Forget Tiesto’s cheesy build-ups and Armin van Buuren’s cheap drops. Old-school, commercial trance is dead, and a legendary, Japanese label, Mizuha (you can remember our first article from 2022) founded by Ichiro Tanimoto and Shu Tamiya from Minna-no-kimochi, isn’t interested in digging up the ruins of the genre. In fact, it has never been. As you immerse yourself in the label’s earlier releases—Azrel’s dreamy soundscapes or STELLAE’s hazy ambient sounds—you might ask yourself, ‘Is what Mizuha offers really trance?’ Well, it’s trance as an art form. These Japanese mavericks merely borrow elements of the genre’s epic narrative – its larger-than-life, ecstatic emotionality and childlike naivety and incorporate these elements into avant-garde, poetic sound art.
Now, with nearly 6 years under its belt, the ever-shapeshifting label is entering its next phase – they’ve just launched a new sub-label, Mizuha +, dedicated to more dance-oriented electronic music. On this occasion, I spoke to members of the label about its history, philosophy, the tracks that have shaped it, and the shape of Mizuha’s future to come.
You have just launched a sub-label dedicated to dance music. What was behind this decision? Could you tell me which aspects of the main label’s philosophy you would like to carry over to your sub-label?
We carry over our core concept of “expansion” from the main label. Our origins go back to 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns kept us in our rooms, spending more time alone, and we started digging deeper into music. The sounds we were drawn to were new and experimental, opening up our sense of the world. At a time when the sky was blue outside but we couldn’t go out, these sounds turned the bedroom into a space that expanded our awareness. We believe that reaching toward the unknown, the unfamiliar, and the unnamed—and surrendering to these foreign territories—is a core element of artistic practice.
After the pandemic, as we returned to clubs and started playing more as DJs, we began to see the dancefloor as another place to explore this idea of expansion.
If the bedroom was our shelter during the pandemic, then in today’s world, where a sense of peace often feels uncertain, the dancefloor can also be a kind of shelter. From the bedroom to the dancefloor. From headphones to sound systems. From the mind to the body. With this shift, our activities and our idea of “expansion” have found a new axis.
Are there any specific subgenres of dance music that you haven’t covered as Mizuha, but would like to explore?
We’re interested in sounds that feel unfamiliar to us, sounds that don’t yet have a name. So it’s difficult for us to point to any specific subgenre. If we had to, we might refer to it as what is often called “downtempo”, low BPM dance music. It’s often grouped together under that convenient label, but in reality, it’s a highly diverse space where many interesting ideas and approaches are being explored.
Which new artists are you keeping an eye on? I’m especially interested in artists from Japan.
In Japan, we’re really into artists from our generation like E.O.U and Frog3.
We’re also keeping an eye on artists beyond Japan, including ljj555998 and Coil Sprite from China.
If you were to recommend tracks that have shaped your approach to the deconstructed trance scene, which ones would they be?
7038634357 – Sugar Armor
Croatian Amor – Love Means Taking Action
Evian Christ – Ultra
Lorenzo Senni – Persona
Sun Angels – Princessa
I’ve been listening to Tasho Ishi’s brilliant second album a lot recently – it’s a blend of juke and pointillistic trance. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the pointillistic movement. Do you think there’s still room to add something new to it? Or perhaps you know of any artists who are currently pushing the boundaries of the genre, but aren’t that well-known?
Tasho Ishi is, without a doubt, a great artist. At our 24-hour New Year’s party last year, he played the countdown set, which was absolutely mind-blowing. In recent years, we’ve been hearing the term “trance revival” more and more. However, much of what it refers to feels like nostalgia without substance, what we call “cultural necrophilia.” Streaming platforms, their algorithms, and large-scale festivals have played a role in shaping this trend.
On the other hand, what is often called “pointillistic trance” seems to deconstruct trance itself, but also its negative aspects, transforming them into something new and unfamiliar, yet with a faint sense of nostalgia. I deeply admire Tasho Ishi and the other artists mentioned above for these aspects. What’s interesting is that many of them probably don’t see their own work as trance at all. We see these kinds of attempts as complete in themselves. For us, they capture something essential about trance music and about artistic practice as a whole. This is also something we keep in mind when curating releases and collaborations as a label.
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Text: Marcin Zimmermann for Swine Daily
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