Justin Tokimitsu Nozuka
(born September 29, 1988) is a Canadian/American singer-songwriter. His debut album Holly
has been released in Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States. He has licensed the album to indie label Coalition Entertainment Records, distributed by Warner Music in Canada, Outcaste Records in the UK/EU distributed by EMI and Glassnote Music in the US distributed by RED.
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JUSTIN NOZUKA TICKETS
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Biography
Nozuka was born in
New York City's
Queens area, the son of Holly Sedgwick and Hiromitsu Nozuka. His father is
Japanese and his mother an American of English ancestry. His mother's half-sister is actress
Kyra Sedgwick [1] [2] and his first cousin twice removed is Edie Sedgwick. His mother raised Nozuka and his six siblings as a single mother.
[3] He is the brother of R&B singer
George, and actor
Philip. Other family members include Christian Bridges and Henry, who are also singer/songwriters. His two sisters, Margaret and Sandra (Sandy).
Nozuka began writing his own songs at age 12 and the earliest of his songs on
Holly
, "Supposed to Grow Old" and "I'm in Peace," were written when he was 15.
[4] While attending
St. Andrews College, an international boarding school in
Aurora, Ontario, Justin learned to play guitar from Mexican classmates. From there, he went to the
Etobicoke School of the Arts. His musical influences stem from artists such as
Lauryn Hill and
Marvin Gaye.
[5] He recently graduated from the Etobicoke School of Arts in Ontario.
With help from a fellow Canadian artist,
Damhnait Doyle, whom he met at a song writing workshop, Justin was introduced to
Universal Records talent scout, Allan Reid. He recorded three tracks through Universal with Bill Bell as producer, and following this, Universal requested to sign Justin to their label, but he decided he wanted to "record an album on my own, with my own freedom".
[6] He has played at the Green room stage at the Irish music festival Oxegen and T in the Park in 2007.
Recently, Nozuka's song "After Tonight" has been featured in a commercial for "
Scott Baio Is 46...and Pregnant" on VH1, and has also been featured on
mtvU's The Freshman. Nozuka recently traveled to
Austin,
Texas to take part in the
SXSW Music Festival as well as being interviewed by many radio stations in the area.
The album has eleven songs to it and includes a hidden track following the final listed song "If I Gave You My Life". Many of Justin's songs deal with mature themes such as the song "Save Him", which is a fictional song about a woman being beaten by her husband. Another track, "Down in a Cold Dirty Well", is about his perspective being stuck in a well, watching his life flash before his eyes. Another track is "Criminal" which Justin wrote about a man having an experience while intoxicated and throwing a bottle that smashes on the concrete street "where children play with bare feet",
[7] and suffers from the overwhelming guilt.
Holly
is named after his mother who helped and supported his chosen career in music.
Justin also guest starred on
Degrassi: The Next Generation alongside his brother
Philip Nozuka. Justin played Chuck Hosoda, the brother of Philip's character, Chester. Justin's other brother
George Nozuka was also in that episode playing the third brother, Chad.
In February 2008, Nozuka was nominated for a
Juno award in the category of "New Artist of the Year".
In 2008, Justin Nozuka toured with
MariƩ Digby and
Eric Hutchinson.
From Aug 2008 through Nov 2008, Justin toured all around the United States with
Gabe Dixon Band &
Jay Nash as well as in parts of Europe.
In the beginning of 2009, Justin toured the United States again, this time co-headlining with
Missy Higgins and with special guest,
Lenka. He also toured in France to heavily promote the Holly album for its re-release.
This summer (2009), Justin is currently working on his second studio album, while still touring and playing shows in Europe.
On Wednesday September 9th 2009, Justin is set to play at Niagara College Welland Campus' Orientation day.
Bandmates
- Mark Pellizzer (Guitar and Piano) (b.June 14 1980) plays guitar and piano for the Justin Nozuka Band also the occasional back up vocal.
- Anthony Lavdanski (Bass and background vocals) (b. August 13 1984) Born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Anthony attended University of Toronto from 2002-2006 majoring in Jazz Performance.
- Alex Tanas (Drums and background vocals) (b. february 28 86)
Discography
Studio Albums
Other Releases
- iTunes Festival: London - Justin Nozuka (live) - EP
(2007) Available in the U.K.
B-Sides
- Ain't No Sunshine (Cover)
- Bad Fog Of Loneliness (Cover)
- Comfort In Emptiness
- Don't Listen To A Word You've Heard (Hidden Track)
- Lullabye
- Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay (Cover)
- Why
- I Wanna Know
- Blue Velvet Sea
- I Don't Know
- Hollow Men
- Gray
- Love
- Pink Sky
- Mother Land
- Gone
- Falling Face First
- Woman Put Your Weapon Down
- Swan in the Water
- My Heart is Yours
- Bitter
- No Heaven
- Heartless
- I Carried You
- Sorry
- Grandmas Hands
- Stand Up and Fight For Now
- Bury Me Alive
- How Low
- In Touch
- Seasons Change
- Simon Says
- Guns and Machetes
Videos
- Mr. Therapy Man (Holly
, 2007)
- Criminal (Holly
, 2007)
- After Tonight (Holly
, 2007)
- Be Back Soon (Holly
, 2008)
- Golden Train (Holly
, 2009)
Guest Contributions
- Bad Fog of Loneliness, from the album Borrowed Tunes II: A Tribute To Neil Young
(2007)
- At Long Last You by Joe Sbrocchi f/ Justin Nozuka - Fatlabs Studio
(2007) [8]
References
- http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/nozuka__justin/artist.jhtml
- http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/culture/story.html?id=729ef0a5-50c3-41bc-adb6-fc25fed2e1
- http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/05/051108_10.html
- Interview with FaceCulture Retrieved on April 1, 2008
- Official Biography from justinnozuka.co.uk Retrieved on July 15, 2007
- Interview with TeenSpot.com Retrieved on July 15, 2007
- Official lyrics page Retrieved on April 1, 2008
- At Long Last You - Fatlabs Portfolio