Artist Talk - DEADKEBAB
ROKU, Beavis & Butthead, Origin
DEADKEBAB : (hereafter referred to as "DK"): I met you for the first time when I was still in college, so it's been a long time (laughs). ROKU was a place I really liked. I was lucky to meet many interesting seniors there!
almanacs editorial department (hereafter referred to as "AS"): Was there a specific reason why you wanted to become a musician or an artist in the first place?
DK : There was no specific reason. Before I knew it, I really liked drawing, and while I started joking around and making music with my friends, it became fun. I also like listening to music, and I really like watching and drawing pictures. Come to think of it, I've been watching "Beavis & Butt-Head" and "The Simpsons" since I was little, so I think the influence of overseas anime might have been quite large.
LJ : Now that you mention it, you might be able to get a sense of the American feel of the artwork provided by <loosejoints>. By the way, Claire, you started using the name "DEADKEBAB" when you were studying in Paris, right?
DK : I majored in film at Musashimi, but when I was living in France as an exchange student, my friends and I would always jokingly call each other "bitch" or "slut" in text messages. So, my friend called me "DEADKEBAB". I liked it and started using it.
AS : There are many kebab shops in Paris too.
DK : There are so many (laughs)! It's always open late, and I was eating kebabs all the time, so the name "DEADKEBAB" fits perfectly. It also sounds like a kebab that fell on the road.
Boltanski, Trippple Nipples, Point Ephemer
LJ : You were making sculptures in Paris, right?
DK : There was a good school across the street from the Louvre, and I spent a year there making sculptures. (Christian) Boltanski taught at a place where a fairly famous artist was teaching.
I was with an artist named Guillaume Paris. It's basically a discussion. The rule is that the person who created the work must not talk at first, and someone in the class will start talking, "Isn't your work like this?" There were a lot of times when I said, "Oh, that's not right," but I was convinced during the discussion, and it was really interesting to hear objective opinions.
Also, I try to play around intentionally, and I go to various clubs every day and meet various people.
LJ : What kind of boxes did you go to at the time?
DK : I often go to see Justice and electro parties at the Social Club, and I often go to see French hip-hop live performances such as La Caution and Svinkels. Also, I had a slightly smaller box along the canal near my house called "Point Ephemer". I used to go there a lot, drinking outside and dancing inside, and having a gallery on top of a box, it was a really nice place.
Other than that, my friends would take me to various clubs, and I had been making music since then. At a gay party I went to, my song suddenly played and people were like, "That's mine!"
LJ : That sounds fun!
DK : It was a lot of fun.
LJ : Did Claire speak English or French from the beginning?
DK : The person I worked with on Trippple Nippples was an Australian, so I guess I learned it while working together. French also gradually after actually going.
LJ : What I thought when I saw Claire, who I've been playing with since then, was that she was a person who approached her interests straight and flat, yet firmly.
If I'm interested, I jump into it, and I have the impression that I quickly acquire the necessary language and manners.
DK : It's true, even if it wasn't so good if it was something I was interested in, it seemed like I was talking a lot before I knew it.
LJ : It's a common thing, you know. Moreover, when I found out that the other side also liked it, I felt a sense of curiosity drive.
Pharrell, DEVO, succession
AS : After returning to Japan and graduating from university, did your production style change a lot?
DK : Well, after graduating, I don't have an atelier or a production space, so I'm working on creative ideas at home. I want a large space! !
LJ : Sculptures and sculptures require extra space. Is that the reason why you started painting?
DK : That's right, before that I didn't draw on canvas, but after all it was easier to do in my limited space, so I started drawing somehow.
AS : Do you also make music at home?
DK : Right now we're working under the name DEADKEBAB&PSYCHIC$, but since we make sounds together with friends, we usually make them at my partner's track maker PSYCHIC$'s house. Also, I have a friend named ALEX who participates in the production with me and does scratching during live performances, and we record at his house.
LJ : Come to think of it, was it when Claire was still active as Trippple Nippples? Pharrell (Williams) is producing a movie called "TOKYO RISING" with a boot brand called <Palladium> on the theme of Tokyo's creative revival after 311, and Pharrell was hooked up there. I did. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jrBHwu_bN0)
DK : Yes, I think it was from VICE that he came to see Trippple Nippples live.
