Japan's Ken Ishii Talking Techno In China

Skrufff man-in-China Seb Bayne is these days one of the country's top electronic music promoters, though he recently returned to his journalistic roots to chat with Japanese techno pioneer Ken Ishii. Ishii is one of Japan's highest regarded electronic producers, producing and performing live globally (he previously maintained a DJ residencies at New York's infamous Twilo).)

Skrufff (Seb Bayne): How would you dispel the myth that techno is just a minimal and monotonous style of music that goes nowhere-

Ken Ishii: "Techno in a limited sense, as in the hard and minimal dance floor stuff, can go off, but techno is much wider than that. It includes everything from more down tempo electronica and even breaks. Adam Freeland is a good friend of mine, and what he does is still techno to me. Techno is the general foundation for most dance music."

Skrufff: How do you think techno music will develop in the future-

Ken Ishii: "It is hard to tell what will be the next direction for techno. I think it will be more Detroit in style. I hope it is with more melodies and soul, and a hard beat."

Skrufff: How has the techno scene in Japan evolved compared to its heyday when DJs like Jeff Mills found an audience there-

Ken Ishii: "The techno scene in Japanese clubs is stable. There is not a lot of media hype about techno now. Techno still has more followers than any other type of music. The current situation in Japan is similar to Europe, where there are a lot of people into techno without the hype. It is more powerful now than years ago."

Skrufff: The dance music industry worldwide is becoming more and more commercial. What do you think of the trend towards commercialisation-

Ken Ishii: "It's good that there are more people getting into the scene, and bad that the music is becoming more commercial. With a wider audience, it also makes it easier and easier for people to make something new. Having more people into dance music can lead to the situation where more people are also challenging the commercial end, being more musical. I still feel a lot of good vibes."

Skrufff: What do you try and convey as a DJ-

Ken Ishii: "I get myself into entertainment mode. To entertain people is the most important thing to me. I also try and add some cutting edge or old school elements to my DJ sets. I want to entertain, but I also want people to realise what I am trying to do with slower or more experimental elements."

Skrufff: With new digital technology such as 'Final Scratch', some say that vinyl DJing will become less popular, that vinyl DJing is limiting- Is this your opinion too-

Ken Ishii: "I feel positive about new technology. I use something if I like it; the new Pioneer scratch CD player and the Pioneer FX unit are cool. The most important thing to me is the music and new sounds. How you get there doesn't matter but there has to be a balance. Good music is the most important thing."

Skrufff: What do you think of 'virtual music studio' computer programmes like 'Reason'-

Ken Ishii: "I am not against the trend of easy equipment for beginners. When I started to make music 15 years ago you needed a lot of money to get started. Now all you need is couple of hundred dollars."

Skrufff: What advise would you give to aspiring DJs/producers-

Ken Ishii: "You need to have better music sense and taste. Everyone has access to technology, to listen to music is more important. Listen to more than one genre of music. Look for good aspects in all music and relate it to your own. There are so many young, skilled DJs everywhere. They are really strong technically, have great skills, but lack taste musically. Music itself is more important."


http://www.kenishii.com
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