To deem today's music as weak in comparison to yesterday's is folly. Sometimes a single record is enough to challenge the negativity of self-assuming aficionados and their backward bunk. In Kato Hideki's case, his entire career boasts engaging, stellar work that stands in sharp contrast to the tastes of those connoisseurs caught up in nostalgia, proving contemporary music to be vital as ever. His work runs the gamut from composed and improvised instrumentals to sound design for film and theater.
In the early '90s, Kato was core to Japan's seething and infamous, if undefined, noise scene. Along with co-founding the seminal noise rock band Ground Zero, he kept a busy live schedule, playing with such artists as Yamatsuka Eye (of the Boredoms) and Yoshida Tatsuya (of Ruins). His activity on the vanguard of musical experimentation led him to meet kindred spirits across the Pacific in the U.S. (many of whom had spent time in Japan), bringing about his move to New York City. Kato has since produced daring and encapsulating work both on his own and in collaboration with other musicians including John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Arto Lindsay, Anthony Coleman, Nic Collins, William Winant, Haino Keiji, Christian Marclay, and Zeena Parkins. In 1995, Death Ambient, a trio he formed with Ikue Mori and Fred Frith, released its epoch-setting self-titled debut. The band's second album, Synesthesia, followed in 1999.
While the lines between edgy and fusty, extreme and pretentious, can seem unclear at times within the musical avant-garde, Kato clearly makes fresh, genuinely experimental music, exploring sound for sound's sake. It's difficult to pin down exactly where Kato's work is rooted, which is what makes it so appealing. To be sure, it is somehow intrinsically Japanese, but also something undefinable and matchless. He is progressive, not subversive. By its sheer quality, his work punishes the pesky bulk of the art world. The album (on Extreme Records), which he composed and plays on, and his solo effort Turbulent Zone (released on Kato's own label, Music For Expanded Ears) are prime listening for anyone interested in hearing Kato's graceful use of noise, space, and ambient sound. Those who doubt the bass as a solo instrument will be surprised and smitten by the sonic spectrum Kato brings to these and other recordings, both acoustically and electrically. Kato shared these thoughts on Japan, laptops, and sex appeal, among other things, over email.
What caused your move to New York?
Although I certainly recall positive aspects of Japanese culture, I had never been comfortable living in the country. I desperately needed to breathe some fresh air, to escape from that oppressive society. Even the so-called cutting edge artists were pretty uptight when it came down to a personal level. I am still in touch with some of them, though only a few. I haven't been back in 10 years. ... After I got married in Tokyo in 1991, I had a [recording] session with the great singer/improviser Koichi Makigami in New York, which John Zorn produced. The album [we made] was called Koroshi no Blues (or Killing Blues). Zorn brought many musicians into the studio: downtown guys, rock dudes, Brazilian and Latin musicians. I was impressed by the authenticity and versatility of all of them. On top of that, it seemed like they were having much more fun than the guys in Tokyo were.
Where did you grow up in Japan? How did it influence you musically? When and how did you get involved in music?
My father is a freelance engineer who designs machine parts for the car industry in Nagoya, Japan. When I was young, he had me draft small parts so that I could make a little money to save up. We had some odd-looking industrial objects in our house. ... My great-grandfather was a painter and a musician and my relatives always told me that I had a direct connection to this guy. He was a stubborn man who never worked for money in his whole life. Coming from this background, I adopted an artist-meets-tech-head type of DNA code. No wonder I have a very strong interest in both music and the sonic quality itself. I started playing music really early - you know, that usual piano lesson stuff when I was four years old. By the time I was 13, I knew I had to become a musician. [Since] I wasn't surrounded by any real musicians at all, I recorded stuff by myself using two cassette decks. One was a three-head type, so I was feeding it back to create tape echoes.
Some of your recent compositions seem to range in influence from traditional Japanese Gagaku to Latin music. They seem distant from the dark, deep ambience of Turbulent Zone or your earlier improvisational solo albums. Are they a departure or just reflective of new interests?
Of course, as a product of the twentieth century, I am still interested in making abstract
music, simply because it's fun to design. ... I would like to make a composed/ensemble version of Turbulent Zone, using my "famous" prime number tuning [system] in the future. However, I feel that now is the time for a change. Or, shall I say, times have changed. Generally speaking, in early-twentieth-century musical history, the scientific probing of musical formats was the main effort and focus. Later, combinations and mixtures of various formats became popular. Now the twentieth century is over. It's about time to give up our obsession of digging up graveyards. We have to accept that there is no instant way to get through this era without taking our time to absorb and process things. Then we will see what is going to happen.
