Kotsu, who is also known as a member of the house music collective CYK, has announced a nationwide tour called “Reflection 2.0.”
Since moving to Kyoto in September 2020, Kotsu has maintained his pace of activity, playing in 28 cities across Japan by August this year and performing an all-night long set at WWW X in Shibuya, Tokyo last year, continuing to release pure energy in dance music and clubbing on a national scale.
As a DJ, he uses dance music from the 2010s and beyond as a reference point, weaving in past archives to create a borderless DJ set. He is well known for his unique selections that correspond to the social mood and groove of the floor. CYK has invited many up-and-coming DJs/producers such as Baba Stiltz, Mall Grab, and Ross From Friends, and has been lined up not only in Japan but also in Asia, such as Korea and Hong Kong, and at large festivals such as Rainbow Disco Club and FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL, and in December 2022, he successfully held an all-night long party at Spotify O-EAST in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Kotsu is also a graphic designer, creating many flyers for his own parties and CYK, and has produced output in a variety of formats, including producing a zine that was primarily a column in the past. Last year, he held a solo exhibition “Residue!” in Kyoto, focusing on graphic design, which toured Tokyo and Nagoya.
On this tour, he will perform an all-night long set in five cities: Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Sendai. Discount cards will be distributed to attendees, giving them a 500 yen discount on the entrance fee in the other cities. The following message has also been received from him.
[Kotsu comment]
“Reflection 2.0”
It’s been a year since my ALL NIGHT LONG SET at WWW X. I wanted to take this concept of a solo event and perform it all over the country. That’s the simple feeling that led me to this time. Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima, Sendai, Fukuoka. Each city is memorable in my DJ career and has given me a lot of inspiration. The following is an updated version of the message I gave at my solo event last year. That day, I started out here, and while entrusting myself to music, I learned a lot of new things. I hope that it will be a fun day for everyone, while also including some personal stories from that day.
—————
My true self as a “reflector” that emits the experiences I have had every day in Kyoto and Tokyo or the various places I visit, and my self-contained and introspective inner self. I would like to present the “fluctuation” that occurs between these two.
To put it simply, the former is the self I have when I’m in interpersonal relationships (whether the communication method is conversation or DJing), and the latter is the pure and innocent (or so it seems) self that appears especially when I’m alone… Perhaps it’s like the relationship between “Kotsu” and “my real name self.”
For me, the two are parallel, and I don’t lean to either side, nor do I seek to identify with either. Through DJing, this dualism melts and begins to become ambiguous, and I go through a process of awakening.
“I don’t want to stay here forever, and I don’t want to fly away right now, I just want to be light and airy.” You might say I’m indecisive, but this is definitely a mindset that has been in my mind since I moved to Kyoto. I long for change… It’s not a process with a goal and someday I’ll be saved. I want to create a rhythm that is created by blurring the boundaries while changing lightly. That’s what I’m thinking.
Deterritorialization in the midst of complex chords, then reterritorialization through endless stomping. This is my poignant essay on that continuum. It could be a fragment of roadside music or a feel of ultra-urban dance music.
If it is someone’s empathy it may be someone else’s fiction.
However, I feel that the emergence of this gradation is the first step in acknowledging “fluctuations.” I’m pleased that this is an open space, even though it starts from personal proof.
I would be delighted if people could try projecting themselves into the repetition of dance music, or perhaps dissociate themselves and drift freely.
[Event Information]
“KOTSU ALL NIGHT LONG “Reflection 2.0””
Date and time: Saturday, August 31, 2024 OPEN 22:00
Venue: West Harlem, Kyoto
Price: ¥2,000 + 1D
(FOOD)
PeHoDLy ice cream
==
with PARADISCO
Date and time: Saturday, September 21, 2024 OPEN 22:00
Venue: Okayama YEBISU YA PRO
Price: ADV. ¥2,500 / DOOR ¥3,000 (separate 1 drink fee for each)
*There will be other performers on the 2nd floor
*Advance tickets will be released at a later date
==
Date and time: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 OPEN 21:00
Venue: KIETH FLACK, Fukuoka
==
Date and time: Saturday, October 19, 2024 OPEN 22:00
Venue: Hiroshima BAR EDGE
Price: ¥2,000
==
Date and time: Friday, October 25, 2024 OPEN 22:00
Venue: SENDAI SHAFT, Sendai, Miyagi
Price: DOOR ¥2,500 / U23 ¥2,000 (1 drink fee for each)
(VJ)
Kenchan
==
■Kotsu:X (Twitter) / Instagram
