Rushmore: Reflections On Tokyo

The city that birthed new album 'Ours After'...

Some cities leave their stamp on a person.

Tokyo is one such place. From a Western viewpoint, it can seem hopelessly, but seductively, alien, a continual source of inspiration that exists entirely outside the norm.

Rushmore very quickly fell under its spell. New album 'Ours After' owes a psychological debt to Japan, to its incredible atmosphere and very unique culture.

Fusing 90s rap with footwork and other electronic innovations, 'Ours After' is a supremely creative document.

Out on July 29th, Clash invited Rushmore to reflect a little on his love affair with Tokyo…

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I visited Tokyo for the first time in November 2014 and the experience is still very vivid to me, in every sense; sight, sound, smell and touch. I stayed there for a week following a one night pit stop to DJ in Hong Kong to play alongside MikeQ in a 5-star hotel bar/club with some label mates form Kuala Lumpur thrown in for good measure – it was amazing. My first time playing in Asia, but with the comfort of being surrounded by friends made it feel like a home from home. This was the same feeling I had while in Tokyo, I knew one person there, Koko Miyagi. The promoter who booked me, Mr Tikini, moved there from London some seven or eight years ago. Familiarity and feeling comfortable is an instant advantage, when visiting somewhere as far from the UK for the first time.

Arriving into Tokyo by night was a great entry – the streets were quiet and we were riding through the city in Konida's smoke swirled car. All the above mentioned people, for the record, feature on track 12 of the album: 'Izakaya Trance'. It’s a really trippy rap track with a natural mix of Japanese and English rap lyrics and I was inspired to ask them to feature on it after they were all MC’ing at the party I played – more on that in a bit.

I had the unique pleasure of staying in a 1 bed apartment in the thick of Harajuku for my week in Tokyo. This was an ultimate privilege and no better central place to explore from. By this point I had started writing my album already. A 12 hour plane ride filled with anticipation of Tokyo's glory and a fading apprehension from scaremongering news – ISIS and Ebola – amongst other things, were the starting points for a few sketches. I do generally find travelling on long journeys therapeutic in some way as it provides a strict time of rest bite, un-connected form the URLs of social media. I seem to have a rush of ideas when in these environments, in this case when riding the trains of Tokyo.

Additionally, there were a couple of short sessions in the apartment and then other short sessions on a few train rides in the city and the plane ride home, that produced the skeleton and soul of the album. I almost feel like I can’t remember writing it in some way, but I think the high of the visit, coupled with so much newness to process that the time spent producing was only small part of my experience there.

The day of the Osiris club night I was playing in Tokyo, which was actually two nights before I left, Darren aka Mr Tikini took me to the Meiji Jingu shrine. It was super close to my place and has vast grounds, lots of lush greenery, a powerful entrance and an enchanted square that held a wedding ceremony as we got there, a very special experience. This definitely influenced the atmospheres and tones reflected in the album; ceremonial in parts. Tracks like ‘Special Keikan Shower’, ‘Familia Martyr’ and ‘Second Coming’ spring to mind.

Within the grounds is Kisoyama’s Well, known as a power spot, which was supposed to be dug by the historical warlord himself. We went down there, to power up ahead of the night, as a gesture of strength and hope for the night’s success. A quick dip of the hands in the crystal clear water, to lightly cleanse the face, neck and hands – we were ready. Tracks like ‘Faith Power’ ‘Lost Familiar’ and ‘Jingu Direct’ were informed by these experiences.

The club night was amazing, a 300 capacity 7th floor club in the sky with an intimate, friendly and knowledgeable selection of DJs, and people in attendance created a feeling of warmth. Part of the joy of the internet has allowed such geographically distanced places to feel local. It was such an honor and feeling of elation [see track 2 : ‘Out On Our Own’ & ‘Super Inaba’], in a humbling way, that these people were appreciating my music. I took time to talk to loads of people, DJs, locals and people on the dance floor. The bilingual, no barriers approach to music curated through the night, only solidified my own approach to my music, parties and everything I try do with my label Trax Couture.

Reflecting back on my week in Tokyo, while exploring different neighborhoods, small clusters of shops with all kinds of tech stretched my mind helping to inform tracks like ‘Over Shade’ and ‘Ours After’. The final experience that summarises it best was the sunset at Roppongi Hills. It gave me a wide lens view of the vast 23 boroughs that make up Tokyo, the world’s largest city. It was an introspectively informed view for me, encompassing the haze of screwed mixtapes and west coast hip hop I grew up to, the array of different genres that have been referenced in the album and the unique reflection of my own personal history that have played throughout it.

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