Tokyo Underground: MattB and the Glitch Hop Massive

By Japanzine Staff

Japanzine has always prided itself on being a forward thinking rag that pips its readers to the post on most things going down in these parts. Occasionally, however, you guys come up with some new-fangled movement, and you make us feel old. Truth be told, it's happening more and more these days. Case in point; we recently sat down with London-raised MattB to chat about his involvement with the glitch hop movement, currently finding its feet in Tokyo. Wait a minute... Glitch what, now? Sounds like a dance move gone blooty. Sounds like a tune bubble made freak! We whacked our main veins with smoke, then headed on down to suckle at the nipple of truth.

So, MattB, tell us a bit about the scene you’re involved in.

Made in Glitch comprises a bunch of single-minded individuals with the common vision of spreading glitch music in its newest form here in Japan. We want to offer something different, unlike your usual club night at the same venue. We are focusing on artists that perform their own material in a live format. We are not interested in following already existing trends, but instead,  we're fully committed to crafting something unique. Tokyo is finally warming up to this 'new' sound, which is great because this city really needs something new and interesting. Dance music is a bit stagnant at the moment and, If you ask me, it's finally running out of steam. We are very proud about being possibly the first and only crew taking a chance and offering something completely new to the Tokyo punters.

But what exactly is Glitch Hop? Most of us have never heard of it...

Glitch hop is a fusion of hip hop, IDM (intelligent dance music) and broken beats. It's a meeting point for different crowds, and it's spreading like a virus all over the world. Recently it has been characterized by some heavy laser-sounding basses.

Errr... OK! Lots of words I'm still unfamiliar with. Are there any big DJ’s or producers right now that I might have heard of? I can still remember the glory days of Stock, Aitken and Watermouse, if that helps.

In my opinion the best artists in this genre at the moment are Megasoid, The Glitch Mob and Lazer Sword. But, really, there are so many out there its very difficult to list them all. 

And how does the Tokyo scene fit onto it that list?

The Tokyo scene is still at a very early stage. When I started off playing in Tokyo in the winter of 2003, I considered myself the ambassador of this genre in Japan, as I never came across anyone else doing this kind of music. Only recently, I discovered Broken Haze, a Japanese artist doing something very similar, which led us to book him for the recent event at Legato - and he definitely crushed it!

Tell us a bit about some of the events you guys have had. Who have you invited to play at them, and how was the response?

The Made In Glitch parties have been relatively small until now. We were trying to cultivate a steady and loyal crowd before taking it the next step. I still remember a few years ago when I was DJing some tracks of mine at this party, and people were coming up to the booth and asking me, with a smile on their faces, “What the hell was that?” The 1st  Made In Glitch party had me and Steve, my partner in Bass Science, playing a live glitch-step set in a small venue in downtown Shibuya, and the response was pretty good. That was the time I decided that things would eventually move forward and Japan was indeed ready for this new style. 

You mentioned in an email that Tokyo's glitch movement was recently part of a DVD being filmed. What’s the deal with that?

We are currently editing and doing post production for this project. It will be part of a CD compilation I have been putting together over the past year which will include exclusive unreleased tracks by Bass Science, Spoonbill, edIT, Salva, Eprom, EPCOT and others. The DVD will be a documentary of the Made In Glitch crew, including interviews with artists, some exclusive music videos, and a live video from our 1st party. It will be relased in February 2009 by Elektrik Dragon, an Indie label based in Hong Kong. 

Is there anywhere people can hear glitch hop on the web? Any site you can point us to?

You mean apart from our site? Haha. We are about to make a podcast service available, with exclusive mixes from the best artists out there. Worth subscribing to, I reckon. It's free, after all. Check our site for more information.

How about any upcoming events?

We will have our next Made In Glitch party on the 14th of February, with 2 super guests from Canada and San Francisco. They have never gigged in Japan before, but they have a very solid reputation and following abroad.

Lastly, can you tell us how people can learn more about you and the scene you’re creating? How can they get in touch with you? 

First off, what we are doing here is a party, and a party without a crowd is not a party. So anyone that wants to get in touch is more than welcome to do so through our website. We’re also just about to set up a digital label on which we’ll be releasing complete multimedia packages – video art, visual art and graphic design, together with new tracks and remixes by the world’s top glitch artists. We’re doing the whole deal. The 1st release for Made In Glitch records will be a Mattb featuring Salva track, with an exclusive remix by Lunice (Turbo Crunk). Something to look out for!

Official website: www.madeinglitch.com

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