by Matt Kelchner
“I am so thankful to be from Pennsylvania,” Andrew Shiraki tells me as we talk about the budding music scene in the Keystone State. Over the last decade or so, a number of amazing, talented bands have come up in their respective scenes to take on national attention, Shiraki included. Performing under the name Koji, he has been making waves throughout an underground and well connected punk scene which has finally come into the limelight in the past few years.
Koji continues on saying, “there’s an earnest energy and sense of community in Pennsylvania that drives/supports people to do some pretty amazing things. I’m saying that it’s no accident that so much compelling art has come from here.” We chat about coming up in the massive music scene in Pennsylvania and where it’s going to take him as Koji prepares for his next tour, this time with Allison Weiss, Chris Farren and Lee Corey Oswald.
A man who is no stranger when it comes to hitting the road, Koji expresses his excitement to get back on tour. “This is the longest I’ve gone without playing a show in years, so I’m overjoyed to be back at it again,” he tells me. “The break was nice to reconnect with family and friends, be creative, but I definitely started to feel eager to get back on the road over the last few weeks.”
Looking at the dates and cities on his upcoming tour, Koji is making his way around the country jumping between major markets and smaller towns. It’s an interesting route that many bands do no do. He explains, “I felt called back to the west coast. My sense of wanderlust was pointing me in that direction, so we chose to play some familiar places while choosing to break new ground in others.” While he’s skipping out on Philadelphia this time around, don’t be surprised if he manages to squeeze a show in by the end of the year!
“While I was off, my focus creatively was on writing. Next year is going to be something,” he says of upcoming plans. Over the years, Koji has always kept himself busy releasing various EPs and splits with other bands. Just last year, he released his first full length album, Crooked In My Mind.
“Music is the medium that allows me to tap into the deeper parts of my mind. It’s the language I use to process things emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and so on,” Koji says as he goes over the factors that keep him going creatively. “The world around me continues to change. The person that I am continues to grow and evolve. But the one thing that remains constant is my love for music.”
This love for music is a common feeling shared between Koji and his counterparts around Pennsylvania. “For most of us, we don’t know any other way. You grow up going to shows with kids and you get a little older and start making music and setting up shows. People here don’t age out as quickly as in other scenes. We’re stubborn and don’t know what else to do but participate.”
Whether you call it stubbornness, dedication or anything else, it creates tight knit communities that gives the kids growing up now fantastic groups of communities to thrive in. “I hope each generation continues to strive and create more opportunities for future generations,” Koji adds. So for those reading, do you part! Find your passionate and run with it. “Identify a need or needs in your community. Of those needs, you must decide what resonates with you. The work you’ll do can be thankless, so it must be something that is important to you.”
