The Mix 088: Wata Igarashi

The centre of Wata Igarashi’s music is like the sonic incarnation of a human gyroscope ride. As a listener, before there’s time to settle, you’re firmly strapped in, spun around, weaving various sensations of both disorientation and euphoria, all while maintaining a strange simultaneous feeling of stability. They say the gyroscope ride emulates the experience of being an astronaut, or flying through the void of space.

Which is the Japanese techno maestro’s plan of course. His latest album 'My Supernova' unapologetically takes you on a wild journey “outer space” (his words), with tracks doused in psychedelic arpeggios and loops. ‘Shockwave’ sees arpeggiated synths spool through warehouse tailored percussion, creating a dancefloor banger but also a track that would be an absolute nightmare to soundtrack a round of Just Dance. On the other end of the spectrum, Igarashi enjoys a dive into the emotive. ‘Echoes Beyond’ channels an inner 2001: A Space Odyssey, as a deeeep bassline croons under pounding kicks before anthemic chords explode across the track to close off the LP.

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Igarashi’s sound is certainly distinct, but still carries the marks of the musical plains he has traversed before. He first heavily got into music as a skater who listened to punk, hardcore and metal while living in Spain with his family in his mid-to-late teens, before later falling in love with jazz music: “You improvise on an instrument and have conversations with other artists. It really fascinated me,” he says. These previous experiences paint an abstract picture of his path to becoming a renowned techno producer and one of the most treasured DJs of his time.

Having just released 'My Supernova' on Dekmantel’s UFO series, we spoke to Wata Igarashi about the development of his unique sound, the challenges behind his first full-length techno album, and how he takes ravers on a musical journey through his DJ sets — which his psychedelic, textured instalment of The Mix attests to.

How did you get into the world of techno music? 

Whilw I was at university, my friends were like: “Wata, let’s go to a rave!” I was like: “What is a rave?” I had no idea, as I was only into jazz and stuff at that point, and they said: “Just come, it’ll be fun.” It was a psytrance rave in the mountains. I'd never seen people so free. It was so fun, and from there I got into that scene. I would go to a rave maybe once a month, but then I realised that musically I didn't really like psytrance: I liked the aesthetics, the vibe of the people, and I liked that there were people of all ages at the raves, but musically I preferred something like Plastikman or Jeff Mills. So, I got more into that scene, while I was still playing jazz.

At this time, techno for me was never about DJing or making music, it was just for me to have a fun hobby, like fishing. I was in a jazz band at the time, which I was very committed to pursuing a career with, but after a while it became hard to maintain a living out of it, so I began working as a composer for TV commercials. My boss at the company had a bunch of synthesisers, and, as an assistant, I had to learn how to use them all as I had to set them up before he came into the studio. After my band went on a hiatus I tried making techno. I thought it would be easy, but it was so difficult. I don't want to share how it first sounded but it was so cheesy and so bad! 

Whilw I was making a lot of techno tracks, I began to buy records too, because I wanted to see what people like Surgeon were making. I realised I had so many records now, I should try DJing. I think many electronic musicians start DJing before producing, but for me it was actually the opposite. I started to produce, got a few tracks of mine signed, and then some promoters began to wonder “Who the hell is he?” and I started to get booked. It was never my intention to make a living out of playing techno, but it just came along.

Your music contains lots of arpeggiation and loops - how did you craft the psychedelic sound your music is known for? 

It's a good question. I’ve never really thought about it, but I’ve just been pursuing what my gut has been telling me. I just like arpeggios and these loopy melodies which take you on a psychedelic journey to outer space. Even when I was playing jazz, I really liked making journeys through jamming.

I don’t think I intentionally started to play around with the arpeggio, it was more that I wanted to produce something that takes you on a journey. After a while, I realised that one of the things I liked making was these melodies that are constantly repeating, but also evolving, before lifting you up and taking you away. Now that I think about it, there was this Nintendo game I really liked called Xevious, and it had a crazy arpeggio in the soundtrack which I loved. I've never copied it or anything, but maybe that sound unconsciously influenced me, but I’m not sure.

You stated your latest album, 'My Supernova',  was your first full techno album and described it as your “newborn baby” - why does this feel like the right time in your life to release this project? 

