Musician Tomo Nakayama Shares His Favorite Seattle Spots
Image: Karagh Byrne
It would be hard to find a more “Seattle” musician than Tomo Nakayama. More famous? Sure. More likely to rep the city by wearing a Sonics throwback on TV? Probably. But certainly not more entrenched in the city’s arts scene, or more attuned to the reality of daily life here. Nakayama, who grew up in Bellevue and attended the University of Washington, was the front man for two bands, Asahi and Grand Hallway, before embarking on a solo career. His music is melodic, empathetic, and thoughtful. Recently, he recorded a cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s “Our House” for the opening credits of a Netflix show called House of Ninjas. It’s a testament to his voice, and arrangements, that he makes the song his own. In September, he reunites with Grand Hallway for the first time in a decade, to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Tractor Tavern—one of his many favorite venues in town to play. That’s a theme with Nakayama. He has a lot of favorites.
Venues to Play
The Tractor for sure is one of my home bases. It’s the probably the venue where I’ve played the most shows in my life. And I also love playing at the Rabbit Box. It’s a really intimate listening room. They’ve done a really beautiful job, kind of building it out, and it’s in Pike Place Market. It’s really cool that there’s a venue down there now. I’ve never really had a reason to hang out at Pike Place Market at night. And the Triple Door is really beautiful. I guess I like the dinner theater vibe. I like the Royal Room in Columbia City. They have pianos onstage that you can play, which is always a treat. I just did a show at Town Hall, which I was artist in residence at in back in 2013, and I always love playing there as well. I like the fact that they make it really accessible for everyone in the community. A lot of their shows are free for people under 21.
Venues to Visit
The Clock-Out is always cool for finding new local music. Sunset. The Neptune is a really beautiful room. I used to work there for a long time when it was a movie theater, so I always get real nostalgic when I go there—and it sounds real good in there. The Moore is nice. I love going to neighborhood bars like Tim’s Tavern in West Seattle. I’m always looking for new bands, new music, and I love that those smaller venues continue to exist. It’s getting harder to find in other cities, but Seattle has done a pretty great job of supporting our local venues.
Sports Team
It’s gotta be the Mariners. I grew up watching baseball. As of now, they’ve been doing really well, but I’ve been a fan long enough to keep my expectations in check. (Editor's note: at the time of this interview they were indeed doing really well.) But I love going to the games. I like the ritual aspect of it, going to the ballpark.
Image: Karagh Byrne
Restaurant
I love going to Maneki in the International District. That’s the oldest Japanese restaurant in Seattle. There’s a place called Issian in Wallingford that’s a really great Japanese, izakaya-style restaurant. You know what I tried recently is the Boat in the ID, the Vietnamese chicken place. They only do one dish, but they do it amazingly. I really like that they only do one thing and they do it well.
Tourist Attraction
I did a staycation recently and just hung out at the Pike Place
Market, which you never do when you actually live here because you don’t think to go down there unless you live downtown. But there’s so many things to do and it’s just a really cool vibe. I love walking around in that area.
Record Store
Easy Street and Sonic Boom are must-dos when you’re in Seattle. There’s a new record store called Royal Records in Queen Anne that’s really cool. And Time Tunnel Records—that’s in Burien. I like that place. They have a lot of really interesting vinyl. And Porchlight Records. It’s also a coffee shop. The owner, Zach, runs a label, and they’ve put out all of my Grand Hallway and solo albums and stuff. That’s always been my home base. And they have a really good collection of records and good coffee.
Image: Karagh Byrne
Park
Seward Park is always a favorite. A really underrated one is Jack Block Park in Alki Beach. It’s sort of hidden away, but it’s got a really beautiful view of downtown. Schmitz Preserve in West Seattle is really gorgeous, and Carkeek Park—that walk through the woods. Oh, and the dog park at Golden Gardens. I like taking my corgi there.
Seattle Musician
That’s an impossible question. I guess Nirvana is always going to be my number one. It’s kind of cliche, I guess, but kind of for a good reason. The reason I picked up a guitar was Nirvana’s Unplugged. Whenever I play a venue in a town that they’ve played it feels like leveling up, or like a huge life accomplishment.
Place to Buy Groceries
I like going to all the little Asian marts in White Center. K for W is my jam. The lady there is super nice, and she’s always singing karaoke while she’s working. Maruta in Georgetown is a tiny little deli, but they have a really good selection of Japanese groceries, too. Uwajimaya, of course.
Day Trip
I love going to Bow-Edison. It’s a cool little artsy town in the middle of the Skagit Valley, only an hour and a half north of Seattle. There’s really good bird-watching and really good food up there, and it’s just really beautiful.
Neighborhood
I’m based in West Seattle, so that’s my favorite right now. I like the slower pace of life out here. It’s more my vibe. But I spent most of my 20s in the U District, so that always holds a place in my heart as well. At heart I’m still kind of an Ave rat.
