Himuro Yoshiteru
Tokyo, Japan
The Sea You Never Know
Behind the Music
Himuro YoshiteruMy favorite part of being in The Outlaw Ocean Music Project is envisioning what Ian or other characters in the book, such as Lang Long or David George Mndolwa, saw. I translated those images into my songs by using synthesized sounds and noises that enable a listener to picture landscapes and textures. Music can be a vehicle for immersive storytelling that feeds people’s imaginations. It can simultaneously express a range of feelings, from violence to sorrow, without verbalizing anything.
My songs, as well as those of all the other artists participating in The Outlaw Ocean Music Project, will help make Ian’s messages stronger. Ian’s reporting not only reveals the stories of oppression and abuse that occur behind the resources we take at sea, but it also shows how the web of corruption is interconnected. No one is untouched by the crimes happening at sea, and The Outlaw Ocean illustrates that to us. I hope that in consuming this project people will be able to more readily recognize the pervasiveness of these problems.
About Himuro Yoshiteru
Himuro Yoshiteru is an electronic musician and DJ from Japan.
Himuro's first album “Nichiyobi” was released in 1998 by the English record label Worm Interface, alongside artists like Tom Jenkinson (Squarepusher) and Freeform. His releases are mostly within the electronic music genres of drum and bass, electronica, hip-hop and braindance, with a significant jazz influence.
His style is often described in the media as very playful. It consists of finely chopped, fast rhythms in combination with jazzy bass and synthesizer lines and 8-bit sounds (like video game music). In this area he is one of the prominent Japanese musicians of this time.
Some of his pieces have been featured on John Peel’s radio show on BBC Radio 1 and one was later released as an MP3 on the Tribute to John Peel Series as a free download.
In his live acts, he primarily uses his laptop, MIDI controllers and effects processors.