Hayaino Daisuki’s Secret to Not Selling Out: Don’t Tour

Over the years many have complained and demanded that vocalist Jon Chang hit the road more with his bands, so in 2008 Hayaino Daisuki and Gridlink did a short tour together. Chang doesn't see that tour happening ever again. "It was such a pain in the ass to get ready for those shows that it stripped all the fun out of playing them," he admitted to Noisecreep. "To a certain extent, I can say that is true with any kind of touring for me. I don't really enjoy doing it."

Even when Chang was in the legendary grind act Discordance Axis, shows were rare. And when they did happen, the majority ended up at CBGB, since the band was close to those booking shows there. He credits the band Ezra as the reason the 2008 tour happened at all. "They were able to facilitate all the booking and set up all the logistics up before the shows, which was good. Honestly I have no clue about how to go about doing that stuff."

That tour was hyped as a must-attend tour. "In reality, when we went out and played there were not a lot of people came to our sets. It didn't really seem worth it." Chang adds that now both bands are deciding to focus on one-off shows and festivals, as the cost of touring doesn't make sense.

"I hear people say 'come play in my town' and I'm like, 'No!'" he emphasized. "The amount of effort it would take to come and play in your town would cost thousands of dollars." Both bands share guitarist Takafumi Matsubara, who lives in Japan.

Chang recalled a festival that booked Gridlink to play and said they would pay for all flights, but when they needed paid for them it was discovered only ones from New Jersey were covered. "The band couldn't do it," says Chang. "I was like, 'No skin off my ass'. That's really my attitude about it. I'm happy to do the show; I don't need to walk away rich, but I'm not gonna lose all my money to play a 15-minute set some place. It's just not worth it."

Chang is very satisfied not to be touring. In fact, he views this as a way to keep the band's music pure and not a job. "One thing I like is that I can still hold onto is this is still my art. I don't make a living doing this. I don't have to go out and shill for some company and be like 'hey I love this product. Here is me posing with their picture."

To explain this further Chang uses one of his favorite bands, Slayer, as an example. "It's funny to listen to them talk about the band now that they are 50 years old and they have been on the road for 20, 30 years," Chang points out. "They are all so f---ing bitter about it. They don't like each other, really.

"I think any band turns into that eventually, basically it becomes a business you're working at. Music eventually becomes that for any of the big bands, but even in the independent area that's what happens to them because they have to survive if they want to keep doing what they are doing. I'm lucky enough that I don't have to do that if I don't want to."