Osaka's Broken Beat Movement

By Sam Zipursky |

I've been waiting to give you this one for a while. Meet Ryochi Takai, one of Osaka's chief music headz, currently running a mad music party down in Ame-Mura. DUT (Do Ur Thing) is a highly respected event energizing the Triangle Club once every three months, with music crossing over from all genres to meld into what's becoming known as a legendary scene. Ryochi is a veteran of London's broken beats movement, and we feel pretty honored that he's taken time out of his busy schedule to chat with Japanzine. Ladies and gents, a drum roll please...

My man Ryochi, thanks for meeting us. Introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what you do.

Hey, what’s up! Yeah I go by the name of Two Seven Clash, DJ & Event promoter, living in Osaka. Born in '77, so that’s how I came up with the name – the 7’s are clashing together. I was born in Wakayama prefecture in Kansai. My brother and father are monks - nothing to do with me, but kinda cool. I’m doing a lot of DJing at underground parties in Osaka, and I also have my event that I throw once every 3 months called DUT. I’m into all sorts of music; you can call it crossover – broken beats, funk, soul, reggae, house; anything really. As long as it’s good, I'll play it.

How did you get into DJ’ing and international underground music?

When I was in junior high school I was really into soul music like Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding - people like that. Then, at about age 16, I got into DJing - early 90’s hip hop, Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul – golden hip hop era, you know. In terms of how I got into international underground music, I don’t know why but I really started to like sounds coming out of London and the UK. Even though music like hip hop originated in America, I still always seemed to prefer what the people in the UK were doing. I was also living out in London for a few years, and I got into the UK sounds even more.

How do you feel about the Japanese underground music scene?

Well, I can only really talk about Osaka. It’s tough to bring people out to parties, for sure. It seems that there are more people organizing parties then people looking for them - kinda strange! Also, nowadays reggae and mainstream hip hop are big in Osaka. I just keep it real, so it’s a bit of a challenge to bring out the masses. One of my goals is to expose quality underground music to people that might usually only be checking out mainstream stuff.

You said you were living out in London for a while. How did that influence what you're trying to do now?

Well, I was living in London for almost four years. It really influenced me in terms of music. The scene is just crazy out there – people are so into it, especially the form of music called broken beats, which originated in London and was just getting big when I was living there. There were some mad parties that regularly exposed this new sound. My favourites were “Co-op” at a club called Plastic People – this was the Mecca of broken beats, and it also has one of the best sound systems in the world. Other parties like Good Times by Norman Jay... the London music scene blew my mind.

Let’s talk about DUT. Who’s involved, and what kind of events do you put on?

Yeah, my baby - Do Ur Thing (DUT). It’s a music event I started a while back where I bring in big DJ’s or groups from around Japan and also Europe and try to expose this music to Osaka. The focus is crossover and broken beat music so this includes jazz, soul, funk, house, and more. I am the main organizer and DJ, along with resident DJ Monkey. Then, at each party we have one or more special live groups or DJ’s that play. We’ve brought in people from London, Germany, Tokyo, Canada, and more. The parties are always busy, with a multicultural mix of good people enjoying music together – kinda like it was in London!

Where do you hold DUT, and tell us about this month's show.

Well, right now I’m holding the DUT events at Triangle Club in Ame-Mura. The next one is on Saturday June 21st and we’re having Jazztronik come to play. He’s a really famous DJ/producer from Tokyo and has gotten huge over the last few years in Japan, and also in Europe as well. We’re also having two live bands; the deep funk band called Fabulous Vibelation and afro group Bunvestoro - should be a legendary night. If you mention Japanzine at the door we’ll give you a special rate of ¥2000,  which will include your first drink. So please come check this out – guaranteed good music!  

Lastly man, how can people get in touch with you about events and find out more information on the Osaka music scene and what you’re up to?

Yeah, you can find us online at www.myspace.com/dutosaka, or you can email me anytime at massive6401@yahoo.co.jp. Thanks for the interview and supporting the underground music movement in Osaka. Respect!

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