Takuya Nakamura – It’s true that the English that love music more than anyone else.
Friday 27th of March in Leeds the sun is out, spring is upon us and if you’re looking for something fun, different, and exciting to elevate your day, look no further than Takuya Nakamura.
5:00 PM just before the crowds begin to appear, I arrive at The Wardrobe in Leeds city centre, the atmosphere is warm and casual it almost felt to cool for me to be there. I enter through a backdoor into a dim-lit room, synthesisers, drum machines and of course the famous golden trumpet are all present in the room, Mr Nakamura is there with another member of what I assume to be his live team, they are conducting soundchecks, Nakamura sees me, shakes my hand and greets me with such energy and excitement and that’s where this interview begins, I’ve noticed Nakamura’s music is seeing rapid growth in popularity online especially on TikTok and so I sat down with Takuya Nakamura, a musician that defies all boundaries, mixing the sounds of jazz, electronic and jungle music all together, Nakamura represents a class within the music industry that are truly special, he is a pioneer and decades since he began social media, in particular TikTok is recognising him for it.
That’s where this interview begins.
Good afternoon, Takuya Nakamura, I have noticed that your music is really popular on TikTok in fact just before this interview was scheduled I had watched a TikTok someone had created of you, that had received over a hundred thousand likes, in fact your hashtag on TikTok has millions of views the same is true for Instagram. Do you use social media personally? Are you happy with this?
Really, I don’t use social media too much – I have someone that handles all of that, but I do try to make sure to respond to as much messages as I can, I like the connection with my audience,
Of course, I am happy with this, I see lots of people love the videos with the Trumpets and social media has meant that so many different and new audiences can hear and experience my music in a new way. I’m always happy when young people listen to my music as I see my music as art that offers a different perspective on what music really is.
You are originally from Tokyo Japan, you’ve toured a lot in the US and you’re here in Leeds today with concerts scheduled across the UK for quite a while, what is it about the UK that keeps you coming back?
I think UK crowds love music, they love music more than anyone else perhaps it’s because the weather here is not too great, you know? Maybe is kind of depressed here but Uk crowds love music and so when it comes to the show, they just go crazy and I love when I can tell the audience is feeling the music on a deeper level and that the music is doing something for them you know?
Are there any influences or experiences that you have had that still impact your music today?
Well I grew up in the 80s so that was a time when all the techno stuff was coming in, synthesisers and the whole scene became much more developed, then when I moved to the states, I moved to Boston where there were lots and of Jamaicans there and I became influenced and inspired by their sound, Boston was a really diverse place similar to Bristol here, but then I just ended up in the sound system by accident, completely and that’s the first time I heard jungle music and I was shocked really, because it changed my life, I was doing more acid jazz back then so you can imagine how jungle changed it all for me. Also, I really enjoy chico Hamilton, not many people know about him, but I’ve known his music for a while, his music is always a decent price and every album is different.
Say I am listening to your music for the first time what emotion should I feel?
Oh – space, space and freedom, every music has a style, its defined by something. We need something to make the sound and make it different not necessarily new but different but also for a dance crowd it needs to be fun, I know when to start and when to stop depending on the audience.
Interesting you say space; I’ve noticed your social media username is “Space_Tak” does this link to anything in particular?
Yes I have albums also named after space, but there is this book called “enlightenment for the lazy people” or something like that, I can’t find it anywhere but it talks about being open and allowing space rather than being closed like a shell, also you know I like “little simz” to me she is very open and remind me of a thing called space jazz. But I just needed a username and so I just put it, people may think it’s a bit cringe, but I like it.
So how do you get ready for a live performance?
For this performance I find the right sounds and samples and get myself into the right frame of mind but also just listening to music in the club also helps a lot this bass sounds good, this song sounds good or this tempo needs changing and that’s how I know when to pick up the trumpet because there is time for the trumpet and there is a time for the bass, bass is so important for this so I have like six different sounds prepared
