This section lists the questions Jun and I get asked, so if you have a query be sure to check this section out!

Jun's FAQ

01. How long have you been playing guitar?
Since I was 15.

02. What kinds of distortion pedals, amps, or accessories do you use and what kind of guitar do you have?
For information on my guitars, please check the gallery section.
I don't use distortion pedals at all...
I have Soldano SLO100R (rack mounted version with purple face), PEAVEY 5150, Soldano SP77 Pre-Amp etc...
I'm using the POD Pro or POD XT from LINE6 these days too.
I have many pedals and rack mounted fx units and my fav are the Dyna Comp & Phase 90 from MXR, the Tremolo unit from Jim Dunlop, and the Digitech Whammy.

03. Would you as a guitarist recommend professional or private lessons for an intermediate skilled guitarist like me?
You should play along with your favorite song.
Don't forget to listen to it carefully and try to get how to play it.
That's the way I did it when I started playing guitar.

04. I would really like to know how much a similar custom job for the SONIC guitar would cost.
I'm sorry but I have no idea about that.
Some facts about my black Sonic guitar...
I bought it when I was 17 and it was my first ESP guitar.
It was the George Lynch model called Kamikaze, George Lynch is one of my favorite guitar players.
Since my high school was very close to the ESP shop in Tokyo, I spent lots of time there and as you know I could do an endorsement deal with them in 1996.
When I started writing songs for Sonic Adventure, I asked them to re-paint it with Sonic and it was reborn as the Sonic guitar.
Actually I gave it to Yuji Naka when I moved to San Francisco in 2000.
I borrowed it from him when I had photo shoots last January in Japan.

05. I know that the Crush 40 album is basically a re-release of Sons of Angels, and i noticed some instrumental pieces. Can i ask why they were taken out of the album and not put on the Crush 40 album?
Just a simple answer.
Crush 40 means a project featuring Johnny Gioeli and me, that's the reason I removed the instrumental songs from the album.
As you can imagine, the two bonus tracks I did with Tony and Ted are not Crush 40 songs.
I wanted to introduce some of my favorite songs featuring great singers to the new fans.

06. I noticed that the Crush 40 version of Dangerous Ground is about 25 seconds shorter then the version on Sons of Angels. Why was that?
There's an intro to Dangerous Ground on SOA album.
That's the difference.

07. Does Crush 40 play "Sonic Adventure" songs and do you guys have any gigs in Seattle ?
If we have a plan to play live, we'll play "Open Your Heart" and "Live & Learn" from the sonic adventure soundtrack.
I hope we can do this after releasing our next album.

08. I can't find the "Crush 40" album anywhere! Where can I get it, and for how much?
Well, the Crush 40 CD was released by Frontiers Records.
I think you can find the CD at a store if you live in Europe.
I found some online retailers for your reference.

NEH Records for US customers... in Colorado.
http://www.nehrecords.com/shop/crush40.htm
Crush 40 CD is $13.99 and s/h is $3.00 for 1st class mail.

Music Buy Mail for European customers... in Germany.
http://www.musicbuymail.com/
Crush 40 CD is 14.00EURO and s/h is 6.50EURO for European citizens.

Japan
HMV for Japanese customer...
http://www.hmv.co.jp/product/detail.asp?sku=246403
2645 yen and free shipping over 2500 yen.

09. I would REALLY like to know the meaning of the number "82" on your 82 customs.
I have racked my brains trying to figure it out.
My birthday is August 2nd. That's the answer...

10. Can you please tell me how did you played the solo in "It Doesn't Matter" from Sonic Adventure?
For example, what amp did you use?
Which guitar did you use?
I used Koamaple for rhythm guitars and White Road Runner for lead guitars thru Soldano SLO100R on it.

11. When will Crush 40 2 be released?
I am not sure when at this moment.
It will be filled with new songs only and no sonic related songs on it.
Sonic songs will be featured on our compilation disc tentatively entitled 'Works 1998-2008'.

12. Will Crush 40 go on tour?
Johnny and I want to do that.

13. What are the other members of Crush 40 upto?
All of our friends are well and busy with their own music.

14. When will JxJ ep 2 be realesed?
I have about 20 ideas of this project but I don't have enough time to do.
Crush 40 thing is more important for me as you know.

15. Any plans to move JxJ to new places?
I hope another EP next year and some shows in Japan too.

16. What are the other members of JxJ up to?
Junko is busy with her work as voice actress and several musical projects.

17. Sega have realeased alot of games laterly have you been working on any of them?
Last one I worked for was 'Nights... Journey of Dreams'. I was the person in charge for sound effects for the game and also I arranged theme song for Reala. Also I worked for 'Sonic Rivals 2' for PSP last year too. Theme song for SR2 was featured Ted Poley on vocals.
I was the producer for the compilation disc called 'True Blue'. It takes a longer time than expected but I hope I can let you know the details for the US/EU version of the disc soon.

