IN FOKUS: MIRA 新伝統
This is definitely the most #offplanet mind-expanding interview we’ve ever received and the more we read it the more it changes, morphs, and expands into something new. We also just learned a new word: Hyperstition. Because really, we’re at a loss for words when it comes to describing how we’ve just been schooled on everything from the space-time continuum to “Acid Communism.” So meet MIRA. The duo-entity from Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya specifically. Their ethos is engulfed in a future-now reality with an arsenal of tracks, sounds, methodologies and influences to back it up, over, and beyond the current simulation we’re living in. We first discovered MIRA by way of Hong Kong Community Radio but that’s only an amoebic fraction of what we’ve uncovered about them. For those of us on the other side of this planet, what you’ll hear from this In Fokus set is nothing short of what we’re truly craving in many dj-sets: provocation, mastery, and curation that spans and challenges our frequencies - no tropes, no tricks -and nothing but future. There’s also a lot of heart here, too. MIRA even sites SOPHIE’s tracks as helping them get through bad days here on Earth. Okay - our minds are expanding again and we’re getting carried away. We’ll let this interview and the music speak for itself. Your brain will thank you.
Where in the world is MIRA?
We are based in Tokyo, Japan. More precisely in Shibuya.
What was the inspirations behind this set?
For a quote of Michel Foucault in Mark Fisher's unfinished "Acid Communism" project which we put on vocaloid at the beginning of the mix. It somewhat resonated with the recent release by Caterina Barbieri and Lyra Pramuk, the urgency and longing for otherness. Then this beautiful, floating, eeriness becomes intercutted by neuro-spams from the headless techno-acceleration engulfing our lives.
Toward the end, there is a tribute also to Peter Rehberg, musician and co-founder of Mego Edition, an immense influence, who unfortunately prematurely passed away this month (July 2021).
Tell us about the concepts behind your tracks/music projects or something that’s inspiring you to work on your music frequencies:
In 2018-19, our focus with MIRA 新伝統 was to find a cathartic expression through our project TORQUE, as a way to cope for co-founder Honami Higuchi who was victim of a rape, and was mentally and physically recovering from years of sex-work at that time. It somewhat evolved in a broader questioning about the worker's body as a resource and object of consumption in neoliberal societies.
Then going deeper down the rabbit hole, what is the true nature of capitalism, its entropic dynamics, and what are the cultural practices that could help everyone to move toward an exit.
Currently our curatorial and artistic projects for this year and the next are mainly evolving towards experimenting with non-human narratives and hyperstitions as tools for hacking the consensual hallucination we are currently all trapped in.
Where do you see the future of DJing? And where do you want it to take you into the future?
We honestly never gave much thought about DJing as practice, it is quite tangential to our main activities. But maybe DJing should move further into curational forms, that is presenting the audience to more challenging works, properly crediting the artists being played in a set, and pushing the work of innovative and emerging producers to a wider audience.
Streams and radio are definitely a good thing in that you can bypass the gatekeepers and all the tribalism that exists in every local scene, where friendship and socializing is a more determinant factor than talent.
Regarding the metaverse, during the pandemic we have been participating and watching a lot of live shows on twitch and in the VR environment, but when it comes to clubbing VR doesn't quite replace the real experience yet.
However we are interested in the potential of AR filters in physical places like clubs and galleries. It is mostly insta filters for now, but you can imagine multiple layers of realities and identities merging in a single space through the use of augmented reality. One layer you show something about yourself in that club, you wear that particular 3D dress, but we can imagine secured layers only accessible to your close friends where you are wearing something completely different, expressing another level or compartment of your personality, etc.
Describe a moment / club night / party / that made you want to become a DJ/Producer or devote yourself to music.
(Honami focused on contemporary dance and 3d - it's solely Raphael answers)
For me it was the boom of laptop only based music in early Y2K, it was a totally new thing at the time. Pita (Peter Rehberg), Fennesz, Oval, Merzbow, were my first heroes. The real switch was thanks to Kouhei Matsunaga (Raster Noton) who was crashing at my place while touring in France in 2003 and started to install a few cracked softwares on my computer showing me how to mess around with sounds.
