We are back on track my friends !
After some time without no blog action we bring you this amazing interview with one of japan´s finest producer and dj
From Japan all the way to Lisbon, Portugal
100MADO
* When did you first got into music, djing & producing ?
When I was in high school, there was a techno fad in Japan. In mass media there was this message that truly anyone could make music.
I had always wanted to make my own music but I didn’t have formal music education so this idea was very appealing to me. At that time I didn’t even possess a single techno record, and I was more into rock and drum’n'bass, so the first piece of music I made was a breakbeat track.
* How did you meet dubstep and what did you like about it ?
To a lot of people, dubstep was a continuation of the UK Garage scene. I also listened to UK Garage, however, to me dubstep started in 2004.
Digital Mystikz “John Peel Tribute Mix” was an extremely big influence. As in terms of CD releases, I was blown away by DJ Hatcha’s “Dubstep Allstars Vol.01″, DJ Slimzee’s “Bingo Beats Volume 3″, the compilation “Grime” and Dizzee Rascal’s “Showtime”. At the time, information on these artists was scarce and they was this mystery around them. I was also attracted to the “jungle” flavor that I felt the music had.
In any case, to me 2004 had a gigantic impact, it was when the dubstep scene started growing outward from being a small community.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=101748270&blogId=525124780
http://www.discogs.com/DJ-Hatcha-Dubstep-Allstars-Vol01/release/348885
http://www.discogs.com/DJ-Slimzee-Bingo-Beats-Volume-3/release/303021
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Grime/release/264005
http://www.discogs.com/Dizzee-Rascal-Showtime/master/37716
* How’s the dubstep scene in Japan? Everyone knows Goth Trad, Quarta330 but I know there are a lot of great producers that are really unkown in the rest of the world ?
The word of “dubstep” is slowly spreading among the Japanese.
However, the sound systems in Japan are not properly set up to handle the low frequencies. There are many that aren’t familiar with very low frequencies and there is a tendency among many to not like the darker elements of dubstep. Therefore, electro music with dubstep-inspired wobble bass and Scuba-esque techno-inspired dubstep is popular.
Our party Back To Chill has that deep flavor similar to DMZ. We pride ourselves of our sound system which we have tuned specifically for our night so our patrons tell us “This may be dark but damn this is amazing!” Back To Chill’s sound system has been received very favorably.
Even though we Japanese have great and well known artists Goth Trad and Quarta330, it is hard to make dubstep a distinct category of music. To Japanese it is still an imported culture. The Japanese dubstep scene is a minority still.
In Japan, “club music” isn’t brought up the same way as “manga” for instance. If DJ’s and producers aren’t popular and recognized outside of the underground they do not get any support from the business world, promoters or writers. Those who are supporting the scene are still quite few in number.
* Back To Chill is almost a Japanese dubstep trademark, anyone that knows dubstep know Back To Chill nights so tell us more about that night.
It is a dubstep party that started in 2006. It’s very hardcore.
The music focus is mainly dubstep but there are also other genres played. All the DJs that perform there make their own tracks. Those are our own music. That is a important element of our party.
* I really like Japanese dubstep, because you guys have a very unique sound. To understand that a little bit better, tell me what influences your music ?
That is a very difficult question. I don’t really consider my music having anything to do with being “Japanese”. Goth Trad knows a lot of cool music from around the world, I’m into noise music and jungle, Quarta330 is into Game Boy music, ENA into abstract hip-hop and drum’n'bass. We are all different in terms of what inspires and influences us.
There is however one thing that is for certain, which is that in Japan there is no connection to the UK Garage scene. Not like in the UK where UK Garage went to dark garage and then turned into dubstep. That connection doesn’t exist in Japan.
* I know you recently released a record with our friend from Caracas, Pacheko. How important are collaborations for you ?
Pacheko is an amazing guy! I did a split CD release with him so we didn’t actually make any tracks together.
Personally, I am at the stage now where the music that I make reflects my taste in music when I DJ. This took a lot of effort to acheive. I want to keep on creating unique sounds so meeting up with and collaborating with an amazing artist like Pacheko is very important to me and hope to do more of such collaborations soon.
* What do you think about the roll of internet in the dubstep scene in general, and in the Japanese scene in particular?
