Japan
von Wooseys
Langsam zählt auch Japan als Mitglied des United Nations of Techno.
Innovative Künstler wie Ken Ishii, Yokota und Kudo
sind die ersten einer neuen Generation von Musikern,
die ihre Heimatstechnologie (909, 303 etc.) zur Zen-Heimatsmusik entwickeln.
Die Szene in Japan ist deutlich geteilt.
Die Commerz-Overground Scene ist riesig,
90% der Clubs spielen 2 Unlimited, Culture Beat, Capella, La Style, Marusha und japanischen Pop-Techno.
Das Publikum zahlt 70 DM Eintritt und trägt Anzug (Männer) und zu viel goldenen Schmuck (Frauen).
Sowas verstehen die unter dem Begriff "Techno".
Die Underground Szene ist dagegen sehr klein.
Club Yellow und Liquid Room in Tokyo, und Rockets und Qoo in Osaka sind unter den wenigen,
wo man neue Musik hören kann.
Durch die geleistete Pionierarbeit von Tobi Izui gibts jetzt
öfters europäische DJs und Acts in Japan.
Die letzten sechs Monate waren
Andy Weatherhall, Dr. Motte, Dag, Sven Väth, Sun Electric, Darren Emerson,
Resistance D, Laurent Garnier u.a. auf Tournee durch das Underground Network des Landes.
Ein DJ hat mit allen gespielt:
Fumiya Tanaka ist der Held der wahren Techno Szene.
22 Jahre alt, führt er sein eigenes Label, Torema Records,
legt regelmäßig in Tokyo, Kyoto und in seinem eigenem Club in Osaka auf.
Und in der Zeit zwischen den Tours mit ausländischen DJs ist er selber Musiker.
- Wooseys:
- Let's talk first about your DJ'ing. How did you come to be a DJ.
- Fumiya Tanaka:
- When I was a teenager I was into hardcore punk and I played in a band. I was also going to clubs alot, though, and buying always more and more records. As my musical taste was changing it became natural for me to became natural for me to become a DJ. This happened when I was 18 years old.
- Wooseys:
- The scene here is very clearly split between underground & overgorund, how does this effect to you?
- Fumiya Tanaka:
- Not at all. The difference betweeen the two scenes is so large, both artistically and socially, that no-one even thinks about it. The big commercial companies sometimes offer money to someone with a famous name, but they do not care about the music so no one takes it seriously.
- Wooseys:
- How much of an influence is the europaen scene and american on japan.
- Fumiya Tanaka:
- The similar point is that we all love music, the difference is the style in which you express that. I like very much europaen and american music, but the important thing for me is to learn from it. I want to develop an individual japanese style. It is not enough simply to import ideas, we must create a japanese style to give back to the world. My favourite DJ is Andy Weatherall, he has a very individual music style and life style, and that appaels to me.
- Wooseys:
- Your label is one of very few left in Japan who still produce vinyl.
- Fumiya Tanaka:
- Yes, I started a label 2 years ago with a partner, who recently quit. Japan is now totally a cd culture, so I thought it is important to protect the DJ culture by producing vinyl. The label is Torena Records and we have released records form various new japanese techno artists.
- Wooseys:
- And how do you see the future?
- Fumiya Tanaka:
- Things are beginning to happen now. The scene here is developing well. I amlooking forward
to playing in Europe next month and creating more interchange
of ideas between japan and the world…
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