WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
I was born in Tokyo, and moved to Matsumoto in the Nagano prefecture when I was 10 years old. That was where my father had a place in the country, and where I spent the days of my youth. Matsumoto is a very beautiful town with wonderful nature, clean air and nice food. But it wasn’t so exciting for me at a young age. For me it has always been about music and the night scene. So, I went back to Tokyo when I was 18 years old.
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD YOU LIVE IN?
I live a bit outside the center of Tokyo. It’s a quiet place. I can hear the sounds of birds and insects.
HOW DO YOUR DAYS USUALLY START?
Coffee and cigarettes.
DO YOU RUN ORGANIC MUSIC BY YOURSELF?
Yes, I’m doing it by myself, but my wife helps me a bit.
WHEN DID YOU START THE SITE? CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE ABOUT ITS PHILOSOPHY, AND WHAT LED TO STARTING IT?
I started Organic Music in 2008. I was working freelance as a graphic designer at the time, and lost almost all my work from the bad state of the economy in Japan. My wife said, “You should start a record store. It’s your new work.” So, I decided to do it to make use of my knowledge of music and vinyl. I just try to introduce good music. Even if it isn’t rare. No genre, no border.
ARE YOU MAINLY WORKING ON EDITS, OR ALSO PRODUCTION THESE DAYS?
I have a few releases as Discosession. But, I have no skill to play instruments. So, I should say my main work is to re-edit and remix. But, I have plans to release original tracks in the near future.
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT DISCOSESSION?
Discosession was a multifaceted unit by Jonny Nash, Dr. Nishimura, Zecky [Horijin] and myself. Nishimura and I began to do a party from 2004, and we met Jonny at the same time when he lived in Japan. Afterwards, Zecky joined us. Discossession was just the name of our party at first. Kenji Takimi, the DJ and founder of Crue-L records offered to make a 12-inch vinyl of our original music. Jonny and Zecky can play instruments, and I can make tracks. Kenji used Discosession for our artist name. But, we aren’t active anymore because Zecky passed away four years ago in a car accident.
PEOPLE SAY THAT YOU INTRODUCED DISCO TO JAPANESE DANCE FLOORS. DO YOU AGREE? WAS IT MUSIC THAT JAPANESE PEOPLE HADN’T HEARD YET?
It’s not so clear. I know many old Japanese DJs who introduced disco to Japanese dance floors. I just brought Italo disco and cosmic disco. So I think we were the first DJs to introduce this kind of music to the dance floor as a new movement.
Read more in Record Culture Magazine Issue 2 here: https://record-magazine.com/store/issue-2
