Arts & Culture Jul. 14, 2008 - 09:11AM JST ( 1 )

Contentedly sipping beer, chitchatting with friends, and nodding my noggin to a mate’s techno set at Shibuya club Amrax was how I expected to spend a recent Saturday evening. But once my chum had spun his last vinyl, events took a wander in to the unknown.

The silhouette of a man wiring all manner of electronic gadgets together and carrying indecipherable items dominated the stage. I soon discovered that the silhouette belonged to a character who goes by the name Shabushabu.

The Kyoto native’s performance was a fun and engaging assault of warped effects, echoes, loops, vocoders, samples, and bass-heavy beats ranging from UK grime, dub, techno and electro to interludes of whistles, water pistols and even action figures, spruced up with the ad hoc and erratic comments of a musical madman. Probably not too far from what Hot Chip on one acid tab too many would sound like. A recent Metropolis review of the Shabushabu CD “All in One Pot” hit the nail on the head when it described his sound as loosely filed under “electronica,” but otherwise defying easy description.

Shabushabu’s soundscape is strictly no-skool, and with this in mind, I hunted him down to bag a few words.

What’s the concept behind “All in One Pot?”

I wanted it to be an innovative electronic album with futuristic feelings, but at the same time have Japanese roots, especially musically, like what I was listening to when I was little.

Some tracks have club-like elements.

Yes. I released my first 12-inch record from a techno label called 2CB, run by a UK techno unit called Subhead 10 years ago. So, phat underground club beats are my backbone.

What’s your opinion on the current music scene in Japan?

I really think there are amazing artists everywhere, if you look for them. There are so many underground Japanese artists I like, but I personally wish to hear more wicked music that has progressed from traditional Japanese music.

Who or what are your musical influences?

I try to listen to as many kinds of music as possible because I just love the excitement of meeting new sounds. But my biggest influences are the underground crazy parties that let me perform whatever I want to, where I can just dig my own style without hesitation.

How do you go about transferring your sound into a live set?

When I do live, I try to express the feelings I get when I’m making music alone. For example, if I feel that the sound of hitting my laptop with a drumstick is cool, I’ll just do it on stage. But I also try to put humor into it, because I love to see people laugh.

Finally, what about the toy props!?

I love using toys because they’re exactly what I’m looking for: good sound, funny, exciting — and sometimes very traditionally Japanese.

For more info, see www.myspace.com/djshabushabu and www.okimirecords.com. “All In One Pot” is available on Okimi records.This story originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).

By James Coulson