I will never get tired of this song, it's unique in that it's really soft and melodic and then heavy at the same time.

This 50+ geezer witness your oaa performance in Pomona, California, a couple years ago at the Glass House. My daughter and I were blown away. It was a mesmerizing ocean of sound that I will never forget. I had followed the band for maybe 2 years prior. I've seen thousands of bands perform in and around Hollywood over the last 35 years, and I would have to say, that night is my favorite memory. Cheers to you and the band. I'm still in awe over your vocals. We'll done and thanks.

Bro the record is incredible, you should be eternally proud of it and in particular Hansha. Saw you in Sydney, smashed it! I can appreciate that it would be a super difficult song to nail every time, it is defs pushing the vocal difficulty.

Dude, what... literally, my favorite song off of the album (Hikari) was "Hansha", that was the song that stuck out to me the most amongst the others on the tracklist. I understand, you just felt really uncomfortable and nervous about performing it, but you were fucking amazing. Also, "Escapist" is perfect, too. Those two were actual gold to me and have inspired me to continue writing lyrics for more "out there" kind of things. But this is incredible, I finally get to tell you, I adored your performances. I wish you were on other albums or songs so I could get those as well (buy them from itunes).

Hansha is what made me research OAA and made me love yalls music!!! Thank you from the states

I cannot tell you how many times I've listened to this song and just was mesmerized by your music. Every creature hates but loves their creations and are very judgemental towards them no matter what.

Lemme bend your ear. In 2018, I saw Oceans play at a tiny venue in the industrial sector of Salt Lake City. I was having an absolutely brutal time, my ex was hitting me, my sister had just died, was doing a lot of cocaine. But I’d never heard music like this at a venue like that. Never at a place with a nearly flush stage, never in a venue where merch crews and roadies nearly outnumbered the audience members. I still remember how heavy that pit was. Really changed my perspective on live music and threw me feet first into the modern metal scene on a whim. I’m super glad I walked into that show and paid the $10 door fee after walking away from my ex after a big blow up. Thanks for that, dude.

Hikari is easily one of my Top 10 favorite albums

I love this song so much. It sold me on hikari and now the whole album is a daily play for me. Thank you.

Saw Oceans and got to meet you in Fresno, CA at a small venue called strummers. You killed it in my opinion and carried with confidence.

I'm glad you made this video because I've tried countless times to sing along to Hansha, but my voice can hardly keep up even when it's in its best condition. I thought honestly that it was easy for you to sing like that and I felt like I was not doing very well as a singer because I couldn't hit the high notes consistently. Obviously that's not the case and to be fair some of it was just insecurity in my own voice that already existed. But I needed this kind of vulnerability because it's so common for vocalists to do this sort of thing and I find it doesn't get talked about very often. Thanks bro. 🤜

When hikari came out i was nervous about it bcus i came up on songs like clocks, and to catch a flame so i was well used to james, but then hansha comes on and blew me away!! That gave me the full confidence in you as frontman.. i havent seen oceans live with you in it but im sure it was still good

This song got me hooked to the band. I did a drum cover of the song and probably have played it countless times already. I can only imagine how difficult it would be on tour, thabk you for the music is all I can say. Your music has definitely influenced me and my playing 😊

Dude it's a big honor for me to get to know you better watching these videos. You were the man who made me fell in love with Oceans Ate Alaska. Moreover Hansha will always be my favorite OAA's song

Dude I listen to Hansha before I work all of my search warrants. Fuck yeah, dude. Shit is intense and full off feeling.

Would you ever be in a band again?

I had been listening to OAA from around the time of Taming Lions, but with the release of Hikari I was absolutely enraptured, Hansha being one of my favorites from the album, but the entire thing front to back is absolute perfection. I even got a tattoo with the kanji and the lyrics to the title track. When anyone asks what my favorite album is I say Hikari, and I always tell people to check out Hansha bc its pretty friendly to new listeners but also goes extremely hard. Its a perfect dichotomy with the beauty and etherealness of the ambience and then this crushing drum and guitar layer. And your voice is perfect for this kind of vibe. I had always appreciated James prior but I think this album couldn't be done without you. Despite the difficulty of performing it live, when I saw it, it was phenomenal. TL;DR: I like this song a lot and appreciate your vocals, it's my favorite album ever. Thanks for bringing such beauty, soul, and carnage to my favorite album.

I'm glad to find you again 🤗

Hansha is my favorite song by Oceans Ate Alaska. It just speaks deep into soul. I’m not sure why, but it has been one of my favorite songs in general since I heard it

Such a great song dude, and definitely can relate. The voice is such a sensitive instrument, and environmental factors are such an issue. Singing at the top of your range is always risky business. In winter I really struggle a lot more to access those high notes, can't imagine how rough it is on tour as well. Nonetheless, great vocals man - such an awesome song!

