Following our first interview with Kentaro, back in 2003, when he played to a packed room 3 at fabric, we caught up with everyone’s favourite Japanese DJ earlier on this year, when he was back once more at fabric as part of his Ninja Tune tour, to celebrate the release of his Solid Steel mix and DVD on the label. Once more accompanied by his brother Kotaro, who translated for us, we sat down for a quick chat about his signing to Ninja Tune, use of the new Pioneer DVJ and more.
Be sure to also check out the rest of our Japan special, including an interview with DJ Baku and an article on Japanese tablism.

How's the tour going so far?

K: It's been a year and a half since the last one and this time it's not so busy and hectic, so I've been enjoying it a lot more. It's good to be back.

How did the link with Ninja Tune happen?

K: Well I've loved the label since… forever, and then there is this agency in Tokyo which represents Ninja Tune in Asia, and license their stuff there. So that's how it happened, via the licensing agency really. And also someone from Ninja Tune was at fabric the last time I came down and they really liked what they saw. It's great to be able to work with them and I'm very proud to be on the label.

Did you have any ideas for the mix or did you just grab the records at random?

K: The idea was to throw together a mix that had a drum n bass feel to it using all their tracks that fitted this idea. I think their drum n bass has a very unique sound to it, and so I just started playing with all the records and fitting them together. I also wanted the listener to be able to see visuals while listening to it, like a dragon or something. Being able to see the mix in a way.

I saw the DVD and was wondering about your use of the DVJ. Did Pioneer come to you with the idea?

K: Well I saw the unit and really liked it and liked the idea. And luckily Pioneer agreed to let me borrow one for the live shows. Which is good because they cost a lot of money! (laughs) So I've taken it on this tour with me and it's great because it allows me to do lots of new stuff and combine music and visuals better then ever. I basically use it for my intro mainly, for about 10 minutes. And then move to the turntables.

Have you got any new productions coming out this year?

K: Well apart from this mix for Ninja, I've been working on my own stuff, which I'd like to make into an album, but I don't really know when I'll release it. I'd like it to be this year but you never know! I may be doing some remix work for Coldcut as well, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Did you get a chance to check out Dstyles and Ned Hoddings at the recent Extravaganza battle in Japan? And what others are doing around the world?

K: No I couldn’t see them at Extravaganza because I was out of town, but I saw them the year before at the DMC finals, where he performed as well. It was just him and Ricci Rucker. It was great to see them do their stuff live though. It's really inspiring and I'm also working on similar things, using my turntables to create music, make beats. Personally at the minute I've been working on using juggling to create drum patterns that I can then turn into tracks and also doing something using only one copy of a record and creating a new track out of that.

And have you had any companies offering to get you involved in developing some new equipment?

K: I've helped on the development of the Technics CD decks, but more in giving them my opinions and testing the final product. It was made already by the time they asked me.

Could you also tell us a bit about the scene back home in Japan. How you feel it's going?

K: I think it's still growing, getting better. There seems to be more opportunities for people to go out of Japan and play as well which is good. It's also getting much bigger every year, more and more people are getting involved. For hip hop it's getting more americanised then before, while drum n bass they said was dead in Tokyo two years ago and it's now really big again! I like to play different genres though, I don't know if there are many other DJs like that in Tokyo, but people seem to like it when I do it.

Last words?

K: It's my fourth time in England and I'm getting used to it! I like it here because the vibe and action are similar to Japan but the reactions are different with the crowd and I like that.

Many thanks to Kentaro and his brother for their time. Be sure to check his website for more on the man, and recent Turntable Radio shows where you can hear extracts from his Ninja Tune mix and his Coldcut remix (both of which are out now and available through Ninja Tune). Also be sure to check out the rest of our Japan special, and stay tuned for more info on Kentaro and other Japanese artists in the near future.