After returning to Japan, musicians and DJs began to ask me about tours and other things. It's time (laughs).
Shortly before that, DEVO released an album for the first time in 20 years, and I was allowed to tour with them as the opening act of Trippple Nippples. I think it was around 2010, and at that time I had a zine I made and gave it to Mark (Mark Mothersbaugh / member of DEVO). Then, I discovered the name "DEADKEBAB", and Mark complimented me by saying, "What a great name!"
So, when he saw the pictures in the zine and said, "It's nice that it looks like Mike Judge," I was really happy! After that, Mark will draw a portrait of us to keep as an heirloom.
At the time, we weren't active under that name yet, but that's how we came to use the name "DEADKEBAB".
AS : What kind of zine was it?
DK : The zine is like a collection of various "curses" in a picture book style A to Z style. If you look up the words "baka" and "stupid" in the English dictionary, there are so many words that you can cover everything from A to Z. So I thought I'd turn it into a dictionary, so I made this zine.
Come to think of it, I had changed the "D" to "DEADSHIT", but it was interesting when Mark told me that I should have changed it to "DEVO".
LJ : I definitely want to read it!
Pussy Cat, Physical, 7inch
AS : How do you separate music and art making?
DK : It's not like we're consciously segregating, it's like we're doing things in parallel. When it comes to music, I do it with my friends, so we get together and hold parties once in a while.
LJ : As for the paintings, do you get orders? Or do you draw every day?
DK : I yearn to draw every day, but I can't do it because of deadlines (laughs). When I receive a request, or when I decide to do an exhibition soon, I feel like I'm working toward that goal.
AS : Did <loosejoitns> ask you to draw the work you provided this time?
DK : It's an arrangement of a piece I had drawn before and liked it.
LJ : I feel a lot of culture in your work, whether it's art or music, but as someone who has been involved in culture as an editor myself, when it comes time to revive <loosejoitns>, it's the media that I've been creating for a long time. I wanted to do something with a different medium, such as fashion, music, or art, rather than the project.
Because the medium of T-shirts sometimes spreads in a surprising and mysterious way. Recently, when Claire provided me with a work called "Pussy Cat" for <loosejoints>, there was a mysterious story about Karen Takizawa giving Fuwa-chan a gift on Instagram. I remember unintentionally contacting him saying, "'Pussy Cat' has been handed over to Fuwa-chan!"
I don't think it will spread like that if I make a gory culture magazine that was the center of my taste. I spend my days in trial and error trying to figure out what to do to create a new sense of value by expanding the works of artists that I genuinely want to support and work with without losing their value. .
DK : I'm glad you asked. When I received the zine, I thought it would be nice to have other artists' works or playlists. Nowadays, everyone has become able to communicate on their own, and of course I do it myself, but with people like <loosejoints> who value physical connections, whether it's fashion or paper media. I think working is fun.
Oh, come to think of it, after I drew a cat for <loosejoints>, a cat that looked just like me came to my house, and now I'm keeping it (laughs).
LJ : That's a coincidence. By the way, in terms of physical feeling, is there any influence of corona after all?
DK : It didn't really affect the production, but I had to cancel the concert I was looking forward to. Last year, DEADKEBAB&PSYCHIC$ released a 7inch, but I really wanted to put out something physical.
LJ : I'm so happy to hear you say that!
DK : I used to collect old reggae 7inch records, and I used to hang them on the turntable at home. The size is just right and the length of the songs.
So, when it was released, it was also distributed, but in reality it was played at 33 rpm instead of 45 rpm, and it was fun again.
LJ : It's crazy that the revs are different. New things like drum'n'bass are born out of that kind of physical live feeling.
AS : Lastly, is there anything you're currently working on or something you'd like to do more of in the future?
DK : I used to paint with acrylics, but recently I've been buying oil paints. It seems like it will take a lot of time, but I really want to try it. I'm impatient, so I think the way I approach painting is likely to change, and I'd like to take on a full-scale challenge.
AS : Do you have a favorite author or a writer you want to be like?
DK : I would like to experiment with various methods of expression, whether it be music or art, and discover a style that excites me. As a writer, I admire the DEVO mark! I also like David Byrne and MIA, and the artists I want to be are both music and visual expressions.
Published: almanacs Vol.03 (2023SS)