Shine A Light On: Kezokichi

Music

After making a name for himself in London with his well-loved Back to Back parties, Kezokichi has returned to his Tokyo home to spread the gospel of chuggy, swirly disco hedonism. Launching a new label – Blindetonation – with a 12 track compilation, Kezokichi has been pulling together producers from the worlds of slow motion, weird disco, and balearic house, showcasing the likes of Tronic Youth, La Dame Noir and People Get Real. We thought we'd get him to put us together a mixtape to showcase the style informing Blindetonation, and he's thrown together an excellent deep tunnel of mix, rolling between menacing vocals, plodding kick drums and flashes of light in the form of sparkling arpeggios. Listen below, and find out a bit more about Kezokichi underneath.

Who are you?

Kezokichi

Where are you?

Ueno, in Shitamachi downtown Tokyo.

How does the disco scene in Tokyo compare to that in London?

I believe there are some great disco DJs in Tokyo, but in comparison to London the scene is very small here. It's even difficult to find someone who can play around 100bpm for a warm up set. So when I really wanted to play a slow-mo disco night in Tokyo and I couldn’t find anything, I started a night called Raw Raw where I play slowed down disco for 6 hours straight.

Are there any artists out there we should know about?

They are already pretty well known I guess but I would say Chida and Force Of Nature.

What made you decide to start the label?

There are so many great records labels all over the world, like for example Throne of Blood, Comeme, Meant Records, La dame Noir, NEIN etc. and that's what inspired me to start something interesting out of my home-town in Tokyo. Also as I mentioned before, the Disco scene in Tokyo is small, so its hard to draw a big crowd when I invite my favourite DJs from overseas to play here. Having a record label in Tokyo enables me to collaborate easily with other labels here, for instance I’ve got a few nights lined up this year with artists like La dame Noir and Tronik Youth from the Blindetonation family and Pslktr from Meant Records.

Are you planning on releasing vinyl?

Yes, the 5th release from the label will be on vinyl.

Are you planning on coming back over to London?

Yeah and I’m really excited about it. I am just about to start touring Europe and Mexico and I have a date for London in June at Snap Crackle and Pop.

Which track in the mixtape is your current favourite?

Rodion – Nebula. It's an upcoming release from Blindetonation.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

That’s a hard one, but I think it would have to be Ivan Smagghe's Planet Turbo.

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

Well, I actually usually prefer to avoid back-to-back sets, because I like to have control over everything during my sets.

What were the first and last records you bought?

I think the first one was Legowelt – Disco Rout EP on Cocoon, and I purchased Perseus Traxx – Dr Burisch EP on Crimes Of The Future about 10 minutes ago.