Hey man, I saw you live in 2018, and I remember you completely demolish the set, both cleans and distorted were amazing. It was in Italy so I guess you were half way the tour. A good trick for writing vocals in general, is that you should write stuff that is consistently easy to sing for you. If that is not possible in the scheme of things, you could rely on a dedicated warm up and a "smart" setlist, meaning a setlist that would make your singing duty easier. Example, put the most vocally demanding songs at the beginning when the fuel is still in the tank. TY for your work with OAA, I think Hikari is a very cool album. I'm also sorry for the events that occurred between you and the band, I'm not even near your level of notoriety, but had to go through similar stuff a way back. Breaking bonds sucks and rekindling them is not always possible and a lot of work, but I hope that it helped you grow as a person like it did for me.

Not boring at all! It's nice to hear your thoughts on the behind-the-scenes of it all too. As for questions, I can think of a few. Feel free to answer or not if you don't want to touch on certain things! 1. I'm pretty sure James wrote the lyrics for OAA songs while he was in the band from off-hand comments he made? Or at least a good portion of them. Who was behind the writing in Hikari? 2. Even if it's not fully joining a band since you seem very happy as a tattoo artist (big respect btw!), would you ever consider doing vocals as a feature if ever given the opportunity? (Maybe even with Livealie? :) It'd be a dream...) 3. Are you on good terms with (former) members of OAA? I know you and James mentioned each other here or there, are you two still friends or have kept in contact? EDIT: One more! Sorry for the bombardment... 4. Hikari was heavily inspired by Japanese culture, how did that direction for the album come to be? Is that something you have a personal interest in as well? Thanks!! Have a good day, man🙏

one thing I'll have to say about this song is... when performing it live, you'll certainly have to place it at a specific placement in the set to be more consistent at performing it. probably as the 3rd song so you're a little warmed up already. another thing is honestly... just being better at your technique when singing in those higher registers. it's easier said than done of course. but with a lot more breath support. holding back some of that air flow. keeping a really tight abodmen, pushing just enough with your diaphram. really letting the lower body do all the work for you and keeping the tension relaxed in your throat and keeping that very thin whiny cat like voice. you can easily perform this song. on stage, jumping around. being active, in front of a crowd when adrenaline is a rush and maybe you're tired after a few songs or you have the mental battle of "Oh shit... the next song is hansha... it's hard to perform" thus making you overthink it and perform even worse. it's a whole other ball game live. but With enough concious pressure on yourself to improve and the time needed to develop more in a live setting It'd at some point possibly become a walk in the park for you once the muscle memory is all down I'm not saying it's easy... It'd take a LOT of growth to get to that stage. it's a constant journey to grow as a vocalist. and though not every day will be your best. you can at least make the threshold to perform well much higher for yourself. 2 steps forward. one step back. (i've commented this before even really getting into the video. but yeah. keep at it and don't stop with the vocal stuff. I did a vocal cover of this song in 2021 which is on my youtube channel when I sorta got back into singing and I might just do a fresh take on it now that I've improved far more since then. if I do I'll be sure to tag you in it)

Id love to hear more about the earlier days of OAA and how some songs came to be.

dont think ive ever subscribed faster. best album I've ever heard. Period. When i first head oaa i thought i was listening to 3 vocalists lol. then watched a video and was like O.O it's one bloke!??! WTF!!!! So thankful i got to see you do it live. was the best shit ever. 🐐🖤🙏

Enjoyed this bro, great insight and super understandable that this would be very hard to pull off live (Especially night after night, sheesh) it's too bad the key couldn't be changed live. That being said, I think you did the best with what the cards you were dealt in that situation, so big props 🔥

Unironically one of the best metcalcore songs ever.

I remember under a lot of videos of Hansha live performances people in the comments were judging you very harshly which I thought was unfair. I mean, go ahead guys, try and hit all those C#5's abd B4's and stuff after full on screaming and singing the entire setlist for at least an hour.. and most of the live recordings I saw you very actually pretty spot on, but the one where you were completely tired was professionaly shot and had the most views lol

I’d very much like to hear about the story and thought process behind Escapist that’s def my fav from you and the band

Hansha is an absolute banger!

