.which sheds a spotlight on the relationship professional musicians have with their instruments. Previous episodes have featured a variety of artists including J Mascis of the rock band Dinosaur Jr., American rapper/producer Mac Miller, English soul musician Michael Kiwanuk and American singer/rapper/producer Ty Dolla Sign.
The latest episode in the Fender Feedback series stars Jean-Ken Johnny, a vocalist and guitarist in Man With a Mission, a Japanese rock band that is in part known for all of its members wearing wolf masks.
Although this video isn’t particularly intended to be humorous, there’s just something amusing about watching a man in an intricate wolf mask talk passionately about his relationship with his guitar. It almost seems like some kind of strange parody video, but it isn’t.
As for why the Man With a Mission guys have wolf heads, that’s an interesting story. According to them, they were created as the “Ultimate Life Forms” by Jimi Hendrix, who aside from being the “doctor of the guitar” (their words) was also a “master wolf biologist.” However, after their creation these lupine rockers ended up getting frozen in Antarctica. Many years later the master musicians would somehow manage to escape their icy prison, head to Japan and use their musical talents to make a name for themselves in the Tokyo music scene. So, yeah, makes total sense, right?
Check out the video below.
If you’d like to listen to some of Man With a Mission’s music, you can check out their YouTube channel here. And if you’d like to check out the other videos in the Feedback series, click here.
Source: Natalie
Image: Man With A Mission | Feedback: Episode 6 | Fender (Fender)