I want more and more Japanese to learn about dubstep so I have been promoting the music online for a few years. To be honest, in terms of the Japanese dubstep scene, I don’t know if that has any effect. We do what we can to promote the music and the internet is an amazing tool and a great medium to do so.
However, in Japan music scenes are particularly dependent upon the music being promoted by famous people.
Japanese people aren’t very good at English and information beyond Japan, such as your blog and other excellent places of information, Japanese people generally don’t read. So if Japanese bloggers would make up false stories like “Dubstep from Greece has no snare drum” and “Latest grime artists rap strictly about bicycles” there are people that would believe them. It’s quite laughable but at the same time very serious as people can manipulate others. I sincerely hope that at some point we will get a source for properly translated information.
I have been running my website since 2005 where I have uploaded my mixes and have gotten to know many people through it. I first connected with both Pacheko and Goth Trad through the internet and that lead to dubstep parties and releases. Therefore I think the internet is extremely important.
* Mythical question, Djing or Producing ?
I love doing both.
The mix that you have put up on your blog is one part of my DJing style.
It recreates a DJ set I did in 2008 in Osaka. I made it to represent what I feel about the city of Osaka. It is mixed from very different components, the city is very gaudy and raw. I love that city.
Recently I haven’t been DJing in that kind of style but outside of dubstep I like a variety of different genres.
* What have you been listening 2 lately ?
I like Untold the best! He is a genius. BOK BOK and Shortstuff are also very interesting. BD1982’s album I also like very much.
I am always blown away by Goth Trad’s and ENA’s tracks. Also there is another Japanese artist called DD Black who makes wonderful tracks. His tracks have been played on Rinse FM.
* Future plans and releases?
On American label “lo-dub I will release a split EP with Pacheko.
http://www.myspace.com/pachekodubz
Other than that I have another project with BD1982 called Makumba Sound and we have plans to release under that name sometime in the future.
http://www.myspace.com/bd1982
http://www.myspace.com/makumbasound
Also, I just uploaded to my site a free mix last April. It’s main focus is 100bpm slow techno. I really want dubstep fans to check it out. It’s like dubstep influence slowed down techno, that’s my latest style. I have been working on this sort of slow techno.
http://100mado.com/mix/100bpm_djmix_2010_april.html
There is best slow style DJ called ZuKaRoHi and parhelion a.k.a JULIA in Japan.
Please check their mix. I respect them!
ZuKaRoHi
http://soundcloud.com/zukarohi/bpm100test
http://www.podomatic.com/profile/zukarohi
parhelion a.k.a JULIA
http://www.parhelion.jp/djmix/100bpm_may2010mix.mp3
http://www.myspace.com/parhelionakajulia
____________________________________________
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100MADO
100MADO MYSPACE
BACK TO CHILL
THANKS SO MUCH
much love and respect to 100MADO, Back to chill family and Japan
Rui aka VoodooKid
WARFACE FAMILY
but that’s ok, I certainly understand the desire people have to know this stuff about others. I’m not very technical. at the moment I’m coming to you from a 6 year old PowerBook G4 that I can hardly produce on anymore, no hardware, no soundcard, no mouse, a pair of Mackie HR8-24′s for monitors and an Axiom 49 midi controller. I used to only use Reason but now I rewire into Ableton Live and use both. Rarely have used plug-ins in the past (even though I had tons of ‘em) but I plan to get a new computer soon and will be learning and using some new software instruments and effects. At this point in time my machine can’t handle more than two plug-ins working at once so my options are very limited in that area. Limitations can be good sometimes though, they challenge you to explore creative ways to solve problems and I’m sure I’ve benefited from this more than once. As for writing a tune, sometimes I start with drums, sometimes bassline, sometimes I start by taking pieces of old projects, sometimes I start from scratch, it’s all over the place. 
Seeeriousss really did a number on the scene this year. I knew when it was finished that it had the potential to be big, but you never know what’s actually going to happen and it’s always a surprise to see something you made effect so many people all over the world. Seems like tunes just start to catch fire sometimes and their popularity moves beyond the music itself into this crazy power that people can’t turn away from, very interesting to observe when it’s your own work.
