One of my preferred emerging Japanese artists at play here in Tokyo over the past couple of years has been the somewhat enigmatic Tsuyoshi K (he doesn't tell anyone what the 'K' stands for), who started out making fringe, left-of-centre electro-pop stuff as Gadget Cassette but more recently changed name to Cut Bit Motorz and at the same time began pushing through more tech-house related sounds.
Funnily enough, even though we live in the same city and constantly email each other as well as remix each other's tunes, we haven't ever actually met.
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But that didn't stop us releasing a digital slab of mixes of Tsuyoshi's latest tune 'Dry Fruit', in which we got on board some of his more experienced Japanese peers - DJ Wada (Co-Fusion), Toshiyuki Yasuda (Robo*Brazileira), Takashi Watanabe (DJ Warp) and Tomi Chair - to do the rejigs, making it an entirely Japanese putsch that criss-crosses eclectic, tech, electro, house and (dare I say it) a marginally more progressive stance.
Truth is I really dig working with this elusive digital mate and Tsuyoshi is breaking ground with his own work (he recently remixed the Dead Agenda track 'Chaos Theory' as well as Tomi Chair's 'Stroboscope') and you'll probably brush up against the guy more often in future outside of this forum.
Anyway, I ran some concepts by him to get a wee bit more background fodder as follows; luckily he didn't object to the more obscure, self-indulgent questions:
BACKGROUND
"I started making music from age 13. My first synthesizer was a Yamaha SY-55, and after that I worked with some bands. These days my favourite music-making tool is Protools - I've been using it for two years, and it surprised me because I can work so efficiently with it. If only I'd been able to use it at an earlier stage!"
"TM Network, Soft Ballet, CMJK, M-age, and wonderful techno music that a lot of people don't know, or I don't know the names of. I like Ken Ishii, if it's limited to Japanese electronic musicians.
"As for YMO, Susumu Hirasawa and Isao Tomita, I've really been influenced by them since we're from different generations."
JAPANESE SCENE
"It's subdivided very much and is healthy."
"I like King Ghidorah, though I'm not well-informed about Godzilla. I think I like Ghidorah because his name and appearance are so striking."
CUT BIT MOTORZ
"Cut Bit Motorz was started from 2009. I was making tunes for DJ friends."
DRY FRUIT/GOLDEN GARDEN REMIXES
"Wonderful! I've been most surprised about these people actually choosing to do the remixes in the first place, and it's exciting. I want you to listen to them by all means."
CURRENT MUSICIANS
"I don't have any favourite musician right now - however, I do like rock better than techno."
"I like sake! And the best sake is Koshino Kanbai, made in Niigata."
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
"I want to work as regularly as possible - and I want to play parties!"
BEST ANIME MOVIE
"Definitely I'd say 天空の城ラピュタ [Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), by Hayao Miyzaki] - this movie has a wonderful outlook on the world and the story is awesome. Then there's the musical score which is sublime."
DIGITAL vs VINYL
"As for the vinyl, I don't want it to disappear, though I can't play it myself... Regarding digital, there are great outlets online through which to dig up music from all over the world, and then share it about, which is fantastic."
MUSIC TO MAKE LOVE TO
"I like music with sorrow - and probably rock rather than techno."
UPCOMING
"I'm contributing to Tomi Chair's release 'Colourful', which will be out on 23 August through Bellarine Records."

