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 Nilly has a chat with Satoshi Tomiie before he flys in to Hong Kong next week to perform at Edge with Krafty Kuts. They talk about music, labels and of course his new mix cd release.
Nilly: Tell me a little bit about the Renaissance 3D release?
Satoshi: I was given the project idea in March 2005 and blocked three months out after the summer of 2005 to work on it. I was busy with it over September and October 2005. Well, it’s very different from a standard compilation release. I suppose it’s a combination of a compilation project as well as an artist release.
Nilly: You mean because the CD is broken into three parts, Club, Studio and Home?
Satoshi: Yes. The “Club” CD is composed of tracks taken from my live sets. The “Home” CD highlights my major music influences where I try and show where my background stems from and the “Studio” CD is more complicated and is composed of a lot of new material and studio work. The “Studio” CD required a lot of work and was probably the most difficult one to put together because I was always thinking about updating new mixes and trying to generally make the CD flow.
Nilly: Do you think the 3D release is a good catalogue of your influences over the years?
Satoshi: Well, the whole CD is a totally different concept. You will find there are three totally different concepts on each disc. In terms of a catalogue of my work, there are of course key tracks such as “Tears” and “Love in Traffic”. I can’t have a compilation without those tracks. But if I was to break down the three CD’s I would say “Club” is a probably a reflection of my current style; “Studio” is a reflection of both my current and past styles; “Home” is a reflection of my past style.
Nilly: Let’s talk about the past and current influences and your evolution into becoming a house DJ. What were your early influences?
Satoshi: In the early days, 1950’ and 60’s jazz had a major influence in my music foundation. I played mainly jazz piano though I was also playing about with the classical sound too. This music theory foundation was very important in setting the foundation. Then I moved towards hip hop influences in clubs. This was the first sound that we could really experience in clubs…
Nilly: So what swayed you in the direction of House?
Satoshi: House music started off in the United States between 1986 and1987. Clubbers outside of the United States were hungry for this sound. Even in England, you had journalists from magazines such as “The Face” going to New York and New Jersey, visiting clubs and record stores to find out about this sound. The sound was really fresh! In Tokyo there were one or two clubs playing House music and it was a sound that I, like many other DJ’s started becoming hungry for and this lead me to go search for this sound to discover what it was all about.
Nilly: How do you think your sound is unique over that of other House music DJ’s?
Satoshi: I have always enjoyed listening to different styles, but when I DJ, I don’t think my sound is extreme. Being Japanese I think I play stuff in between. I am not black or white and so I cannot relate to certain types of sound completely, such as soul, for example. It’s not where I came from. If I am easily inspired by something I go with it. So I would say my style is the ‘in between styles’.
Nilly: With SAW Records. How do you decide on the artists that should be on the label?
Satoshi: We don’t care where the artists come from or what kind of music they play. Our main rule is the must play quality music regardless of style. It’s all about the music!
Nilly: How do you feel back home in Tokyo?
Satoshi: I feel like I’m back home! I just go out play some good music and hang out with friends. Its home for me.
Nilly: So your set in Hong Kong on the 30th (January) is on the same day as the 3D release. Will the night here be a predominantly 3D night?
Satoshi: Well, the album was launched in New York a few weeks ago and the UK release is on the 28th. The tour will definatly be mainly a 3D release tour.
Nilly: What do you reckon will be the two top tracks on the tour?
Satoshi: Well, from the compilation, I would have to say the first would be Chab’s “Lover” that was remixed for the compilation and the second would be Audiofly X’s “Stolen Goods”.
Nilly: What is the one record that never leaves your bag?
Satoshi: Oh this is hard question because there so many. But one would be from Chab’s album “Weekend” and the track “Player’s into the Sun”
Interview by Nilly Chaudhuri
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