Our friend, singer/songwriter, musician, actor Goh Nakamura is giving it all, he’s living the dream. His cards are on the table, he’s got nothing to lose, and everything to gain. After a successful run in the indie film circuit with the film Surrogate Valentine in 2011, he immediately set forth with the film sequel to Surrogate Valentine titled, Daylight Savings. Like the first film, it has screened with rave reviews at SXSW and just last weekend at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. He’s been on the road for the past couple of years, playing venues, screening the film, road tripping from state to state… living the dream.

Now, Goh’s got a project on Kickstarter called “The Dream Sessions: Musical Travel Show”. He is dubbing it, the music version of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. He’ll be traveling the country, playing with some of the best musicians, recording, making original music, eating, chatting, seeing what is in their neck of the woods. What sounds cool is that you would not only see the process of art being made and documented, but, in the end, a finished product… a documentary and potentially, an album.

Already, he has musicians Kid Koala, Tim Bulkley, Jane Lui, Art Hirahara, Gary Wang, and Grand Hallway lined up. It’s still a work in progress, more musicians will be added, but, I know Goh, and Goh makes things happen. He’s a man of his word and when he does it, he does it with sincerity and awesomeness.

You can check out the video above or read all about the Kickstarter Project here. If you can give, do it… if you can spread the word, do it. Living the dream.

Photo: Myleen Hollero

Aside from making music that moves you, Goh Nakamura has been busy doing the rounds for a movie starring…well… him. Entitled Surrogate Valentine, this indie movie is about a struggling musician named Goh who jumps on the chance to teach TV star Danny Turner (Chadd Stoops) guitar for an upcoming role. Along the way, the pair go on a road trip from Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Goh also meets a high school flame Rachel (Lynn Chen), which complicates things. The film is having its long awaited Los Angeles premiere at The Japanese American National Museum this Thursday, September 15th. Goh will also be doing a live performance and Q&A after the screening.

The film got rave reviews at its world premiere at Austin’s SXSW. Our favorite review came from Independent Film Channel, who called it “the kind of film you want to hug.”

Check out this trailer:

This Thursday, September 15th, Surrogate Valentine will be screening for the first time in Los Angeles. Alongside, The Japanese American National Museum and Giant Robot, we’re proud to present a screening of Surrogate Valentine, a Q&A with the cast and director Dave Boyle, and a special live music performance by Goh Nakamura.

The after-screening Q&A should be really fun if this video is any indication. Here’s a clip of Dave and Goh talking about how they met and taking us through some of the behind the scenes of the film. You’ll see they have a very apparent, natural chemistry, and with the success of this film, it’s no wonder that they are already in production on the sequel to Surrogate Valentine.

We’d love for you to come to the screening and, if you do, you’ll know why we’re raving. The movie’s showing at The Japanese American National Museum this Thurs, September 15, 8pm. Get your tickets here.

See you guys there!

JANM, 369 East First Street, Los Angeles California 90012

Photo: Myleen Hollero

I am proud to announce that Surrogate Valentine, co-written and starring our good friend Goh Nakamura, premiered with warm fanfare at this year’s SXSW in Austin. Tonight, March 17th, it will be the Closing Night Selection at The San Francisco International Film Festival! You might remember Goh from his music and shows he has done with Poketo in the past. A kind of one man band, his music moves you with his beautiful voice and guitar. He was here at Poketo a couple of years ago, played an amazing set at the studio in front of a mesmerized crowd… so much so, you could literally hear a pin drop. He blew us away with his performance and he then continued good times with tacos and beer before crashing at our pad. That’s the cool, mellow, humble guy that Goh is.

Now, Goh has teamed up with filmmaker Dave Boyle to sort of make a movie about… himself. In Surrogate Valentine, Goh Nakamura plays Goh, a struggling musician that is barely scraping by, playing live gigs and teaching guitar. Things change when a filmmaker friend asks him to teach guitar lessons to TV star Danny Turner (Chadd Stoops) for his upcoming movie role and Goh jumps at the chance. While on tour together, things get complicated when Goh’s high school flame Rachel (Lynn Chen) shows up.

This is movie about friendship, love, wandering, discovery, and looking for that very thing you are missing, but, not knowing what it is…. I can’t wait to catch this. Surrogate Valentine is off to a great start, not only having had it’s world premiere at SXSW, Surrogate Valentine is the Closing Night Selection at the San Francisco International Film Festival (screening tonight!), then goes on to be the Official Selection at the Dallas International Film Festival, and then off to the the Cleveland International Film Festival.

Talking with Gary Chou, the executive producer of the film, they plan on doing live shows at each of the screenings, they produced a 7″ vinyl of the title track from the film, and will take the film on the road, guerilla style and play it in theaters and venues near you! That’s how they roll… indie filmmakers, indie musician, rolling it out the way they know how… real and lasting. Surrogate Valentine will surely make waves.

Here’s a great shot of Goh… the mellow, happy guy he always is . This was the day after an epic show at our place, artist PCP is sleeping the day away.

Last year, we had the Bang! Bang! Draw! Artshow with Heisuke Kitazawa (PCP) and Marc Bianchi of Her Space Holiday at the Poketo studio. An epic night of Heisuke’s art, Marc Bianchi doing a solo set and a even special performance by Goh Nakamura. Heisuke launched a series of posters and we had them here on Poketo and they pretty much sold out right away. Heisuke’s work is in a word, mind-blowing. Right?

When you meet Heisuke in person, he’s one of the coolest, nicest, and most humble guys you’ll ever meet. A quiet demeanor on the outside, but, when you see his work, you really get a look into how amazingly tripped out he is inside.

Based in Tokyo, we got to catch up with him recently when he stopped in Los Angeles. We caught up over lunch at Lemonade in Venice, finally got to officially meet his little one, peeked his future projects in his secret sketchbook, and then he dropped three new amazing posters on us.

Just like the previous set last year, all of them are large sized posters, beautifully printed in Japan, and artwork only Heisuke can dream up. Trust me, these will go quick, check them all out at Poketo before they are gone or click on the images to see more detail.