18. Can you tell us about the Sonic Unleased theme and the rest of its music?
Tomoya is the person in charge for that game. He took care of the ones for Next-Gen Sonic (2006). I think he and his team are doing great job!

19. It's been said that your going to be working on Sonic and the Black Knight, can you tell us about it?
Sorry but actually I have nothing to say...

20. Why did you move back to japan?
No more Sonicteam USA.

21. Any plans to meet up with some of your fans again?
I think you can find me if you can come to Tokyo Game Show 2008.
I always talk about the possibility with Tommy. (Video Games Live)

22. I was wondering, what synthesizer did you use for Twinkle Park: Pleasure Castle's synth lead (before the electric organ and after), and how did you achieve that sound? I cannot seem to emulate it on any of my VSTs. By the way, is the electric organ an electric organ, or a vintage digital synth, such as the Fairlight CMI?
I used KORG Trinity Plus and KORG 01R sound module on that song.

23. And are those real drums? Or a really, really, really good sample-based drum sequencer? If they are sample-based sequenced drum tracks, then it is the best I have ever heard, and it is a REALLY powerful sampler. The booklet says guitar + programming, but no mention of drums.
I didn't hire drummer for that song. I used Akai S3200 and CD3000 samplers with great drum samples. I programmed with Power Macintosh 8100 & Logic Audio ver.3 at that time.

24. What is your favourite album or band at the moment?
The random selection from my iPod:

Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire
Def Leppard - Nine Lives
Eleventyseven - Love In Your Arms
Elliot Minor - Still Figuring Out
Extreme - Star
Fireflight - Unbreakable
John 5 - Sounds of Impalement
Demi Lovato - Who Will I Be?
Melee - Built To Last
Muse - Starlight
MCR - Welcome To The Black Parade
Nightwish - The Poet And The Pendulum
The Offspring - Half-Truism
The Veronicas - Untouched

25. What song are you most proud of creating Sonic or otherwise?
There are lots of my favorites including 'Live & Learn', 'Watch Me Fly...', 'What I'm Made Of...' and 'I Am... All Of Me'.

26. Do you think the original Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 soundtracks will ever be reprinted, both the vocal tracks and the OST's? It's difficult to find a copy. I found a copy on eBay and the guy wanted $250 for it!! I refuse to go for a cheap bootleg, because I believe the money should go to the artists!
They went out of print when the record company (Marvelous Entertainment a.k.a. MMV) changed their distribution company. You can find the vocal tracks from Sonic Adventure on Japanese edition of Sonic Heroes vocal collection CD called 'Triple Threat'. I know there were some new Sonic fans from Sonic Adventure DX and I decided to add them as bonus tracks. But unfortunately there was no chance to represent SA2 songs at this moment. Even Tokyopop edition went out of print either. As you know the ones you can see on ebay are bootlegs.

27. Do you think Tony Harnell and Eric Martin will work with you again?
I keep in touch with Tony, Eric and other singers and musicians I could team up with.
I hope I can do some more stuff with them.
The last time I tracked with EM was 2004.
They are "Mr. Baseball" and "Batter Up" and I like both of them.

28. Do you listen to Johnny's other work like Axel Rudi Pell?
I have several Axel Rudi Pelll CDs but I have no chance to listen to the newest one, cover album... I want to get my copy really soon. I also have the CD featuring Michael T.Ross and Johnny...

Raxel's FAQ

01. When is the Sonic Heroes soundtrack/vocal album coming out in <insert country here> ?
Since we now have a release date on the American release of the soundtrack, I obviously don't recieve this question anymore. However, when Jun releases a new album I'm bound to recieve the same question, so I'll keep this answer.

If you dont live in Japan, the USA or Europe, you're out of luck if you're looking for a domestic release. Remember, the music business is just that, a business. Labels are interested in the earning ability of the artist, whether the artist's genre has widespread appeal, and how well the artist can be marketed. Labels also have to take into account the current market conditions, so when all these factors add up, it just isn't profitable to release an album in a certain territory, for instance:

1. The country is too small to cover the initial costs
2. The genre isn't popular there anymore
3. Economic conditions are not favourable

And so on.

03. When is the next Crush 40 album coming out?
I have no idea! There will be one however.

05. I want tabs for <insert songs here>!
Well you better start practicing then! There are hundreds of websites out there that offer guitar tutorials, and in the future I will be writing my own tutorials, so keep an eye out for them.