TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — One-man band Joshua Galyean said his stage name is a mashup of the Japanese term for foreigner “gaijin” and the derogatory term "ginger,” which refers to his reddish hair and beard.
While his stage name seemingly makes sense, his music may not. He simply sings the few Japanese words he knows, often common terms such as “ramen,” “miso soup,” and “tatami.”
“I just sing about anything that I can think of in a highly emotional way. This is one of the trademarks of J-pop,” Galyean said in an interview with Taiwan News.
Galyean said his song lyrics are sometimes homophones. He also uses Google Translate to produce the subtitles for his music videos.
His wife, Ayumi, a Japanese citizen, also helps with songwriting. The two often jam together at home, with him strumming an acoustic guitar while his wife accompanies him on ukulele or piano.
“My songs mean nothing. It just has a mixture of different ideas or a copy-and-paste collage. I am just trying to make fun of the earnestness of J-pop,” he said. Galyean’s approach to lyrics is nothing novel, as American musician Al Yankovic popularized parody songs, and even artists like David Bowie used "cut-up" style to create lyrics that were often little more than a montage of different words.
Despite the veneer of the cheerful foreigner making cute, nonsensical music, there is a deeper vein of music being a salve from generations of cult-like brainwashing associated with the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Old-school expat
From his Facebook page, Galyean paints himself as a “Californian living in the beachside city of Itoshima, Japan.”
Galyean has the cheerful demeanor of a California native and is also forthright about being a fourth-generation Jehovah’s Witness, or "JW,” as he describes it. His travels to Asia were fueled by a desire to proselytize.
His first overseas assignment was in Shanghai, China. He endeavored to learn Mandarin to assist him in his regular “door-knocking” duties.
He said a typical weekly schedule for each JW member includes two weekly meetings with fellow members and at least one day of door-knocking. “If you don’t do door-knocking, some of the members of the community will look down on you. It’s not a requirement per se, but it’s generally accepted that converting people to the faith is one of our responsibilities,” said Galyean.
His decision to leave the faith and convince his wife to leave too was because he was to be promoted to a leadership position within his religious community. "I just felt there was something wrong, and then I did a little research on my own," he said.
Gaylean said JW frowns at members conducting research, especially on the internet. “I was relieved to find that most people in the world are not controlled by Satan, who is trying to lead people astray through deception and illicit thoughts," he said.
Music led him astray
While living in Shanghai, the only interaction Galyean had with fellow foreigners was at a handful of open mic events and concert venues. His JW community tolerated it as long as he returned home directly after each performance and did not mingle with fellow musicians.
Proselytizing for Western-based faiths is strictly forbidden in China. Being caught carrying out such activities could lead to arrest, detention, and deportation.
“Shanghai ten years ago was a wild place for many expat musicians. Drugs were everywhere and very cheap,” he said. While he abstained from such activities (Galyean does enjoy craft beer on occasion), he regrets not spending more time lingering after musical concerts concluded.
He often joined informal jam sessions, even playing with the well-known expat rock band Round Eye, which has a rotating cast of musicians based around Chachi, a Florida native, who sings and plays electric guitar.
During the day, Galyean was employed at Shanghai American School, where he was a teaching assistant. He says that living in Shanghai a decade ago was very exciting and entertaining. He even performed solo some songs that he wrote in Mandarin.
Leaving the Christian rabbit hole
He has not formally left the faith, since he has not penned a “letter of disassociation,” which needs to be sent to a group of elders. Following through with such a letter would mean being cut off from his parents and family.
He also needed to leave Shanghai, which had become too familiar to him and the other members of the faith who regularly attended JW’s Kingdom Hall meetings. For this reason, Galyean and his wife decided to relocate to Itoshima, Japan.
He eventually found work as a photographer taking school portraits, and this is one of the reasons he was able to travel to Taiwan. His wife has also entertained other professions, such as being a buyer of second-hand clothing in the U.S, but ultimately settled on the profession she had studied for, pharmacy assistant.
So far, he is doing well and enjoying his newfound freedom. While audiences in Japan are still confused by his songs and lyrics, he still enjoys playing.
He also enjoyed his first visit to Taiwan and has familiarized himself with expats whom he first met in Shanghai. At a recent Muddy Basin Ramblers show, Galyean met up with a Canadian sound engineer that he worked with in Shanghai, and he has other musician friends via Round Eye.
This shows that the companionship of musicians can be much stronger than that of people who share the same faith. This continues to motivate him to go out on the stage to perform his music.
Gaijinja performs at 10 p.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 23) at Revolver on No. 1, Section 1, Roosevelt Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan.
