Yuu Udagawa: The Ransom Note Mix

5 Minute Read

Music

Written by Alasdair King

Tokyo producer Yuu Udagawa delivers an outstanding mix blurring the lines between genres with bags of style.

Yuu Udagawa has been immersed in music and production for many years, starting as a DJ in 2000 she has since gone on to work in sound design and immersive sound.

However, her passion remains fierce for a wide breadth of music with her core influences being rock, hip-hop, funk, rare grooves, latin jazz, krautrock,techno & house.

Over the years she has worked to create atmospheric music and sounds which have since gone on to soundtrack aquariums, museums, offices, esthetic salons, apparel brands, etc. She even contributed a track which was used as a soundtrack to the Playstation 3 main menu.

More recently she has returned her focus to electronic music, focussing on making material for the clubs and utilising her broad array of experience to blur influences and innovate within a new space.

Her recent EP for Cyphon was a statement of intent and this mixtape shows her unreal talent as a DJ beyond this.

Listen and read the interview below:

Please introduce yourself…Who are you, where are you and what are you?

I’m Yuu Udagawa. Tokyo-based DJ, producer and sound artist.

My immersive musical output draws inspiration from a diverse pool of influences to create ‘uplifting and healing’ music for the mind and body.

There’s my desire to make music guided by the Golden Mean philosophy of finding a middle ground between two extremes: excess and deficiency.

Active as a DJ since the millennium, which saw me playing at clubs, festivals and fashion shows across the country, I soon turned my attention to music production and I since self-released a handful of singles and contributed audio commissions for Sony Playstation3, museums, theatres and apparel brands. My meditative pallet of sounds instantly grabbed the label‘s ear which led to the tracks that make up ‘Forever’: a collection of analog slo-mo electronica and leftfield minimal house that strikes a perfect balance between warmth and depth.

What does your music sound like?

A cocktail of everything from rock, hip-hop and Latin jazz to techno and house.

Can you draw what you think it sounds like for us (an image from the old internet is acceptable)?

Where was the mix recorded?

My Room

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

Headphones, in the room, on the train, on the road.

What should we be wearing?

Something that makes you feel good about yourself when you wear it.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

It’s best if I record it with everyone in a scenic location.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

I like the tracks I have released because they are groovy and sexy.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

I like the mix I recorded this time.

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

Jimpster & Manuel Tur, Because they are DJs I respect.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

Two turntables. Nowadays, I use a USB memory stick, a Pioneer DJ set or an Ableton Live on my computer.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

Both of them.

What were the first and last records you bought?

Jean-Jacques Perrey -indigo, or Pierre Henry, Michel Colombier – Les Jerks Électroniques De La Messe Pour Le Temps Présent Et Musiques Concrètes De Pierre Henry Pour Maurice Béjart or Kraftwerk ーRalf und Florian

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

It tastes like a mojito.

If it was an animal what would it be?

A bird.

Upcoming in the world of…

We are all connected.

Anything else we need to discuss?

I don’t really like to discuss it.