As I was developing as a techno artist, EPs were the expression of my production. Even though I like Pink Floyd, or Metallica, or any other music that has conceptual albums, I never thought in a techno context that it would be necessary [to make a concept album]. I released my album 'Agartha' on Kompakt, and through that I wanted to express all the kinds of genres that I have liked through life. It was definitely not a techno-oriented album. Around that time, I moved to Amsterdam and I was thinking if I'm gonna release a [techno] album I want the right platform for it, one that understands not only my music but one that really shows who I am at the moment. 

Prior to this album, I had one EP signed to Dekmantel’s UFO label, so I said to their A&R, Olf [van Elden AKA Interstellar Funk], that I would love to make an album, I think it’s the time, and I have this concept that I want to do. Everything just felt in the right place, and I asked Olf if they would like to check out my album, and they said yes. I like the idea of not just listening to my album like an EP where you say “I like this track, and I like this track”, but instead one track makes up one part of the story. And so, with all nine tracks together it makes one big story which reflects who I am, what I want to say, and what I am as a techno artist at the moment. 

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It is a coherent project, and you said that you want the nine tracks to tell a story - do you find it hard to see these tracks taken out of the context of the album when you play them out in your DJ sets? 

To me, DJ sets are a journey. I would say that if I'm doing a four-hour set, it's a journey of tracks from lots of producers, rather than, for example, 'My Supernova' all being my own tracks. DJ sets are still a conceptual journey, even though I don’t fix a tracklist beforehand. It's definitely my intention to bring people on a journey, whether it's an outdoor festival or a club, and then singular tracks from my album can fit into the story I’m trying to tell. It's not the same journey as listening to the album, but it's a bigger journey as a longer DJ set, and as with longer stories, there’s more ups and downs. It's just about finding where the tracks fit the flow.

What is that story you're trying to tell with this album? 

I want every listener to be able to feel their own story out of the album, and I don't really want to push one idea. But the journey starts with an intro track that sucks you into the universe and then all of a sudden you're traveling through this psychedelic techno journey. It goes up and down to different places and different experiences and it lands somewhere a little bit more peaceful and warmer. That’s the basic story of it, but it's not like a story of going to the moon and then to Mars. It’s not just a collection of nine techno tracks. I think it just has a flow that brings you somewhere and that's how I wanted to make it work. It was a bit challenging.

Was it challenging to put the album together because of how personal it was, or were other things that made it difficult to put it together? 

It's a very personal album, but I also want people to understand it. If it was a completely personal noise album and I didn't care about the listener or something like that, then I wouldn't be in my head about it. I wanted people to be able to take a ride through this journey I’m trying to express.. It made me be very careful about the tracklisting. I listened to Metallica albums from my childhood, and while I wasn’t musically influenced by them, I was analysing what the concept album is about, like how one track came in after the other, and how they placed emotional intros. I wanted to see what makes a story, and how the music flows, and from there I came up with my own version in my head for how my album should be.

Why is it called 'My Supernova'? 

I chose the name 'My Supernova' because I wanted to name the album something that is a big stamp of who I am at the moment. All the tracks are like an explosion in my head; I could have called it my explosion but I wanted the context of being out in space and the universe. But, it’s not just the supernova, it's my supernova, because it is a very personal expression, and my current take on what my artist direction is. A supernova is a colourful explosion before the end, and while I'm not really thinking it's the end, it has this fragileness of being, or subtleness, alongside this emotional thing that supernova carries with me: this sound and this meaning. I think those values go with all the tracks on the album too, so I thought it was fitting to name it that.

The album cover is very abstract - what was your thought process behind the artwork?

Jonathan [Castro] worked on it. He's the art designer of the Dekmantel UFO label. He has his own aesthetics and direction for the UFO releases but I said: “Look, this is my first techno album, the artwork needs to go well with what the concept and the story of this album is.” I think the abstract artwork also allows you to come up with a take on what it means, and I like that kind of openness. It’s also a bit mysterious, but it has this warmth as well. I’m very happy with how it ended up. 

Your music is also known for its ambient and atmospheric elements - how do the lines of ambient music and techno blur for you?

The name ambient sounds like background music, which of course any music can be. But I don’t like that it makes it sound like it’s music for elevators. I think it’s a genre where a lot of musicians make a soundtrack to life. There’s a few ambient albums I listen to when I’m coming back home from shows that make me feel like I'm the main hero of a movie. It just excites me so much and to me it's not background music, it's part of what I'm living. I really like how it can totally affect you, so when I do ambient DJ sets or when I make ambient music, it's actually not that different from the techno journey of production or the DJ sets. I'm still trying to take the listeners on this mental journey, out into space and beyond reality, to where your reality goes beyond normality and sounds rich, trippy and weird. If an ambient track sonically resonates with me, sometimes I might throw it in one of my techno sets, as I love the journey that drumless music can take you on. It can be very powerful, it can be very emotional.

