Counterflows: Kazuki Tomokawa + Margareth Kammerer

Event information

There are a handful of artists that have been on the Cafe OTO wish list from way back when the venue itself existed only in our minds. Right up at the top of the list is Kazuki Tomokawa. Now a reluctant traveler outside of Japan it has taken years of asking to try and get him here but at last it looks as though it is happening!

Poet, singer, artist, bicycle race commentator, essayist, actor and drinker Tomokawa embodies the romance of the vagabond poet.

“Tomokawa is cut from a truly human, outsider cloth they don't make anymore.” Alan Cummings

KAZUKI TOMOKAWA

Youth and encountering the poetry of Chuya Nakahara

Born in Hachiryu-mura (now renamed as Mitane-machi), Akita in northern Japan on February 16, 1950, Tomokawa’s real name is Tenji Nozoki. He was brought up by his grandparents, surrounded by the lush nature of the Mitane River which flows into Lake Hachiro. During his years at Ukawa Middle School, Tomokawa was a notably poor student and displayed no interest in literature. However, by chance one day in the library he came across the poem Hone (Bone) by the early 20th century Japanese symbolist poet Chuya Nakahara. This poem shocked him to the core, and he started writing his own verse. After leaving middle school, he entered Noshiro Technical High School, a school famous for its basketball program. While managing the school basketball team, he read widely – devouring books by the likes of decadent novelist Osamu Dazai and noted literary critic Hideo Kobayashi. (He later coached the team for a while, one of his students going on to represent Japan at the Olympic Games).

The Birth of Kazuki Tomokawa… The 1970s

Inspired the example of Bob Dylan and others, the early 1970s in Japan witnessed a boom in folk music. Tomokawa found himself caught up in the movement, taught himself to play acoustic guitar and began to set his poems to music. In 1975 he made his long-awaited record debut, releasing the album yatto ichimaime (Finally, The First Album). Around this time he got to know the members of the radical Japanese rock band Zuno Keisatsu. He got on particularly well with the group’s percussionist, Toshiaki Ishizuka, who would go on to become one of Tomokawa’s most important musical collaborators. In the late seventies, Tomokawa would become heavily involved with several theatre companies, writing songs for their plays and even appearing on stage as an actor. This was a period when he seemed to seek ever new spaces into which to expand his creativity. It was also during this period that he first became interested in art.

Tomokawa, the Artist

Tomokawa held his first solo show in Tokyo in 1985, with the support of the art critic Yoshie Yoshida. Since then he has had shows all over Japan, and has attracted the attention and praise of artists and opinion-makers like the outsider author Kenji Nakagami and the poet Yasuki Fukushima.

Moving to PSF Records

In 1993, Tomokawa released the album Hanabana no kashitsu (Fault of Flowers) on PSF Records, a label until then better known for avant-garde music and psychedelic rock. The album attracted much praise from the contemporary composer Shigeaki Saegusa, and suddenly Tomokawa found many of his out-of-print albums being reissued. The relationship between PSF Records and Tomokawa continues to this day, producing a steady stream of releases. One of the most notable of his PSF albums was Maboroshi to asobu (Playing with Phantoms, 1994), which broke new artistic ground in its encounter with free jazz musicians. Around this time, Tomokawa also produced a string of books – the poetry compilation Chi no banso (Earth Accompaniment), a picture book Aozora (Blue Sky, text by Wahei Tatematsu, illustrations by Tomokawa), and a collection of essays, Tenketsu no kaze (Wind from the Skyhole). More recently Tomokawa has become known as an authority on bicycle racing, working as a commentator on the satellite TV channel Speed Channel, and writing a racing column for an evening newspaper. Bicycle racing is now one of Tomokawa’s main obsessions.

Film Soundtracks and Overseas Tours

In 2004 Tomokawa appeared in cult director Takashi Miike’s film Izo, which uses the motif of the 19th century killer Izo Okada to depict time-travelling scenes of carnage and butchery. Tomokawa appears as a mysterious singer who symbolizes the killer’s internal thought processes, and he sings five songs during the course of the film. Tomokawa also provided the music for Koji Wakamatsu’s 2005 film 17 sai no fukei (Cycling Chronicles: Landscapes the Boy Saw). Since moving to PSF, Tomokawa has continued to release one album per year. His reputation has begun to rise overseas, and in recent years he has performed in Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland, France and also in Korea in the autumn of 2009.

While Tomokawa’s music has been most warmly received by artists and music obsessives that does not imply that it is difficult to understand. Rather it is the ironic result of his fastidious way of life as an artist. As the years go by, Tomokawa’s music and art seem to become even more beautiful, ever more limpid and they will surely continue to inspire his listeners with the courage to be themselves.

Translated by Alan Cummings

“There is a perception that being called a genius simply means having a natural talent or brilliance but that’s really only one side of it. A true genius possess’ a unique style, one that has no peers. Their works are given eternal life and only when death calls does the soul of a one grow old. Kazuki Tomokawa is a man of this nature, a true gift from God.” — Masato Kato 'Fat in the Morning Light' (1996)


LA FAUTE DES FLEURS _ a portrait of Kazuki Tomokawa (trailer) from MODEST LAUNCH on Vimeo.


MARGARETH KAMMERER

Margareth Kammerer composes minimalist, abstract songs which are influenced by fields as diverse as experimental voice, soundresearch and early Blues. She is unusual in seeming equally at home improvising with the likes of Fred Frith and Otomo Yoshihide as singing jazz standards in a haunting voice that recalls the likes of Karen Dalton and Sibylle Baier.

In 2000 she started working solo, composing just for herself using voice, guitar and the texts of E.E. Cummings, Anne Carson and others. She also started to collaborate and compose with bands again more recently such as The Magic I.D. with Kai Fagaschinski, Christof Kurzmann, Michael Thieke - a group that floats in the ether between sound research and extended songforms. She is also part of Therubyrubyruby with Steve Heather and Derek Shirley singing laid back Jazz standards...

She performed and worked with Fred Frith, Otomo Yoshihide, Burkhard Stangl, Paolo Angeli, Axel Dörner, Jason Forrest, Stefano Pilia, Andrea Belfi, Daniela Cattivelli, Claudio Rocchetti, the new contemporary music ensembles Die Maulwerker und Ensemble Zwischentöne, and most recently with Ignaz Schick, Luciano Chessa, Ellen Fullman, Teresa Wong and Big Daddy Mugglestone.


-----------------------


Counterflows


Counterflows is a new series of festivals exploring international networks of underground music. This first festival takes place across London, Berlin and Glasgow from 6th-15th April. Produced by OTOProjects in Berlin and London and AC Projects in Glasgow the festival was made possible with support from Sound and Music, The British Council, Creative Scotland, The PRS for Music Foundation and The Goethe Institut.