[Musical Experiences] Why I Arrived at Electronic Dance Music

I have probably been exposed to dance music for over 20 years, and it is still my main favorite genre. But that does not mean I followed it the whole time.

This article tells how I arrived at electronic dance music.

It Began with a Juliana's Compilation CD My Brother Rented

As far back as I can remember, I was constantly fiddling with the ladybug record player that was already in my family home, and the expensive stereo system (made by SANSUI) at a friend's house inspired my interest in music.
*I now use DJ equipment and computers every day, but I guess I already loved fiddling with equipment back then, haha.

Around junior high, I begged my grandmother for a CD player and got one. At the local library, I rented CDs every week, copied them onto cassette tapes bought with my allowance, and listened endlessly, over and over.

I borrowed everything on the shelves without being picky. The genres were mainly pop, along with rock—including hard rock and heavy metal—classical, jazz, Latin, and so on.

Then one day my brother rented from the recently opened TSUTAYA a compilation CD from the disco called “Juliana’s Tokyo” and played it on our home stereo, opening the door to dance music for me.

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Juliana's Tokyo

Complete your Juliana's Tokyo collection. Discover what is missing from your Juliana's Tokyo discography and buy Juliana's Tokyo records and CDs.

Genre-wise, perhaps “Hyper Techno” or “Italo Disco.”

“…The rhythm and bass are unbelievably cool!”

The shocking impression of hearing it for the first time is still in my head. Nothing I had heard before had put the low end so prominently forward.

In the end, using New Year's gift money and so on, I think I bought about five CDs in this series.

I increasingly wanted to experience it at a disco, but I was a kid and geographically far away, so it was impossible. I also dreamed of mingling with Juliana's girls, but while I sat there frustrated, Juliana's Tokyo closed, haha.

Incidentally, besides Juliana's compilations, I also listened to “Maharaja Night,” “SUPER EUROBEAT.” I liked Eurobeat perfectly well too, but did not feel like pursuing it deeply.

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Maharaja Night

The Maharaja Night Series consists only are of mixed Compilations.This is a mix of Eurodance, Techno and Eurobeat Tracks.The Maharaja Night series was Manufactured and Distributed by the Japanese Label Avex Trax

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Super Eurobeat

Super Eurobeat (Abbreviation: SEB) is a CD compilation series of Eurobeat music in Japan.The series itself is one of the longest running in the entire world.The series began as a Beat Freak release, which lasted for 8 albums, after that the series was changed over to Avex Trax.After Super Eurobeat had transferred to Avex Trax, in 1994, ...

Unrelated, but even the same compilation tracks had faster BPMs on Maharaja than on Juliana's, haha.

A Break, Then Back to Rock

After Juliana's closed, my motivation for dance music dropped and I naturally drifted away.

I returned to rock, listening particularly intensively to “hard rock,” “heavy metal.”

In Japan too, X JAPAN and visual kei bands were at their peak.

Unlike now, magazines, radio, and TV were the only information sources. I was young, so I thought keeping up with those was enough, haha.

Later I wanted to become a player rather than just a listener, so as a high school student I worked a part-time job and bought a guitar.

I do not clearly remember why I wanted to play. I loved music, but probably most of all I wanted to dress in an outlandish way. I was young, after all, haha.

As I steadily listened to music and practiced guitar alone, I began to realize something.

It was that the good hard rock and heavy metal bands were overseas rather than in Japan. And there were far more bands than Japan could compare with.

Magazines remained my information source, but I tried visiting several bookstores in town, haha. As a result, I came across magazines called “BURRN!” and “Young Guitar.”

I browsed them, took as many notes as possible on bands that caught my attention, and bought or rented their CDs. As I listened, this became a conviction.

Soon I changed which section I browsed in record stores and which artists I listened to, for example “Judas Priest,” “METALLICA,” “Yngwie Malmsteen,” “Symphony X,” “Dream Theater,” “Queensrÿche.”

As a DJ, I believe that, even in an era when we can freely use tools like the internet that reach every niche, “great music and tracks actually lie beyond my field of vision, and I should dig out those places myself.” This experience may be the origin of that belief.

Playing Guitar and in Bands Made Me Keenly Realize It Was Not for Me

Time passed as I practiced steadily, and I entered university.

In high school there was nobody around me who wanted to form a band, much less loved overseas hard rock or heavy metal, so at university I joined a band club.

As someone shy and lacking communication skills, this was the time in my life when I most wanted musical friends, haha.

Playing in several bands in the club made me realize something.

“…Oh, I am not suited to bands or guitar, haha.”

Hard rock and heavy metal fingering requires precision like a machine (in DJ terms, I think it is the level needed to be a battle DJ).

And despite that high bar, there were loads of good players.

Conversely, although it was not my favorite genre, I often played well in bands I joined on bass, and quite enjoyed it.

You cannot know until you try something, but it really made me realize that I need to do things that fall into both the “like” and “good at” zones.

Also, in the club, if people and instrumental parts could not be matched to form a band, you ended up dropping out under a somewhat coercive atmosphere.

Partway through I changed my view, no longer insisting on one genre, and adapted flexibly by switching from guitar to bass, so I stayed until the end. But that was a compromise to prioritize participating.

Scheduling practices was far too difficult too, and honestly, the band system is not rational was a thought in the back of my mind.

Still, thanks to those guitar and bass experiences, I can now enter arpeggiated chords spontaneously when producing dance music and arrange bass lines too.

In terms of developing abilities, people starting DJing should perhaps learn some kind of instrument.

Back to Electronic Dance Music Because I Am a Bass Obsessive

I kept listening to rock and playing in bands until about age 23, one way or another, but at 23 I decisively returned to dance music.

I started DJing soon afterward and was performing by 25.

The triggers were probably WIRE, organized by Takkyu Ishino, and Womb and yellow club events, where I immersed myself in the genres of Techno, Techhouse, Progressive House, along with experiencing the clubs of Ibiza.

There are many other irreplaceable experiences whose details I would like to share in this blog, but the common thread is that electronic dance music always “makes me feel good with powerful bass alone.”

This feature is absent from other genres, and it is precisely why I became absorbed in electronic dance music again.

I love the bass leaking outside a club that you hear around the entrance.

“Bass = excitement for the event, a feeling that something is about to happen.”

Whether listening to Juliana's compilation CDs or playing in bands, what was clear was that I ultimately belong to the world of bass.

So although trends and formats may change, as long as there is powerful bass, I will keep loving electronic dance music forever.