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Collaboration seems to be very important to you and a part of your workflow both as a DJ and a producer - do you have a different approach to working with fellow artists than by yourself?

It's easier to explain by separating DJing and performing live sets. I do back-to-backs with various DJs, such as DJ Nobu, and when I do, a day before, an hour before, and one minute before, I keep on reminding myself to let go of the ego as it isn’t a solo set. That I don’t need to just play bangers, that I don't need to play just my style, but instead I just need to have a conversation with the music. Of course, when I'm playing my style comes out whether I like it or not, but the last thing I want is to force my music to dominate it. I really like reacting to whatever track the other DJs throw out, I'm instantly wondering what song to play to complement the flow. I'm so alert, I'm ready to open all the drawers to put on the perfect, and not necessarily more banging, track. For the storytelling to shine, I like there to be a big palette of sound, and I want each track to shine as much as each other. 

Improvised live sets are the same, such as the one I’ve done with Peter Van Hoesen. It's all about reacting to the sounds. Do not be the complete director of the whole thing. Ride the wave, go with the flow, is the approach I take. It brings out a very interesting part of me as well as a very interesting part of the other person, if the synergy works out. Sometimes it sounds like the middle ground of the two artists or sometimes it sounds completely different. I like when that happens, and I don't want to be a control freak over what the sound is like. Accepting and reacting to what’s happening at that moment is how I enjoy my collaborations as a performer and producer.

You have just started your “wanderlust” residency in WOMB Tokyo, which you stated will be a “space for music to become a journey” - how do you accomplish this as a DJ and producer?

It's multiple things. The most important part for me when I'm listening to other amazing DJs that take me to different places is that they have such character. I think being honest to who you are, and what you like is best, and that takes time, because at first you don't even know what you like, or who you are.

I think I am starting to understand what kind of person I am, what kind of music I like and what kind of expression I want to share, but it took me a very long time. It's only because I took this path where I was a skater, then I went to jazz, and then I was a commercial music producer, to now this, that my music sounds how it is. 

It’s an abstract answer, but I think you just have to be honest to what you like in music, and what made you start. You need to remember that, and why you want to do it, before you begin to understand what journey you are on. 

For example, I saw Plastikman live in Tokyo a long time ago, and I was like “Wow!” I thought it was so dope. Events like that may be the basis of your journey, and fundamental to your expression, giving you space to evolve around it. Your palettes are influences from all your experiences. I find European crowds quite different to the Japanese audience I was playing to at first, and that shift has definitely influenced me, expanding my palettes and my scope of expression. 

Knowing who you are, expressing your art, and sharing it with people is the best thing any artist can do. I think I’m still on the way.

Can you tell us about your mix?

I gave myself the challenge of condensing the journey of my DJ sets into a single hour. Journey has always been the foundation of my music, both in production and behind the decks, so I wanted listeners to feel that arc even in a shorter format. This mix also points to where my sound is heading in 2026: dynamic, textured, psychedelic, and full of movement.

'My Supernova' is out now via Dekmantel UFO, buy it here

Finn Cliff Hodges is a freelance journalist, follow him on Instagram

Tracklist:
Jo Johnson – Hiding The Knot (Edit)
Jichael Mackson – V. Good Night
Knay – Déceptions
Pulso – First Drawing
Dejan (SE) – Breath of the Earth
ANFS – Pikro
Sednoid – Digit
Takeshi Sato & MASA – KABUTO (Cristian Varela Remix)
Wata Igarashi – Meltzone
Sigvard – Pulse
Madmaster – Deathrosez (Cristian Varela Remix)
Wata Igarashi – Untitled (Unreleased)
Orbital 14 – Modular Time
Dejan (SE) – Greh Podražava Slobodu
Invisible Operator – Instinct Over Reason 
Divide & Oisel – AD4
Wata Igarashi – Untitled (Unreleased)
Wata Igarashi – FXUN (Unreleased)
Nuria Ghia – Mugler
AgainstMe – Blooming
Nuel – Luna
VC-118A – Distorted Name
HLLW – Sample&Hold Me