SonarSound Tokyo: The Japanese acts

Jealousguy

Masami Takahashi drew rave reviews for her closing set at last month's BRDG #5 electronica all-nighter at WWW – which was only the second time that the Sapporo native had played in Tokyo. Her debut album, Hydration, was released last year on Ihatov Remains.

What's your background in music? Were you doing any other projects before Jealousguy?
I started taking piano lessons when I was five, and I kept an interest in that until I was a university student. I was listening to jazz and mainstream Japanese and foreign music – nothing with any real connection to computer music – but then I heard YMO for the first time at university, and that had a massive effect on me. That's when I wanted to make my own music. I had a friend [Takashi Omomo] who was doing it, and he taught me a lot of the ropes. We were making tracks together in a unit called Personals, and I started producing my own stuff as Jealousguy during that period. It was thanks to my partner in Personals that I was able to start making computer music.

What were your musical inspirations when you started out?
It all started with YMO, and after that I was listening to a lot of Prefuse 73 and Four Tet. Akiba-san at Weird-Meddle Record in Sapporo gave me lots of recommendations, which is what got me into beat music. I was really influenced by [Prefuse 73 producer] Scott Herren and Four Tet. I still am now, of course: they're always finding new ways to surprise me.

I was really impressed by your performance at WWW last month. Were you expecting to get such a good response?
Before I went on, I hadn't got a clue how it was going to go down. When I was invited to appear at the Mo' Fun party in Nakano last October, it was this event for hip hop fans, with all these beatmakers in the audience, but this time I was on the main stage and they had [abstract electronica artists] SND, NHK, Aoki Takamasa, Keiichiro Shibuya and Dub-Russell! I felt like a bumpkin in comparison, and I wasn't even playing the same kind of music, so I worried that it'd tank. Since I was going on last, too, I thought I'd end up playing to an empty room, but there was loads of applause – it was amazing.

Have you always preferred to play your beats live?
I was doing that when I started making tracks eight years ago, but I soon stopped and did shows using a laptop instead. However, I started to feel it was important to have a live feeling – plus I enjoyed doing it – so I ordered an MPD18 controller last April and started playing with that. I've been doing it properly for a year now. After I started doing the beats live, I began to get a much better response at my gigs… and I enjoy it, too. I think it's important to do things in realtime.

You were the only female artist on the lineup at WWW that night. Does that happen a lot?
Actually, there was a female artist playing in the lounge that night, too. I only caught a little bit of her set, but it sounded cool – really subtle. There are a lot of parties and events where I'm the only woman performing and otherwise it's all guys. I've been happy to see the number of female DJs increase recently, and there are quite a few female artists at SonarSound, too. Why aren't there more in the scene? I guess maybe there are more boys who listen to hip hop and breakbeats. A lot of my fans are guys, too.

You only played your first show in Tokyo last October, and you're already appearing at a big event like SonarSound. Isn't that pretty fast?
Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. I went to Sonar when they held it in Ebisu in 2004, so I'm really looking forward to this one. I've been gigging in Sapporo for about seven years now, so I've actually got plenty of experience, but to get such a big gig after only playing in Tokyo twice is pretty amazing.

Do you think there's something distinctively Japanese about your music?
I can't really say since I'm Japanese myself, but I guess that's how people overseas feel. There's so much music and everything's so oversaturated now that originality is really important, so if I got a chance to perform overseas I'd be happy to play up the fact that I'm Japanese. (Laughs)

How does the Sapporo scene compare to Tokyo?
There probably aren't so many beatmakers compared to Tokyo – it's got more of a reputation for house, techno and DJs. Kuniyuki, Mic Jack Production and Tha Blue Herb have been pulling the scene along for years; I think there are a lot of people who started making music because of them.

Who are the other Sapporo artists to watch out for?
There's a live dance band called Qodibop who are way ahead of the pack. They played at SonarSound Tokyo in 2004, actually. One beatmaker I really respect is Rebel Musical: we've played together at events, and he's an essential part of the Sapporo music scene. He's played live and DJed in Tokyo a lot, too.

Who would you recommend watching at SonarSound Tokyo?
All of them! I can't decide!

What's with all the butterfly pictures on your blog?
I like insects, particularly butterflies: they make you feel aware of the universe. The moment when the caterpillar turns into a pupa, and when the butterfly emerges, is really inspiring. Animals and plants teach us a lot about the mysteries and preciousness of life. I wouldn't say I know enough to be a butterfly otaku, but if I have time I'd like to finish reading [19th century insect textbook] Souvenirs Entomologiques.

Jealousguy plays at SonarSound Tokyo 2012, Studio Coast, April 21

jealo.blogspot.jp | soundcloud.com/takahashisantojealousguy
Twitter: @jealousguy419

Sauce81

Jealousguy

Broken Haze

Daisuke Tanabe

Bun/Fumitake Tamura