The life Nobuki Akiyama has been living since moving to the greater New York City area in March sounds like a dream come true for any young musician.

¡°We wake up at around 11 or 12 and start listening to music,¡± the lead singer and guitarist of the garage-rock-inspired outfit DYGL says. ¡°After practicing, we hang out at night to see some other bands¡¯ shows.¡±

Akiyama¡¯s decampment to New York isn¡¯t aspiring urbanite fantasy, though. He¡¯s splitting ¡°an Airbnb-type place¡± in Jersey City, New Jersey, with five people ¡ª the other members of DYGL (pronounced Day-Glo) along with those in the other project he fronts, Ykiki Beat ¡ª to learn as much as he can from scenes beyond the one in his native Tokyo.