Japanese vibraphonist and marimba player Masayoshi Fujita returns with Migratory, his masterful new solo album, where his sonic explorations into the unknown continue.
In 2020, after 13 years of living in Berlin, Fujita returned to his native Japan with his wife and their three children, fulfilling his life-long dream of living and composing music in the midst of nature. The family found their new home in the mountain hills along the coast of Kami-cho, Hyōgo, three hours west of Kyoto.
Once settled in, Fujita spent his time turning an old kindergarten into his own music studio, Kebi Bird Studio, which became the birthplace of Migratory. On his new album, the composer and producer masterfully reimagines and mesmerises with his trademark sounds of vibraphone, and resumes his experimentation with the marimba and synthesisers that he first incorporated on his 2021 album, Bird Ambience, which followed the release of his acclaimed vibraphone triptych: Stories (2012), Apologues (2015) and Book of Life (2018).
Masayoshi Fujita will be playing at our next Kiezsalon at Collegium Hungaricum Berlin on 6 November.
Questions and Answers
3 FACTS
1: I live in a small village on a mountain in rural Japan and create music in nature. Dream has come true.
2: I like to work in garden, do DIY and prepare fire wood.
3: I’ve recently re-started jogging.
11 QUESTIONS
1. What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Nature I live in.
2. How and when did you get into making music?
Around age of 10 or so, with double-cassete deck at home recording guitar and overdubbing.
3. What are 5 of your favourite albums of all time? (yes we know it is difficult).
Ghost In The Shell original soundtrack
Tim Hecker – Konoyo
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble – Officium
Rhythm & Sound – Rhythm & Sound
Brian Eno – Ambient 1 Music for Airports
4. What do you associate with Berlin?
Doener Kebab, fiends, beer, cafe, everyday life back then.
5. What’s your favourite place in your town?
My studio and home, pizzeria Jinen-an
6. If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Farming
7. What was the last record/music you bought or listened to?
Jonny Nash
8. Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Dimitris Papaioannou
9. What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Pan Sonic at CTM festival 2009 at Maria am Ostbahnhof
10. How important is technology to your creative process?
Very important to make good quality recordings, less important in creative process.
11. What can we expect from your Kiezsalon concert?
I’m building a new live-set with more space to improvise in ambient way.
