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Tomo Nakayama (full band)Surrija
Goh Nakamura
at Healing Force of the Universe
11/13/2025
8PM $20adv/$25doors
Seattle artist Tomo Nakayama’s fourth album "Ocean" will be released on November 7th on Porchlight Records/Den Tapes in the USA, and in Japan on Lemon House Inc. Following his breakthrough 2020 synthpop album "Melonday", “Ocean” is Tomo’s return to a graceful, lush, organic full-band sound, backed by pianist Yuuki Matthews (The Shins), bassist Abbey Blackwell (Alvvays), and drummer Christopher Icasiano (Fleet Foxes) and featuring guest turns by Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers) and Debbie Miller. It is his most personal and complete musical statement to date, a self-produced ten song reflection on grief, healing, and the meaning of creating art and maintaining humanity in a tumultuous world. “Ocean” trapezes across sonic worlds of dream pop, orchestral acoustic folk, improvisational psychedelia and indie rock, all tied together by a wide open melodic and lyrical heart. "Ocean" is a deeply collaborative album awash in images of the sea, serving as metaphors for the vastness of love, human connection, and our capacity to clearly see and be one with the world.
Born in Japan and raised in Seattle, Tomo Nakayama has explored the lines between intimate indie folk, exuberant synth pop, and cinematic soundtracks for over two decades. Best known for placements in Netflix’s “House of Ninjas” and the Sundance Grand Jury nominated film “Touchy Feely”, Tomo’s music has been praised by NPR, KEXP, and the New York Times, and his hit single “Get to Know You” received over 2 million streams worldwide. He has toured across the world, sharing the stage with artists such as Cornelius, Built to Spill, Fruit Bats, Thao, and Stella Donnelly. He has also performed and collaborated with Dave Matthews, Jeremy Enigk (of Sunny Day Real Estate), Sera Cahoone, Jherek Bischoff, Jesse Sykes, Donnie Emerson (Dreamin’ Wild, Light in the Attic), and experimental dance company Malacarne.
SURRIJA (self-titled) is electro art pop that plakys with asymmetry, textures, glitch, electronic treatment of classical training, suspending opposing emotions in one place. The album features drummer Matt Chamberlain (David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Fiona Apple, Perfume Genius), co-produced by Surrija, Sophocles, and Maxwell Gualtieri.
She extended from singer songwriter roots to somewhere more unhinged and left of center.
“…is simply on a different wavelength .. chiling and seductive…” - Earmiilk
Classical piano training, degree in choral conducting, singer-songwriter/folk roots, and theatre work all made for a unique sum in this album. “I’m made of a lot of genres and it was always audible. In the end I still think I’m best at putting my hands on the instrument, being tactile, hearing organics. Electronic experimentations of this landed me squarely in this new sound.” Surrija is about finding voice and is a strong genre pivot from her previous songwriter roots.
Half the album is about her father, the other half about four women whom Picasso passionately loved and tossed aside. This album brings them out of his shadow and casts him as a supporting character. “These are love letters to the women. They gave me agency to heal from my dad.”
Surrija is featured on the soundtrack of Everything Everywhere All At Once, scored by Son Lux.
Surrija (album) was Kickstarter funded ($40K) while she traveled as co-music director and cast in Cambodian Rock Band (Lauren Yee), in OSF, Off-Broadway Signature Theatre in New York, Alley Theatre Houston, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage DC, and ACT/5th Ave Seattle.
She was composer and music director for Secret In The Wings (Mary Zimmerman), a production by Coeurage Theatre (Los Angeles). She has been named YouTube’s Unsigned Pick, her music video Southern Winds earned Best Music Video in Dublin Web Fest, and multiple works have been featured on Virgin America, Huffington Post, Jezebel, MAKE:Mag.She has worked with Son Lux, Matt Chamberlain, Jason Mraz, Felicia Day, played in Germany, France, UK, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and hopes you enjoy a listen
Goh Nakamura is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer and actor. A fortuitous 2007 feature on YouTube's front page brought his music videos over a million views and earned him a new fanbase from all over the world.
As a session musician, his guitar and vocal work has been featured in films directed by Ridley Scott such as A Good Year, American Gangster and Body of Lies. His track "Daylight Savings" also appears in the film Feast of Love. Nakamura made his acting debut in Dave Boyle's award-winning film, Surrogate Valentine, where he played a fictionalized version of himself. The film screened at a number of festivals including the SXSW Film Festival and Nakamura won a Special Jury Prize for Acting from the Dallas International Film Festival for his performance.
He also starred in the film's sequel, Daylight Savings which was named after his first album and which also premiered at a number of film festivals, including the 2012 SXSW Film Festival.For his work in both films, Nakamura was chosen as a “New American Filmmaker” by the Vilcek Foundation at the 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival. In the award winning independent film Life Inside Out (2014), Nakamura plays "Uncle" Sam, musician and host of an open mic night, alongside Maggie Baird and Finneas O’Connell directed by Jill D'Agnenica. Goh reprises his role as “Goh” in the third Surrogate Valentine movie “I WILL MAKE YOU MINE” directed and written by Lynn Chen.
As a film composer, Goh most recently scored the ESPN 30 for 30 Bruce Lee documentary “Be Water,” directed by Bao Ngyuen which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is currently showing on ESPN. He was also commissioned by the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival in 2017 to score the 1919 silent film, The Dragon Painter, starring groundbreaking Japanese actor, Sessuye Hayakawa. Goh was also commissioned by the Center for Home Movies and the National Registry to score two silent home movies, which debuted at the New York City MoMa in January 2020.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Healing Force of The Universe, 1200 E Walnut St,Pasadena, California, United States
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