Yuko Araki Interview: “I love death metal and dark fantasy manga!”

Where the terrains of experimentalism are concerned, Japanese producer, Yuko Araki, explores the darkest frontiers.

Also the drummer for three-piece experimentalists KUUNATIC, Araki has embarked on a wild creative voyage since her first two solo LPs, I (2018) and II (2019). It was with 2021’s End of Trilogy where things ramped up several notches.

A complete and utter blazing force, End of Trilogy was 14 tracks of white-hot noise and a barrage of beats simply inspired by the grimy floor of an abandoned well. Going back to it two years after its release, and it’s surprising just how much of a black acid nightmare End of Trilogy is. The psychedelic horrors and frightening abstract thoughts all captured in what was one of the year’s finest electronic releases.

Araki returns with the follow-up, IV. An album that, by and large, is a little easier to digest. Or perhaps not? That’s the beauty of certain artists who have that uncanny knack of producing music that moves and morphs into different shapes and meanings with time. Araki is most certainly one of these artists, and despite most associating her in the pantheon of noise, her creations are steeped in psychedelia as much anything else. Take IV’s highlight moment, Gravitational Collapse – a wonderful psychedelic thrust of bleeps and grandeur.

Meanwhile, ‡Otiron scours the dusty underground channels that provided the vital source to drone. And from here, on ‡Damontoid Araki takes that very core idea of drone and pits it against the towering hellscapes that adorn most city skylines. Those tunnel-like echoes that shape the images of gentrification as much as urban decay.

Perhaps the telling moment of IV is during †White Petals. Oscillating between subtle dreadscapes and bludgeoning sonics, Araki creates the kind of dark vortex that forms as an unlikely refuge. Bourgeoning juxtapositions between chaos and serenity. Sonics made across the fault lines that, in essence, is life.

Touring the U.K. in November, earlier this week in the lead-up to release of IV, Araki answered some of our questions about her creative process, her alliance with Room40 and, of course, her new album.

S13: When did you start making music, and who and what would you consider to be your main influences?

Yuko Araki: “I began making music seriously since I started playing in KUUNATIC in 2016. Before that I’d just been playing instruments or joining other people’s projects. My main influences are the experiences from local gigs in Japan. Also, I can check underground music around the world on Instagram and enjoy hanging out at some gigs during the tour these days. And I love death metal and dark fantasy manga!”

S13: IV feels like quite a departure from End of Trilogy. Can you talk us through the process of making IV?

YA: ”After I did a European tour with Daisy Dickinson in 2021, I was forced to quarantine at the Japanese border when I returned to Tokyo. It was a crazy time at the end of 2021. I stayed at a Hotel near the airport for six days even though I didn’t catch Covid. Then I started to make IV in the hotel room where I couldn’t open the window or step outside.

“I recorded what I performed during the tour and kept making tracks that I wanted to play at the next shows.

“I was on tour a lot in 2022, between creation and creation, so each track might have a pretty different atmosphere because of the way those tours affected me. However, I had two great sound engineers on the album – Lawrence English and Nobuki Nishiyama (Ochiai Soup) who helped with the mixing.” 

S13: What was the main aspect you wanted to achieve with the album?

YA: “I wanted to make an album with more ‘composed’ tracks than I did in my previous releases, I, II and End Of Trilogy. And I also tried to raise the resolution of my taste to be more extreme, harsh, punchy, meanwhile keeping true to noise and exploring voice works as materials.”

S13: Taichi Nagura from Endon also features on the record. How did that collaboration come to fruition?

YA: “We’re friends and have been hanging out in the music scene in Tokyo for a long time, I’m a big fan of his band Endon and admire his vocal style. I’ve wanted to have some screaming on my music but sadly I don’t have much potential to scream, so I entrusted that to Taichi who has a very unique voice, where the sounds can’t be identified.!  

S13: This is your second release on Lawrence’s Room40 label. How did the collaboration with him come about?

YA: “I met him through friends when I was looking for a label to release my last album End Of Trilogy in 2020. We kept in contact, and I sent my new album to him early this year. I think he is one of the best people whose taste and ear for music covers a wide and eclectic mixture.” 

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S13: With a lot of electronic-based artist, I imagine there is a big emphasis on technology. Are you always looking for new equipment to incorporate into your music?

YA: “Exactly, I am! But I am careful that I am not going too much into it.”

S13: Can you shed some light on your creative process? Do you work on music every day?

YA: “Yes! I like to do it in the morning before I start working my eight hour daily job during the week, and whenever I like on Saturday and Sunday too. It’s pretty busy to do it alongside tours, so I’m dreaming of focusing on music works.”

S13: And what about your sense of identity. Does it influence your creativity and the music you produce?

YA: “I think so for some points. Or it might be an ideal image of my identity.”  

S13: How much of an influence does your immediate surroundings and Japan have on your music?

YA: “My music is kind of against or reflecting Japanese life. There is a strong contrast here like when the pop side and the dark side mix together. I live in Tokyo, it’s a very busy city where you can see lots of strange cartoons, hear some annoying pop music everywhere but people are quiet and calm.”

S13: You’re touring the U.K. again later this year. We are seeing less and less international artists tour here on the back of Brexit. As a solo artist, do you see yourself be a little more resistant to these implications than, say, a three-piece band?

YA: “Comparing the band and solo, I don’t feel a big difference. Perhaps I am not European so it is less impacting. Just the cost to get a work permit is a little bit cheaper for solo shows. Anyway, I am very much excited to tour in the UK soon!! [I] hope to see lots of people there.”

IV is out now via Room40. Purchase from Bandcamp.