SATOSHI TOMIIE,JAPANESE PRODUCER IN AMERICA

[pointofnoreturn]

Satoshi Tomiie, born in Musashino-shi Tokyo, is one of the few Japanese producers who has been able to effectively establish himself in the American electronic music industry. With the introduction of Rap music to Japan around 1985, Satoshi found his initial interest in electronic music. Starting out as a DJ, Satoshi's interest in electronic music soon turned to producing. "I wanted to create something I could play in my DJ sets."

Currently living in New York City, Satoshi made his decision to leave Tokyo in pursuit of his musical dreams almost ten years ago. "I met Frankie Knuckles in Tokyo and luckily he said that he wanted to work with me. The first collaboration we did was "Tears." I soon found that it was easier creating dance music in NYC than in Tokyo. So I decided to move to NYC and join the Def Mix crew."

Def Mix, a production/management team that was started in the mid 80's by David Morales and Judy Weinstein, consists of Satoshi Tomiie, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Bobby D'Ambrosio, and Lord G. "Each individual has their own unique style, I am happy and proud to be a member of this family."

As a member of Def Mix crew, Satoshi found a lot of inspiration from David Morales and Frankie Knuckles, two icons of House Music History. "Obviously, I had been working with these guys and they have their own certain "style." They were my biggest influence, but I digested in my own way to create my style. There was no point in being "a copy of these guys." I come from a slightly different background and I had been listening to mainly Pop, Jazz, Brazilian, R&B, and dance music. Since I am Japanese, my attitude towards music is open to various styles. I consider this attitude towards music a Japanese-only trait and I think my albums represent it. In the US however, the market, the industry, and even the listeners are very "category orientated." Americans tend to stick to one genre of music. I don't judge this to be good or bad, but it is a major difference from the Japanese mentality."

A mentality that Satoshi agrees has helped him a bit with his success in the US. "I sometimes think I wish I had been born in America or Europe because they were growing up in the dance music culture. I had to do a lot of "catch up." On the other hand being Japanese is a unique position. We are far away from the western world and so we create our own youth culture."

With a "discography" that reflects Satoshi's involvement in over 250 released tracks, it is clear that "caught up" better describes Satoshi Tomiie today. With a little help from his Macintosh computer, ProTools and Studio Vision, Satoshi will continue to shape the future of electronic dance music. Self-described as a DJ that represents simply "House" Music or Tech / Vocal / Progressive House or "who gives a shit," it is Satoshi's attitude towards music and himself that continues to set him apart from other producers and DJ's today.

"Being a part of Def Mix, which is famous for vocal stuff and remixing big names like Mariah Carey, then people expect me to use piano, strings, and pretty musical stuff. This built my career over the years, but times have changed and are becoming more progressive. I have been interested in progressive stuff for 6 to 7 years, believe it or not, so my style has developed into various styles. I still love vocal stuff though. I have been DJing from Italy, where they love vocal, to the more progressive scene in England. I have gotten influence from the entire international dance music scene."

Satoshi, with some 10 years experience playing across the globe, still admits that he sometimes gets nervous before DJing. "I try not to expect a great night. Instead, I just try to have a good time myself. Sometimes it turns out a great gig and sometimes I get a poor dance floor. At least I can enjoy it and survive. If the DJ can't enjoy it, then who can?"

There has always been a relationship between a producer and the music mentality that comes with years of experience and a true love for music. A relationship that Satoshi states he would literally go mental without. But too often we forget that producers and DJ's are people too. With interests such as watching movies, sleeping, and as Satoshi jokingly adds "working on my girlfriends," it is easy to feel Satoshi's humor and easygoing attitude. John Digweed, Danny Tenaglia, and Ko Kimura are just a few of the DJ's Satoshi likes to hear when clubbing and if he could have it his way, you would find him resting on Anguilla, a Caribbean island. Actually, Satoshi only mentions one difficulty about being a Japanese producer in America.

"Speaking English Goddammit!!"

Although currently under deconstruction, Satoshi's Web site http://www.satoshitomiie.com will be up soon and offer all sorts of info for your reading pleasure. Make sure you check it out.

Satoshi Tomiie's partial Discography is available at: http://www.indamix.com/tomiie.htm

Brent Csutoras
March 2001

[Anonymous]

banzaiiii

[Anonymous]

arigato

[bulgur]

emang bener gak sih dia mau main di new years di balangan/dreamland bali ?

[Gober]

Satoshi tomiie nggak jadi main di dreamland, ini menurut flyer terakhir yang kita baca...

[fartoodeep]

Dj yang wajib di tonton
ini orang buat Homework di sebelum main
seorang pisikiater yang handal

canggih

kalau jadi main di Indo kabarin ya

peace