Here’s one we’re especially happy to share. Longtime Fukuoka resident Jean-Pierre “JP” Villeneuve is launching his new product, Seratone Karaoke, on Kickstarter on August 18.
JP has been a friend of mine and of Fukuoka Now for years, and he is a familiar face in Fukuoka’s international community. He also always seems to have something interesting going on, often involving technology, music, cars, or some combination of the three. This time, it happens to be karaoke.
JP is the founder and CEO of New Town, and Seratone is the company’s first product, a compact audio device designed to turn speakers you already own into a proper karaoke system.
Rather than buying a dedicated karaoke machine, you connect Seratone to a home stereo, powered speakers, soundbar or PA system, plug in a microphone, and use whatever music source you prefer, including YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, KaraFun, a laptop or a phone.
The idea is deliberately simple from the user’s point of view, although there is quite a bit happening behind the scenes. Seratone handles microphone mixing, vocal effects and other audio processing, while New Town has also developed patent-pending technology intended to protect ordinary home speakers from the feedback and overload that can occur when microphones are used with equipment that was not designed for karaoke.
Knowing JP, the combination of music and technology makes perfect sense. He grew up in Ontario, Canada, has been building computers since he was a kid, and has spent much of his career working in technology and startups. Japan, however, was never part of some carefully mapped-out career plan.
JP originally came here expecting to stay for a few months. Thirteen years later, he is still here, now living with his family in Itoshima. Along the way he became part of Fukuoka’s tech scene, including several years with Nulab as the locally founded software company grew internationally.
Music has always been there alongside the technology.
“I love music. I love consuming music,” JP told me when we sat down for a longer interview earlier this year. “It’s one of the most important forms of stress relief in my life.”
The idea for Seratone grew out of a fairly ordinary frustration. Despite living in the country that gave the world karaoke, JP could not find a good way to recreate the experience he wanted at home without either buying a dedicated karaoke system or assembling a complicated collection of professional audio equipment.
His answer was to build something himself, and that idea eventually became New Town. After plenty of development, testing and the inevitable startup ups and downs, Seratone is now ready to meet the public.
The Kickstarter campaign goes live at 11:00 p.m. JST on August 18. Early backers will be offered Seratone for US$299, compared with a planned retail price of US$499, including a microphone and cables.
There is another reason this launch caught our attention. JP is part of a growing group of international residents who have built not only careers but lives in Fukuoka, and who are now creating companies, projects and products here with ambitions that extend far beyond Kyushu.
In JP’s case, the company is structured internationally and the market is global, but much of the thinking, experimenting and building behind Seratone has taken place from his home base in Itoshima. For those of us who have watched his journey here over the years, that makes this launch particularly satisfying to see.
When I interviewed him, one comment stayed with me. “Fukuoka is a place where I can build and still live my life.” After watching JP work toward this launch, I think that sums things up rather well.
So, congratulations to JP and the New Town team. The interesting part starts now, as an idea developed here in Fukuoka heads out into the world to see whether karaoke fans elsewhere feel the same way he does.
We’ll also have more of JP’s story in the future, including a longer conversation about his life in Fukuoka and the road that brought him to this point.
Seratone Karaoke Kickstarter
Launch: Aug. 18, 11:00 p.m. JST
Founder & CEO: Jean-Pierre “JP” Villeneuve
Company: New Town Technologies
Instagram:@seratoneaudio
Text: Nick Szasz / Fukuoka Now