‘A one-man army mutating the UK hardcore continuum in Japan’, says Kode 9. A pretty accurate description of what Takeaki Maruyama aka Goth Trad has been up since he started making music about 10 years ago. These mutations are nowhere near more apparent than in his own creation: ‘Mad Rave’, an amalgamation of the musical styles and genres that have influenced him since he first discovered electronic music. From old techno, house and jungle to more recent influences like crunk, grime, drum n bass and 2step, ‘Mad Rave’ is the logical culmination of over 20 years of collecting and listening to records and producing music.
While ‘Mad Rave’ has started to resonate with scenes worldwide in the last few years, from dubstep to drum n bass, breakcore to dub, it’s been a long journey already for Goth Trad. Since first deciding to dabble in production back in the late 90s he’s released 3 albums, appeared on many compilations and remix projects, and released another 3 albums as part of Rebel Familia, a collaboration project with legendary reggae bassist Takeshi ‘Heavy’ Akimoto.
He’s also toured Europe 3 times and has been playing regularly up and down Japan, solo and with Rebel Familia, for the best part of the last 5 years. His live work has only intensified since the release of his last album, and you’ll as easily find him playing at a drum n bass rave as you will a breakcore event, a reggae gig or his own monthly dubstep and grime night in Tokyo, ‘Back To Chill’. The diverse appeal of his music and live shows is reflected in the range of artists he’s played alongside in the last few years: The Mars Volta, Don Letts, The Bug, DJ Krush, Limewax, Toshinori Kondo, Mike Ladd, Bong Ra, Buck 65, Zinc, Doc Scott, Skream, Mala and Iration Steppas.
And so with the increasing interest in his work outside of Japan, following his debut releases on UK labels earlier on this year (including a release on Deep Medi Musik), it’s about time someone got some words from the man down on virtual paper.
What follows is an unedited transcript of an interview I did with Takeaki in May 2007. This interview will appear as a feature in Japanzine (Japan) and Serie B Magazine (Spain) in the summer of 2007. Goth Trad is likely to become a name you’ll hear a lot more of in coming months – he has his first major European tour coming up in September, where he’ll be playing at DMZ in London, a Japan tour with Kode 9 and The Bug, more releases on UK labels and interests for collaborations and releases with artists like Distance amongst many others. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. As things continue to get bigger and better for the man, it seems the summer of 2007 could well prove to be the summer of Mad Rave.
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