Despite dubstep’s rise in popularity and consequent rise in numbers, from artists to DJs and labels, there is still only a core number of labels which are of real, regular interest to me. DMZ and Hyperdub are two, and Paul Rose’s Hotflush is another. And even though Hotflush has been one of the busiest labels release-wise, it still regularly comes up with surprisingly refreshing music.

And so, it was a pleasure to be able to catch up with Paul Rose, aka Scuba, recently after I’d first interviewed him (briefly) for my dubstep piece in Serie B back in 2006. And it was Serie B who asked for a round two, this time concentrating on the man and his forthcoming album. The article appears in Serie B issue 21, out now and available in Spain, South America and most good European importers.

For the non-Spanish speaking massive though, the good people at Spannered are running a slightly longer version of the piece, in English. You can check it here.

I’ll be posting up the Serie B version to the portfolio archive later. In the meantime get reading if you haven’t and don’t forget to check Scuba’s new album and the excellent new series of free mixes from Hotflush.

Popularity: 4%

written by Laurent \\ tags: dubstep, Music, portfolio, writing

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

‘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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Popularity: 4%

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

I’ve just had my second travel related piece published - this time it’s in the excellent weekly free magazine/paper One Week To Live which you can get in London (and in some other big UK towns too). Last I remember you can grab it in most places, shops, clubs, etc… The piece is called Yabai! (Japanese slang for bad, as in meaning good) and is about Tokyo: the cool, the eccentric and the funny. It’s in the fashion section, which is kinda funny seeing as fashion and me don’t really get on that well :lol: .

Anyways if you’re in London check it - oneweektolive.com for more info on where to find it. Enjoy! I’ll post up a pdf of it later on this week.

Popularity: 2%

written by Laurent \\ tags: portfolio, writing

Finally updated the portfolio part of the site with a selection of my writing from the last four or so years. After all this isn’t just a nombrilistic blog, it’s also an online portfolio of my writing, so it’s even more about me then a blog would be :lol: .

God knows why, but probably because I love music and writing, I decided to become a freelance music journalist and writer after leaving university, and with a little perseverance and lots of hard work I guess I managed to become one of sorts, having written for a variety of magazines and websites worldwide over the last 4 years - primarily about DJs and turntablists but also about other music scenes and music in general. Writing about music, and writing in general, is incredibly fun and I love it - shame it don’t pay the bills though.

I continue to write regularly (for ATM and Serie B) though these days I’m trying to diversify my writing a little bit more (one of the primary reasons for this blog). Travel pieces are my new thing - they’re fun and I’ve done two in the last month. I also still run/edit/do everything over at Spin Science, the only site of its kind in the world baby, and present Turntable Radio as well as maintain the blog over there. I used to be a frequent contributor to ukhh.com too, but I’ve given that up since moving here as it’s too much of a demand on my time - you can find a stack of reviews and features in their archive too.

Anyways I’ve added a whole bunch of the printed features, interviews and event reviews I’ve done since 2003, which were published by such fine magazines as ATM (UK, Australia, New Zealand), Undercover (UK), Serie B (Spain), Scratch Magazine (US) and Japanzine (Japan). This is a selection of what I think are some of my nicest or at least most interesting pieces. Maybe you’ll agree or you’ll think it’s a lot of toss. Whichever way at least you’ve had a look.

These include interviews with and features on the likes of DJ Supreme from Hijack, Third Sight, Kode 9, Skream, dubstep, Mr Lif, Spinbad, Baku, Tatsuki, Kentaro, 2tall, DMC, Mix Master Mike, Roni Size & Bryan Gee, Jonny L, A Trak and more.

I’ll be finishing the portfolio section at some point soon by adding a selection of the hundreds of music reviews I’ve written over the last few years for various magazines and websites. There’s a lot more selecting to be done there cos god knows I’ve written some fraff reviews at times (what can I say we all have our bad moments).

Seriously though anyone reading this who wants to give me a job writing then please get in touch - if it’s a job based in Tokyo, even better. If not the internet is a wonderful tool for allowing people to work anywhere in the world :wink: . Right I better go to bed before I totally put anyone off reading any of this or giving me a job.

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written by Laurent \\ tags: Music, portfolio, writing