I'm happy to know that you even that Hansha is a beautiful song, you're not as well happy that the vocals aren't 100% organic. However you definitely tried to perform it live. Something I would've recommend, maybe should done Hansha at the beginning of the shows. Before performing the heavy bangers and avoiding exhausting you vocals. Happy to see you being consistent on social media and back doing covers. Much love man🙌🏼♥️

Miss you lad!!! 🤟🏻

When OAA anounce Hansha i was pretty concern about how it could be the album withouth James, cause i love James vocals. In the first time i remember share thoughts with a good friend of my mine when Hansha was released as a single. And dude, that was mindblowing for us, listen this extreme and raspy screams but at the same time the way that your clean singing too it was like a refresh for the band, and to be more deep into my opinion about the album, it was a necessary evolution to the band itself. When i started to watch live shows with you taking the responsability of a frontman, i get really concern about your vocal health, you sound tired after singing Hansha, and of course, when you guys played at the resurection Fest 2K18 was like the top of the iceberg (i mean, to be fair, after the explanation you gave, to me make a lot of sense why it goes how it goes). Besides that, i think you have and incredible potential, Hansha as an album it´s pretty important to the metal scene in my opinion and i don´t have any doubt that if you start to considering an offer for a band or any music project, you could make a really incredible job. Cheers Jake

Bro still got it. Hikari is tirelessly awesome.

Bro, I hate how cliche saying that I really appreciate you guys is but I honestly love this album. Your singing is great. I know your time was meant to be temporary but I’m still wishing you could do more with the band and sad at the thought of you not returning. Hope all is well!

this song was the one that originally got me into oaa back in 2017

Your challenge in OAA is a rhythmic high note. from screaming and growling I think it's good, but the challenge is a must in OAA. I think songs like covert, hansha, escapist which have high rhythmic notes are heavy, but is the song that is the identity of Hikari's album in my opinion

This was my favorite album from this band dog

I love oaa a ton, but if I’m honest, as a drummer, I listen to their music mostly for Chris’s playing, except for Hikari. Hikari as a whole is just oaa’s sound perfected, in my opinion. I miss your vocals in their music man.

Hansha got me into OAA after I saw Chris Turner do a drum breakdown for drumeo!

I can definitely see why vocally this song is hard to perform especially as part of a set. By far will always be one of my favorite OAA songs though

big love bro! Glen

Come back to OAA with the other vocalist please! You would do a great duo and help each other :)

hey jake! i just wanted to ask what your favorite artists are atm, looking to expand my taste a little bit😂

This is gonna be a dumb question, but do you feel the same about the lyrics after this many years? Meaning still holds true yeah?

That whole album is amazing! I think most people, and especially other people that play music in the crowd aren't that judgmental when they can tell a vocalist isn't having a 100% kind of day. That's me anyways. I'm just excited to see the band performing.

Hello Jake, I don't have anything to say, I'm just leaving a comment to show I watched the whole video💪💪love u homie

Honestly Idgaf what anyone says, As impressive as the instrumentals of Lost Isles and how it was my first experience with the band getting my mind fucking BLOWN. That being said Idgaf what anyone says Hikari was THE OAA album, no ifs and or buts and its because of one reason, your vocals. I blasted that album so loud shit was falling off the shelves and I probably did additional damage to my already shit hearing just playing that album as loud as I could in the car. I was actually convinced that with you fronting the band you could have been the biggest act in modern metal. It actually pissed me off when people were getting on you about your live performances I felt like saying "motherfucker you get up there and try singing Hansha 25 days into a tour after already performing a full set" People have literally NO IDEA how demanding it is to tour and maintain those 11/10 performances every night, you never got the credit you TRULY deserved for making Hikari one of the best metal albums put out in a LONG fucking time. I just wanted you to know there are people out there who truly appreciate what you brought to the table and I was actually heartbroken that we weren't going to get a follow up album with you. Regardless, I hope you are happy and in a good place knowing that you made a lot of positive impact as the soundtrack to many peoples lives such as myself.

Ever sing a song with James Harrison?

my question is: how r u doing man? hope u doing well, much love

hey jake ! i came across your channel i am trying to contact you to see if you do Session vocals?

Random home page plug right chere!

Screaming ❤

make more videos like this with the songs form Hikari plsss

MAKE SOME MORE MUSIC BROTHER

❤️

bro this song is so fucking challenging to sing. its at the tip of my range and i just sound ridiculous

I enjoyed it.

Jake?

I have a question, how many baby wipe showers do you guys take on the road?

Hello bro, put subtitles in Spanish for the Latin American community.

Yea I could see this song being a nightmare to sing live. Only thing ya could really do is try to mellow it out.

I'll bite... why DO you wear two nose rings? 👀

Why dont you looked for a vocal coach to help you reach that highs notes in a better way ??

Go back to Oceans bro, james leave again xd

i was hoping they were gonna bring you back after james got kicked out (again). Hansha album was for me my favorite OAN album.