I feel like all my life I’ve been elbowing my way into social scenes that I don’t really have any business being a part of, as if for some kind of dare to myself. I don’t know what it is about me, but when I encounter a world of things and people I know nothing about, I’m often compelled to infiltrate, spy as it were, pick up some intel, save it for another occasional that waiting me down the road. Then when that 2nd chance comes, and I’m caring the Ace in my sleeve, I bust it out, and presto, I’m it. Yeah, I realize it sounds a little mole-ish, but it has more to do with a curiosity about, well, kinda anything. I can think of a dozen off the top of my head, whether they’ve been professional, or academic, highfalutin or down-and-dirty, if you can just keep a sleeve-ful of aces, you can always hang.
One scene I infiltrated long ago was the “Unity Gain” world back in Boulder, which I’ve mentioned here a number of times (it was just a weekly rave party with an established cast of characters) and won’t go deeply into again (by the way, I’m taking a completely convoluted and random path, admittedly for feeling just completely random today, to talk about friendly Igami pictured here) …but one of the gatekeepers of that Unity Gain world, at least in my eyes, was artist Cory James Stafford, who though just a couple years my senior, essentially gave me permission to be a part of this world. We eventually became great friends and his baby boy at the time grew up to become 4-time World Kendama champion “Bonz Atron” who is kind of enormous here in Japan where the kendama is from. On this particular night that I met Igami san, I was hanging out on the streets with Bonz who was passing through Tokyo on one of his world Kendama tours. As Bonz was doing some tricks on the street, I spotted Igami san and told Bona to hang tight while I did some Tokyo Record Style.
So I chatted Igami san on the streets of Shibuya, and as fate would have it, we not only knew a handful of the same people but the very records Igami had scored that day from Disk Union where the very kinds of records that would have be spun by IVY or Psychonaut back at the Unity Gain parties. Plus Igami san, turns out, is pals with HMV’s Asa-san who introduced Top 5 Records (my DJ Event and Talk Show side project) to our last home at Talking Gorilla.
So anyway, this whole thing was just going full circle. I’ve squandered my chance to saying anything cohesive or coherent about Igami sam or for Unity Gain or for Bonz Atron, but that’s sometimes the way it goes when you’re staring down a blank sheet of paper, a proposition many find formidable but one that I quite welcome, even if it just means drivel all over the page, which is maybe the case this time. Anyway, someday you have it, some some days you really have it, but I guess you just gotta keep showing up either way, to clear the pathways for more.
Igami told me that he loves techno and house and DJ’s out from time to time and a hunch I get from his expression is that his sets would not disappoint. So give him a follow and see if you can catch up with him the next time he’s at the decks.
Thanks for the chat Igami san! And thanks for the hang Bonz! Hope the rest of your time in Tokyo was fun!
Todh Teri – Deep In India Vol.6
Label: Todh Teri – TODH006
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Limited Edition
Country: Germany
Released: Nov 29, 2019
Genre: Electronic
Style: Disco, House
https://www.discogs.com/release/14475622-Todh-Teri-Deep-In-India-Vol6
Afro-Mystik – Morphology
Label: OM Records – OM 115 VLP
Format: 3 x Vinyl, 12″
Country: US
Released: 2003
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Future Jazz, Deep House
https://www.discogs.com/release/249269-Afro-Mystik-Morphology
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