My recent interest is to compose music in song format. Good haiku poets could evoke the whole universe with limited words. There is immeasurable possibility in this old-fashioned format.
Your prime number tuning system, which you just mentioned, has received international attention. Would you mind explaining what it is and how it came about?
I was searching for a way to make a solo noise recording for the electric bass. Most noise music I'd come across in the past was not really substantial in terms of defining "noise." It sounded mushy to me. I was wondering how I could come up with a solid definition of what "noise" meant to me. I finally defined it to be a totally outer space thing, far away from the equal temper-tuning world. If you use prime numbers - 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 - to come up with intervals between open strings, you will never hear typical intervals like 4th or 5th.
Here is an example of how I did it:
(a) Measure the length of a string, between the nut and the bridge. If you use a Fender bass, the length is more or less 34 inches.
(b) Divide the string length (e.g., 34 inches) by prime numbers (e.g., 7) = 4.8571428571... inches.
(c) As accurately as possible, press the position at the figured distance from the nut on the fourth string (usually tuned in E on bass), then tune the open string on third string (usually A) to its pitch.
(d) Repeat above steps for the second and first strings.
*note: a fretless fingerboard is required on your instrument.
In this case, the interval between each open string is slightly narrower than minor third in equal temper tuning. And most importantly, you need to train your ear to know if your instrument is in tune in this unique system. I enjoy the fact that each tuning has its own complex character: 7 has a very dark sound that I like; 11 has an open sound; and, from 13, you can squeeze out intense and turbulent power. I feel that I could go further than I did on Turbulent Zone [using this idea].
Throughout your career, ambient sound seems central to your work. Could this be related to an interest in the Japanese notion of "Ma" (a word that refers to the space between notes, loosely comparable to rests in Western music)?
Ambient stuff has been a very useful vehicle for my music. However, Ma is a totally different creature. My intention with bringing Ma into my ambient stuff was to take a good breath in the middle of the music. To me, the ambient/Ma relationship is exactly like the release/tension relationship in the groove concept. The only difference is the duration of time.
At times, your work seems strongly filmic. Having arranged music for movies as well as for theater, how do you feel about working with stage and screen? Is sound design for film still an interest to you?
I should be doing more of those gigs than I have, as I think my music could work with other arts. Let me know if you know of any talented directors in Chicago who would hire me to write music.
As a veteran musician in New York, how do you enjoy working with young and rising musicians like Eyvind Kang, as opposed to established musicians like John Zorn?
To me, age or generation really doesn't matter. Energy matters.
Two obnoxious but unavoidable questions: Does the musical avant-garde ever seem like a conglomeration of pride-sodden self-promoters? What distinguishes genuine experimental musicians from bluffers?
Generally speaking, guys who try too hard suck. For example, if your drummer tries to groove too hard, very often the result is that he just plays too hard. It is almost like an actor trying to be sexy. If you are not really interested in the fundamental stuff but want to be an avant-garde musician, you are already lost. On the other hand, some truly innovative human beings would never categorize themselves in a certain genre. We are all oddballs of some kind or another, and we should accept that as beautiful.
"Glitchcore," or "Lapno" (laptop techno), has become so popular that it's rare not to see Powerbooks at shows. Are computers only a trend or are they here to stay?
Personally, I would rather listen to Latin music than Lapno music. I have nothing against using computers for making music, but the attitude that seems to go with it is sad news, with a few exceptions. I feel like I am an old rock 'n' roll dude, compared to those Lapnos.
With computers, it seems as if the only way to avoid stock effects and sound sources is to make or find your own samples, eventually leading to dalliances with pastiches or "sound collages." Is there a solution to this? An alternative?
Lick that sexy laptop and burn it on stage! That should make some kind of painful, yet interesting sounds -- at least until the firemen show up. I suspect that it has already been done though. God bless Lapnos.
Are there bands or soloists that you feel are promising? Or any in general that you are fond of?
I am currently working with Arturo O'Farrill. We are making some kind of hip Latin music, among other stuff. Also with James Plotkin and Matt Wand in the future in a trio called Black Lips. I am also working with two great Portuguese musicians, Nuno Rebelo and Marco Franco. I work with Karen Mantler, too.
Aside from music, what are you involved in?
I enjoy building tube gear. So far, I have built a headphone amp and a mixer, which I use for my recordings. I have a friend, J. C. Morrison, who is an amazing designer and musician. He is extremely generous and helpful, showing me how to build stuff from scratch. Most commercially-made gear is not happening. I simply need to build this stuff because I can't buy it anywhere on this planet.
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