We will quit Patreon

 

This has been already posted on our social media.
After 15 months on Patreon, we have decided to close down our Patreon page.

Here.
https://www.patreon.com/imaritones

 

We started Patreon in July 2020.
It was a new challenge.

Being an obscure indie metal band, we were not sure if it would work.
But it worked even if it’s a small sized project.

We had total 20 and maximum 17 Patrons who have supported us.
Thank you very much.

 

When we started our Patreon, I gave myself a homework.
That was, to write and record “Monthly Song” every month.

That was my “sign of gratitude” for our Patrons who support us.

I kept doing it for more than a year.
15 months to be exact.
I made some extra versions, so there was actually more.

I just posted all the songs in one package on our Patreon post.
And it has 17 tracks in it.

 

 

One of the reasons I decided to quit.
Probably I was too strict on myself.
I set the bar too high, psychologically.

 

Writing monthly song, every month, was not so hard for me.

I’m a kind of songwriter to whom songs come constantly and automatically.
So I have a lot of songs in my song folder.
Most of the time, I wrote the songs newly for the month, not using a song in the archive. But in anyway it was not that hard.

 

Writing lyrics was hard, but we are a Christian band. So I wrote those lyrics based on the Bible books. It was a good study on the Bible, as well as a good study on English. I wrote some kind of “Gospel song” every month and it was a job worth doing.

 

However, as the time went by, I was moving the bar higher and higher. I could not do easy songs any more. The last 3 months, I did some good songs that were as good as any Imari Tones’ official release.

And I felt I could not go on anymore.
I felt like this project was finished, at the moment I finished recording the last month song.

 

The reason I said I had set the bar too high.
That was, I wanted to give people better service. I wanted to post more.

I was doing monthly songs, rare materials (demo tracks and unreleased stuff), and posting all the albums with my own commentary.

Other than that, I wanted to do “more service”.
I wanted to show our gratitude more often.
I wanted to communicate more and give more time and effort to our Patrons.

 

However in reality, my time and ability was really limited.
All I could do was to post stuff at the end of each month.

And I felt frustrated with myself.
Because I was not giving enough service which I thought I could give.

 

 

When we started our Patreon page, we were not that busy.
We were inactive as a band, because of Koji’s shoulder issue and COVID-19 situation.

We had just finished “Nabeshima” album, but we didn’t know what to do next.
So it was a good timing to start a new thing.

 

However this year, we got our new drummer Shinryu and we are now very active as a band.
We released “Nabeshima” from a record company based in Europe and now we are much busier.

So working on Patreon, it was making less and less sense.

 

Another important reason is what I do with my life.
Work, job, lifework.
That kind of stuff.

Now I want to spend more time on other stuff and this Patreon thing has become more of a burden.

 

These realistic and psychological reasons combined together.
That’s why we decided it’s time to close down our Patreon page.

 

But we have to go on to the next things.
So that we can open new doors for new possibilities.

We will keep rocking and there is no time to stop.

 

 

I want to say we are very thankful.

I and Marie, both are very thankful and grateful for your support.

It was a great experience.

But our English vocabulary is limited.
All we can say is/was, “Thank you very much for your support”.
We said it again and again.

It was really awkward and sometimes frustrating that we could not show our gratitude in more detailed manner, with more detailed words.

If we could communicate in Japanese language, maybe we could have done somewhat better.

 

 

However, these Monthly Songs, which I wrote and recorded every month for 15 months.

They are a big treasure.
It’s more than enough for a full album.

Many of the songs, I actually wrote on the spot.
But some of the songs were from the old song folder.
One of the songs was written when I was 17. It turned out very well and it was a surprise.

This opportunity was very precious in my life.
I am forever grateful for our Patrons who gave me this opportunity to write and record these songs.

 

These songs are in different musical styles than regular Imari Tones’ songs.

They were not hard rock.
They were mostly softer, indie rock style thing. (Even though I did some “1980’s style hard rock” songs.)

It was a very refreshing experience.
To me, it felt as fresh as the first day I started making music.

That was a big treasure.

 

 

I’m hoping to publish these songs in the future, one way or another.
Maybe not Imari Tones, but some other project, some other form.

 

Here is the list of the songs I posted.

1. Yoroshiku (July 2020)
2. Your World Never Ends (August 2020)
3. Silently (September 2020)
4. Yours To Change (October 2020)
5. Stars On The Horizon (November 2020)
6. Fireworks Night (English) (December 2020)
7. 花火の価値 (Japanese) (December 2020)
8. Hellfire And Brimstone (January 2021)
9. En (February 2021)
10. T.S.T.(Those Small Things) (March 2021)
11. Agur (April 2021)
12. Changing Sky (May 2021)
13. Bible Beetle Theme (June 2021)
14. Bible Oboeuta (June 2021)
15. To Rome (July 2021)
16. Seek Me And Live (August 2021)
17. Return To Me (September 2021)

 

It’s hard to say which one is my favorite.
But especially the last 3 tracks, they are so good we can release them as Imari Tones songs if we want.
(Maybe we can re-record them and include in Imari Tones’ future project? I don’t know.)

 

One of the songs called “Fireworks Night” Japanese version (花火の価値) is posted on public YouTube.
Here I will post it.

 

These songs are posted on our Patreon page.
You can download them until the end of September 2021.
Because we will close down the page at the end of September.

It’s funny because you have to join to download, just before we close it down.
But if you are interested, this is your last chance.

 

Also, this is your last chance to download “Nabeshima Demo”, which is a demo version of our new album “Nabeshima”.
That was Patreon exclusive content.

 

No one knows about the future and possibly we can come back on Patreon someday. Or some equivalent service. But at this point, I can’t promise anything.

 

Again, let me say this.
Thank you very much for your support!!!!
We are very happy we did this!!