Imagine having the ability to command entire spaces, entire crowds, entire genres?! And all you want to do with that power is get people to feel good. It’s the closest I can get to healing superpowers.
Favorite tracks at the moment - or of all time?
Oh recently we really like the new release of Diana Azzuz "Anastrophe", last year we had "Dæmon x Endgame '530I ft. Deka" on repeat, and this month Caterina Barbieri and Lyra Pramuk really stand out too. All time favorites would be: Ovalcommers - Track 3 by OVAL, "Glow Worm" by Tenko and Ikue Mori.
Favorite DJ and/or producers at the moment?
The thing about doing radio shows every month, chasing the latest releases etc, is that it is hard to pin down a favorite anymore. There are so many great artists around… but we are quite curious about what's going on with the i8i nebula recently as it seems to share some common grounds with our current approach.
What is a city or scene that you feel is underrated and needs more hype/awareness?
We think promoters should pay more attention to the middle-east and latin-america experimental scenes. China and Taiwan are still going strong too.
Describe your creative process and how you approach sets.
Originally Raphael was working mostly with Pure-Data and Max/MSP for his solo project, the year prior to starting MIRA 新伝統 his own musical project was on hold to focus on developing and sell his max for live audio plugins.
However for MIRA 新伝統 the process is quite different and longer, we usually start by writing stories and sceneries on papers we share with each other.
Our first release on AMEN was really a rather raw live recording of our performance.
The next EP, that we are currently finishing took about 2 years, most of the time was spent on stories and the why and how of it, we actually made a first version of the EP and Music Video, spending way too much time shooting scenes that we eventually threw away, the only remaining part is "Axsys Pandemonium" self-released as a single for KATO MASSACRE parties.
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The work really restarted during the pandemic, since there were not many gigs it was easier to focus, and we spent a fair amount of time on sound design experiments, narrative research, also building presets, libraries, etc.
Then the track making in itself generally starts by making rather basic patterns on the Elektron Digitone, then recording clips and scenes in ableton, then spending a very long time, micro editing every portion in arrangement, usually the finalised track bears no resemblance with the first version.
Labels that are a go-to must-have in your arsenal?
If we go for club-adjacent materials, it will probably be: SVBKVLT, PAN, genome66.6, Infinite Machine, FunctionLab, Naafi, Inverted Audio, Xquisite Releases, Hyperboloid, Gin & Platonic, SplashPatterns, Slagwerk, C.A.N.V.A.S, TAR, Angoisse, Danse Noire, YEAR0001, Hyperdub, so many many others.
Name some of the tracks that consistently inspire you to do better and just...well, get you through a bad day.
Sophie's tracks help us to go through bad days, we were so saddened by her passing. And although we are far away from this particular esthetic in our works, production wise, it pushed us to work harder on our stuff. We also love listening to M.E.S.H productions, there is a unique intrication of spaces strangely mixed with some kind of groove/playfulness that feels so great to lose yourself into. Lastly, there is this incredible track by Oxhy and Thoom “Distorted Voices” which is just an emotional maelstrom.
If you had any superpowers it would be:
Creating separated space-time continuums and moving between those agelessly. Mostly to catch up on sleep and wander and… waste as much time as possible with no consequences. A doubt about the last 10 sec of your track, no problem, you go to a different space-time and spend 10 years thinking about it (or not).
Your fullest expression of love is:
It may sound trivial but standing by when shit goes wrong and being kind is pretty much the best you can show.
What is the best piece of advice you could give to a DJ just starting out?
If your final goal is to make your own sound: produce first. It is always easier to produce first then DJing later. The other way around is much more difficult because you will have to disappoint a part of your audience, and if you are a popular DJ, it will be basically harder to find time to learn producing.
Also we would advise to stay away from the addiction of having some kind of social status, if you feel you are doing what you do to preserve your social status in a scene or having some kind of "right to be there" it's time to take a break and reflect on your original intent, reassert your long term goals and find real friends.
The future is already there, it just isn’t our future and your focus is to summon other futures, other consensual hallucinations to desire.
