by Blood of a Poet on Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:14 am
It's interesting how a few changes have stirred things up here - good to see that people are still passionate about the site! Originally japansylvian.com was the vision of my daughter Silvermoon: I built the site for her back in 2006 when she was 17. Of course she was a fan, and japansylvian was conceived as a fan site - isn't that what these sort of boards are always about? Isn't everyone registered here a fan as well? From the highbrow set who loves everything from Manafon onward, to the group that considers the first two Japan albums the only true version of the band, we are all fans or we wouldn't be here!
I did want to mention that Silvermoon was not the typical teenage "fan girl". Although originally focused on David Sylvian she quickly developed admiration and respect for every member of Japan (including Rob Dean). It was always her intention to cover all aspects of every member of Japan, past and present - hence the name of the site. She was not dwelling on the past, neither was she neglecting it.
Regarding the previous top banner on the site, you may have noticed that the pics of each member were the newest available at the time (with the exception of Rob, for obvious reasons). They were all live shots as well, reflecting the current projects of each member. I never thought that the banner was embarrassing to any of the members, or "fan girly" in any way.
As far as "Dancing Dave" goes, it's called humor. We all knew that wasn't the DS of current times, but Silvermoon found humor in an eternally dancing Dave. No matter what she was doing - on the site or away from it, Dave was always there dancing!
Rest assured that no matter what people on the board speculated, none of the members including David took personal offense from these things. One Christmas my daughter received a copy of Snow Borne Sorrow from Samadhi Sound with a hand written note on the back from David himself complimenting her on her efforts. Another time she received a full set of notecards (already out of print at the time) from Mick Karn featuring his sculpture and art. She framed these items and hung them on her walls although she never mentioned a word of them here on this site. She did not want to be viewed as having any special treatment, and regarded every member on this site equally as she did with all the members and associated artists relating to Japan.
At a Porcupine Tree show Richard Barbieri recognized Silvermoon and invited her and the people she was with backstage. Richard talked about this site and shared his views on Japan and its various members. Suzanne Barbieri sent my daughter early manuscripts of a book she was working on, and several members of this site sent her piles of clippings, photos and articles having to do with David and Japan.
Why do I mention all of this? Of course because I'm proud of what she accomplished and still surprised that someone so young would become that passionate about a band which had broken up over seven years before she was born. But I also mention these things to make it clear that japansylvian.com was maintained with the best of intentions. As the years past my daughter grew up, got a job, moved out, bought a house and met the man she intends to soon marry. During all of this her available time to maintain this site became increasingly less.
Eventually the server which the site was built on reached the end of its life and we decided it was time to move on. Originally I was simply going to let the site die, and the domain expire. We are greatful that Blemished stepped forward and continues to carry the torch of japansylvian.com - although it seems he is now faced with the balancing act of keeping the various camps here happy!
~ Blood of a Poet ~