Goth-Trad feature - Published in Japanzine, 2007

This feature appears in the July edition of Japanzine. The full, unedited version of the q&a I did with Goth-Trad is available on this blog, here.
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Mutation Man

The name may conjure up images of black-clad fashion disasters wearing too much eye-liner, but the truth about Goth-Trad is rather different. In the last few years, the bizarrely monikered producer and DJ – known to his mum as Takeaki Maruyama –has emerged as one of the hottest talents on Japan’s electronic music scene. Maruyama “rst discovered dance music at the tender age of 10, kickstarting a passionate affair that’s continued to this day. “I remember hearing Technotronic and loving it,” he reminisces. “I thought ‘Techno? What is Techno?’ The sound was amazing to me.” This early interest would soon grow into a deeper obsession as he discovered Kraftwerk and started listening to the UK charts. Living in Yamaguchi and then Hiroshima, though, satisfying this obsession wasn’t always easy and he had to resort to mail order at first.

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Popularity: 4%

written by Laurent \\ tags: goth trad, Japan, portfolio, writing

Tokyo travel feature - Published in One Week To Live, 2007 

Yabai

As the original megalopolis, Tokyo doesn’t disappoint. Whether it’s entertainment, culture or something else you’re after, the city and its incredible amalgamation of old and new, cramped and spacious, has something to offer. Walk anywhere in the many quarters of the city centre and you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by a wealth of attractions all vying for and grabbing your attention as you wonder to yourself ‘what the hell is this?’

Walking around the busier parts of town, like Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ikebukuro or Akihabara it’s easy to see why Tokyo has become such a centre of attraction for people worldwide in the last decade. After centuries of isolation, Japan has finally opened itself up in the last decade and there’s enough there to keep you interested for years on end.

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Popularity: 2%

written by Laurent

Japanese DJs feature - Published in Japanzine, 2007

This piece is the first work I’ve had published in Japan since moving here. It’s based on the work I’ve done and keep doing with various members of the Japanese DJ and tablist scene. Big up to James at Japanzine for giving this some space. Visit spinscience.org.uk for a series of features and interviews with various Japanese DJs and producers mentioned in this piece.

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Ichiban DJs

If you speak about a Japanese DJ culture, and especially a hip hop and turntablist tradition, then the one name that will always crop up is DJ Krush. A godfather to the Japanese hip hop and DJ scene for 20 years, both in and out of the country, the man has become synonymous with the scene for many people outside of Japan. However since the turn of the century a new breed and generation of DJs, turntablists and producers have come out of the shadows and showed that Krush and the other Japanese pioneers planted the seeds for a new revolution that is now in full growth.

Leading the pack of this new generation is Kentaro, the diminutive tablist powerhouse who won the DMC hands up in 2002 and has since built a worldwide reputation as one of the finest and most interesting club DJs of the last few years – finely blending his tablist roots with the kind of selection and appeal that hasn’t been seen since DJ Craze and the Scratch Perverts left DMC and turntable geekery behind for more popular, and better paid shores. On the eve of the release of his first solo album, Kentaro seems to have a bright future ahead if the last 5 years are anything to go by.

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Popularity: 2%

written by Laurent

DJs For Life review - Published in Scratch Magazine (US), 2006

This is a review of the DJs For Life conference and event which was held in Birmingham in December 2005, and at which I had the pleasure to be one of the panelists. This review was published in Scratch Magazine in 2006.

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DJs for Life – Birmingham UK, 9 & 10 December 2005

The UK’s biggest DJ culture conference and event was held at the Drum Arts Centre over 2 days in December last year with over 30 legends from the US and UK brought together by the Punch organisation to discuss and showcase everything from its origins to its current multiple facets, its past, present and most importantly, its future.

Seminars and master-classes over both days saw originators & pioneers from both sides of the Atlantic, including Jazzy Jay, Steve Dee, Theodore, Supreme, Swift & Pogo, exchange stories, ideas and insights while newer talent and current leaders, D-Styles, Rob Swift, Quest, Tigerstyle, Woody & 2tall, discussed new directions in scratching, equipment and production. On the last day both old and new school came together for a great discussion on the origins and development of the scratch artform, from Theodore’s accidental discovery to the music being made today by the likes of D-Styles and Rob Swift.

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Popularity: 3%

written by Laurent