“Children across the world live in the present of the Earth, and have no choice but to live under this world’s circumstances. And various things from the future Earth environment will also affect them. I want to leave something good behind. Past, present and future is something that we need to live with for the rest of our lives, but the hope to move forward is definitely hidden in the notion of time.”
Across a three-decade career, who has Krush been creating for? Himself? Or his listeners? “I think both are important, but for me, the important thing is to translate my thoughts and feelings to music and get them out as the Krush sound. I can never imagine how it would come out, but I’m the type that creates as an artist.”
People have waited a long time for this new album. Does he feel any pressure to produce music? Or does he please himself, producing music only when he feels like it? “Sorry for keeping you all waiting. I had been making tracks and had released digital tracks but they just didn’t become an album. I had been playing live all over the world and the next thing you know, 11 years had passed. Also the time changed and vinyl and CD shifted to digital. Considering all the changes and the situation today, we carefully prepared for the release.”
Krush has said that his music comes from visuals in the mind. What can he tell us about the process of creating sounds from imaginary pictures? “Basically I come up with a fictional short story, project the original silent images on my brain screen, and then add sound to them. There are various ways to create, but I try to maximise my imagination, use as many colours as possible, and create something colourful and something that you can actually smell. So many things get mixed in my mind and my experiences get mixed as well. And then I sprinkle my spice called imagination. The recipe of the spice is confidential.”
While DJ Krush has been called the godfather of trip hop, he’s previously described his music as belonging to a genre of its own. Does he still believe this? “I don’t care so much about genre nowadays,” he says. “My roots are in hip hop but I’m not really sure where my style belongs to. I’ll leave it up to you.”
Electronic music is a fervent field of creativity. For such an experienced campaigner as Krush, what does the future of the art form look like? “We moved into the digital era from the analogue era, and an environment to create electronic music became more accessible,” he says. “Evolution of technology is important but we humans need to evolve as well. I want to always keep in mind so that I can come up with good music. Now that it’s digital era, I felt a big difference in the form of selling music. I don’t know what will come next, but I think the act of moving forward is important. One of the reasons why I love music is that it makes me who I am. It gives the space to reflect and think about the essence of myself. Music gives that infinite space, which is very precious and terrifying at the same time.”
With music playing such an integral role in his sense of self, does he pay attention to reviews? “People have their own way of looking at things and they’re all different. Sometimes I use the information for the future though.”
Inevitably Krush gets asked about his teenage escapades as an errand boy for the Yakuza (Japanese mafia). There’s a hint of tiredness in his response. “I was only involved with them very briefly in my teens and I was never the official member,” he says. “Soon after I saw Wild Style and I chose this path. It’s over 30 years ago. I have nothing to do with Yakuza whatsoever.”
While music is an important healing instrument, does Krush have a personal meditation or spiritual practice? “The world is crazy now and we tend to forget the time to meditate. We should all purify our minds once in a while. ”
So what is it he reckons he offers the world? “The fusion of the reality and creation.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
