[Introduction] Why Put Effort into a Blog at This Point?

Introduction

I work mainly in Tokyo clubs with techno, house (progressive house / deep house / tech house) and trance, genres commonly called “electronic dance music” or “four-on-the-floor.”

The details are in the Profile on the homepage, but I've been a listener for over 20 years and a DJ for over 10 (*in total, since there were periods when I stopped). The money I've spent is priceless (probably seven figures; I don't want to calculate it, haha).

So you could call me a true “electronic dance music addict.”

Meanwhile, in recent years I've drastically reduced my DJ gigs and turned my attention to events overseas.

In 2016, I went to Future Sound of Egypt (FSOE), hosted by top trance DJs Aly&Fila, and to the Full Moon Party on Thailand's Koh Phangan.

In 2017, I attended “Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE),” held every October in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Before I knew it, more of my friends had become “festival lovers who spend a fortune traveling abroad.”

I Want to Communicate Dance Music's Appeal Through a Blog

After those experiences, I immediately decided: “I'll start a dance music blog.”

I'm not a gifted writer, and there are already well-known media outlets that presumably attract readers. I also believe that “what a DJ should focus on is the sound of their performance.” So why am I going out of my way to write dance music blog articles?

There are three main reasons.

1. I Want to Close the Enthusiasm Gap Between the Japanese and International Scenes

For festival lovers who travel abroad, this is preaching to the choir, but there is an unmistakable gap in enthusiasm between the Japanese and international scenes.

Sadly, I have to describe it as a “quality gap” too. (Sound trends, audience literacy, the environment at clubs and festival venues, and so on...)

But that's understandable. Staying in Japan, you don't know these things and wouldn't normally even think about them.

As a result, content driven by “politics,” “commercial interests first,” “steering the masses” and “music not first” floods the market and is consumed.

Of course there are quality events and passionate people, but in reality they have become a minority, and dance music and its scene still have a negative image in Japan.

Meanwhile, dance music and scenes that maximize their potential and keep putting smiles on many audience members' faces firmly exist around the world.

As I wrote earlier, I truly love dance music and its scene, and want them to develop more and more in the future.

That's why I want to make a proper record of what happens and how I feel when I attend events abroad.

It would be a shame if noteworthy overseas articles went unknown in Japan simply because they were in English, so I want to introduce as many as possible in Japanese.

I don't know how many people my blog can influence, but I'd be happy if even one more person became interested in dance music and its scene with a “music first,” super-positive outlook.

2. It's Hard to Find Information About Overseas Events

Going to an event abroad is, in a sense, taking an overseas trip and spending your free time at a dance music event.

Unfortunately, almost no Japanese travel agencies or guidebooks cover dance music events.

In that case, I thought it would be better to share my experiences of events as early as possible and provide information that lets people attending the following year plan early. If demand develops in future, perhaps I could even organize a tour.

There was almost no information about ADE, which I attended in October 2017.

When I went to Ibiza in 2003, before social media existed, the website “We Are Going To Ibiza” helped me.

I also remember reading all sorts of English websites (some pages were only in Spanish, haha) and somehow managing to prepare.

Meanwhile, some events, such as TOMORROWLAND (the huge dance music festival held every July in Belgium, said to be the world's number one), have volunteer groups or tours offered by travel agencies.

But perhaps I just happen to know about them, and many others don't.

So I'd also like to introduce various things that I encounter routinely but that may surprisingly not be widely known.

*Incidentally, I haven't experienced TOMORROWLAND yet, so I'd like to go in the near future and write about it.

3. I Want to Introduce DJ Techniques and Excellent Lesser-Known Tracks

In the past few years, I've had opportunities to teach DJ techniques to several people for free.

With “DJ techniques,” beatmatching and so on may require a little technique at first, but honestly, today's digital equipment makes it easy. I thought everything else was something you learned yourself by watching and imitating.

I assumed the techniques I'd learned by watching and imitating were things almost anyone could do, but realized quite a few people hadn't gone that far.

These days, you can easily watch international DJs' hands on YouTube, and solutions to most things other than musical taste can be found online, but some people don't know what they should research to solve their problems.

Then there's how to think about music, even though there is no single right answer. Few DJ schools or teaching materials explain those things, so I thought people practicing DJing might appreciate occasional articles bringing them together.

Also, when I go clubbing, I hear plenty of tracks that rank on Beatport (a website where you can buy electronic dance music downloads, the foundation of DJ sets) or get heavy promotion before release, but hear fewer “lesser-known but high-quality tracks.”

Depending on the club or genre, you may even hear hits from three to five years ago.

To refer to the international scene again, new high-quality tracks emerge every day regardless of rankings or promotion.

Sometimes the DJs and artists featured in Japan differ from those featured globally in the first place.

So, although it'll be from my own perspective, I plan to review tracks too.

Good music is good music, after all. This may sound grand, but whether through DJing or blogging, I'd be very, very happy if I could help create a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with a wonderful track and help it spread even a little.

Finally

I'm not a DJ with any particularly notable achievements, but 10 or 20 years of passion lets you see certain things. Having something I can devote that much passion to is itself a blessing, and above all, it has enriched my life.

One way I can, so to speak, “give back” to dance music is to spread its appeal through a blog, in my own way.

..Having written all that, I still haven't given up on DJing on a bigger stage! Haha.

I still haven't made a mix that completely satisfies me, or produced tracks, so I'll keep challenging myself until I die.

Those are unquestionably my true calling as a DJ.