Q1. What is your name?

A. Byron Coonerty.

Q2. Where are you originally from?

A. Melbourne in Australia, it's the second biggest city in Australia and is famous for Australian Rules football (AFL), good food of any nationality, very changeable weather and is the best city for live original music in Oz

Q3. How long have you been in Japan?

A. Been here about seven years now. It's strange but it has become home maybe more than Australia. Or at least it feels that way sometimes.

Q4. What do you do in Japan?

A. I teach at a uni, play in a rock band, play football with the Kinki Kangaroos in the Nippon Australian Football League (NAFL), play cricket with the Osaka Bulldogs and organize events to help to promote live original talent in Osaka. I like to get involved in things I guess.

Q5. What are you into at the moment?

A. Mostly the band, and starting to promote events around town. The band is MotorVision and we play loud rock! It's a lot of fun. I used to play a lot in Australia but I gave it up for about 8 years or so. I only just started playing again last year. I’m also getting into the promoting of other talent. I’m building up my own promotion company "Byronic Productions".

Q6. Why did you start promoting other people with talent?

A. I saw that there are a lot of people in Osaka with talent, both foreign and Japanese. A lot of the foreigners who are here both short and long term, never seem to get a chance to do something creative beyond just teaching English. A lot of the musicians get kind of trapped into playing cover music, even when they have good original songs. In Melbourne there are many more original bands than cover bands. In fact Melbourne people prefer to watch something new and interesting. I’d like to see Osaka become more like that.

Q7. Where do you usually go?

A. I like Tin's Hall in Tennoji, the vibe is really cool and laid back and I have many friends down there. Nori the bar manager is a great guy. It was the first bar I went to when I arrived in Osaka and I still like it and still they let me back in! But I also pop up at the Blarney Stone and other notorious Osaka haunts. The best place for food in Osaka is in Honmachi. It’s an Aussie bar grill cafe called the Down Under. They are real Aussies serving up real Aussie food and beer. Prices are bloody cheap too. Whenever I get homesick I go there. The owner Kazuko Boyle is an Osakan woman who lived in Australia for almost thirty years! Longer than I did. Her son Kenzo runs it with her, he was born and raised in Oz but is half-Japanese. Really good people.

Q8. What are your goals for future?

A. I want to put out a good CD with MotorVision and also try to help other bands and creative people do something with their talent. Also I want to see the Aussie footy in Japan get bigger. Japan is at a very interesting point in its history now. It must open up more or it will diminish. Many people are negative about Japan’s future but I think it is an exciting opportunity for Japan to embrace the world more and more and to become a major creative power in the world. Internalization starts in the hearts and minds of individuals not in texts books or language schools.

Q9. What else do you want to do in the future in Japan?

A. I'd like to open a live house, maybe a small independent record company and buy a nice old house in the countryside and renovate it. I got big dreams!

Q10. Message to WhyNot!? users!

A. Believe in your dreams and remember good things happen to good people, so be a good person.
Also come play footy with the NAFL and go eat a steak at the Down Under. You can find out more from the website for the footy at www.nafl.jp which has links to the Down Under. Finally come and see MotorVision play live. The website is under construction but address will be www.motorvisionjapan.com.