DJ Tomoki Tamura, one of the world’s most successful Japanese DJs, has been running underground beats between London and Tokyo for years. Next, he’s hand-delivering his message to Bangkok as the headliner for With Love’s second anniversary celebration.
Since moving to London in 2004, Tamura has played top venues like Fabric and Ministry of Sound. He was a resident DJ at London’s legendary club The End/AKA until it closed down in 2009.
Tamura has dropped Japanese deep house everywhere from Ibiza to Belarus, but this is his maiden voyage to Thailand. Despite his great international success, Tamura’s excitement at taking a bite out of the Big Mango remains that of an ambitious upstart.
“I know from friends that the Bangkok scene is forward,” he said, in conversation with Coconuts. “I’m really looking forward to it. My father used to work in Thailand for a long time and I know he enjoyed it.”
While Tamura now calls Europe his home, he still finds satisfaction in coming back to Asia.
“People in London or Berlin, sometimes they don’t really watch DJs or care who’s playing,” he said. “People in Asia are more excited to see the DJ playing.”
According to Tamura, Tokyo’s electronic music scene is better than ever.
“It’s great, there are a lot of international DJs coming to play every week and lots of festivals happening too,” he said. “There are some great sites that stream Internet radio and Dommune is one of these. Sometimes, there are more than 10,000 people checking out a DJ on Dommune. That’s great, isn’t it?”
Tamura’s sound cuts samurai-sharp but remains sweet – a brooding blend of Japanese black deep house. Tamura’s track “3 years,” from his debut EP, hit number one on Beatport, and he considers it his biggest work of art.
“You never expect something like this to happen,” he said. “But when it comes the only thing that comes to your mind is, ‘Wow.’”
Tamura’s pride and joy is Holic, a concept party that has blown up in the London underground. Holic is also a mainstay at Womb in Tokyo, which enjoys a reputation as one of the best nightclubs in the world. He manages his own record label, Holic Trax, and the Holic parties from Berlin, where he has only recently relocated.
“It seems like you can’t escape the fact that everything is happening [in Berlin],” he said. “It’s a great time for everyone involved in the music field.”
DJ Tomoki Tamura is headlining With Love’s second anniversary on Thursday, May 23 at Glow Nightclub.
FIND IT:
Two years of love with Tomoki Tamura
Glow Nightclub
Sukhumvit Soi 23
May 23, 2013 starting at 10pm until 4am
Entry: THB400 (including one drink)
Photo: Shoma Misaka
