Ken Ishii interview: “I was known only among music maniacs”

The Japanese techno legend speaks to Juno Daily

Two crucial records in the history of Japan’s electronic music scene, which were released on the same day in 1994, are reissued this month courtesy of their original home, the Sublime sub-label of Musicmine Japan.

Ken Ishii’s Reference To Difference and the late Susumu Yokota’s Acid Mt Fuji both originally simultaneously surfaced on June 29, 1994, quickly proving to be landmarks in the nation’s now huge but then fledgling techno scene. After we published Alex From Tokyo’s in depth notes on Acid Mt Fuji, we can now bring you this exclusive interview with his comrade, Ken Ishii, who recalls those formative years.

Hi and thanks for your time….  First of all, can you tell us where you are right now, and what kind of day you’re having…  Been anywhere already or going anywhere interesting later?

No problem at all. I’m currently at home in Tokyo. Today is a weekday and I’m working on some new music, checking promos for this weekend’s gig and a radio appearance, and going to rehab for some muscles (nothing serious) inbetween. As for touring, I had a great gig in Tbilisi Georgia a couple of weeks ago and will go to a few countries in Europe in two weeks.

You’re about to reissue your Reference To Difference album, after 30 years.  It must be quite weird going back to it after all this time.  Did it bring back long forgotten memories?  What do you remember about its making?

Right, I was in my early 20s and just a year after I graduated from my university. But still, during those few early years, my life drastically changed, like becoming a professional artist from an office worker, and I remember almost every piece of what happened. I made this album just after my first album was internationally released on a Belgian label R&S.

Although I had been becoming known in Europe or North America with the album and a few other 12″ releases on Plus 8 etc, the electronic music scene was still small and I was known only among music maniacs. This album, Reference to Difference, was recorded for one of the very first techno labels in Japan, so I was feeling it was a good sign that the scene was finally growing in Japan.

Can you remember how long it took to make, and what the first and final tracks created for it were?

It took me a half year to make, I guess. I was not a full time artist then and I worked on it after work or on weekends. The first track to make was ‘Fading Sky’ and the final track was ‘Into The Inside’.

It’s significant that this album and Susumu Yokota’s ‘Acid Mt Fuji’ dropped very close to each other, as the anniversary editions will do.  You rubbed shoulders at the Sublime parties at Maniac Love – what are your memories of those parties and of him?  Did you maintain a relationship subsequently?  Do you think you influenced each other?

In the first year or two of Maniac Love, especially the Sublime parties were like the meeting point of artists, labels, journalists and hardcore fans. I used to see Susumu Yokota there and other gigs in the country and a few places in Europe around that time, like ’93 to the late ’90’s. We were friends but more like fellow artists as the first international techno acts from Japan. We often talked about making music, touring stories, and how we dealt with labels. He was normally a quiet and shy guy. Since he was ten+ years older than I was, while I was still like a kid in my early twenties then, we didn’t really hang out for drinking etc, but we always influenced each other with what we did, I guess.

You were recording for labels in Belgium (R&S) and (in Yokata’s case) Germany (Harthouse) very early on in your career…  Was it a different experience recording for a Japanese label?

Remember it was the early ’90’s, there was no internet, emails or WhatsApp. Communication with the European labels wasn’t easy. You only had expensive international phone calls or faxes, and on top, my English wasn’t great. So apparently I was able to have more and deeper communication and discussions with a Japanese label for anything.

Both albums seem to have no problem mixing ambient music with acid and techno – whereas other scenes globally saw them as quite distinct styles…

Because electronic music since house and techno was born was received as a new movement as a whole, people didn’t really care about subdividing the music or artists around that time in Japan. I used to see lots of albums mixing different styles by other artists back then.

And what are you up to musically at the moment?

First, I’m about to finish a full collaboration album with a jazz pianist/producer Masaki Sakamoto. It’s a big challenge for me. I’m currently working on collaborations with techno guys as well, such as Anderson Noise from Brazil, David Castellani from the US, and Yuada from Berlin. A few solo EPs and track contributions for compilations will be released sooner or later too.

Pre-order your copy of Reference To Difference, out on September 6, by clicking here