Shin Tasaki (Spanova) and John Hughes (Slicker) team up to bring us the funky, up-tempo, soulful music of Some Water and Sun. With cut-up jazzy horns, wahwah, rapid-fire vocals, and frenetic beats, the duo prove they are capable of great things in the studio. Hughes resides in Chicago and runs the Heftyrecord label, while Tasaki lives in Tokyo.
John Hughes (aka Slicker) and Shin Tasaki (aka Spanova were introduced to each other based on a friendly promotional package of Spanova's wonderful music sent from Shin to Hefty. The package contained Spanova's triumphant 2003 release, Fictional World Theory. Shin, a long time fan of Hefty landmark releases like Savath+Savalas, Scarlett Diva Soundtrack, Slicker, and Telefon Tel Aviv thought it was the perfect fit for the Hefty family. Hughes was impressed with what he heard and made sure to stay in close contact with Spanova. Eventually, Hughes asked them to do a remix for the first single (Knock Me Down Girl) from his 2004 album, We All Have A Plan. The remix is a highlight in the Hefty catalog and Hughes was compelled to begin discussions with Spanova about signing them to the label for future releases. Shin Tasaki lives in Japan on the quiet outskirts of Tokyo. There, he has a home/studio setup, called Daily Planet, with his older brother. Together, they create soulful, captivating music under the name Spanova, which has been quite successful in Japan, maintaining a strong musical buzz since 1997. Shin has toured Japan several times with his band Spanova and recently DJ'd in Chicago playing alongside Slicker and Telefon Tel Aviv, which was Shin's first US performance. Tentative plans are now set for Hefty to release Spanova's music within the US and EU in the near future. Currently, John Hughes resides in Chicago and heads the bustling label, Hefty Records. Hughes recording aliases consist of Slicker and his new project Some Water and Sun. He has played live and DJ'd alongside other well known acts like Sound Tribe Sector 9, Plaid, Prefuse 73, Nobody, Telefon Tel Aviv, L'altra and others.