Dugo has returned with a new album titled Recluse!
Be sure to check out our previous feature.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Dugo about the new release and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Electronic modern Spanish flamenco music ……by Japanese artist
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
When I was just a rock band guitarist, I didn’t really think about creating music as a professional, but since I started making music on a computer, I’ve been fascinated by being able to control all of the sound that I make. That was the beginning of everything.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Since I was infected with COVID-19 in April and recovered, I have become more focused on my most important musical activities. Another thing I thought was that the value of content production ability would increase and the demand for it would increase in the future as many artists are unable to perform concert activities, which could be an opportunity in a sense.
As for this “Recluse” EP, it is a summary of the songs that I have been making for the past two years as a whole, but a large part of it has been done since May when I’ve recovered from COVID-19.
Nowadays, as the style of releasing in units of several songs has become mainstream because of the flowering of streaming services, I decided to keep releasing constantly as a form of EP or single from now on.
The “Recluse” EP is an up-tempo collection of songs, but in the future I will release each EP with a different concept.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The saturation of music in the age of digital music has the positive side of increasing the opportunities for everyone to release their work. However, it is a problem that Spotify’s number of play counts and followers are now used as absolute credit scores in the music industry as criteria for judging the value of too many artists. Also, artists need to develop a marketing strategy for social media in order to increase the number of play counts, and it will become even more important now that concerts cannot be held in the situation of COVID.
Artists can no longer use music alone as a means of expression, and it is necessary to disseminate content in various forms such as videos, photographs, and texts. These are big challenges, but if you can make full use of digital technology, you can do it at a cost that is one thousandth of what it was ten years ago, and I think it’s also great that there are many ways to learn it online.
What was the last song you listened to?
Levitation 21 / Tigran Hamasyan
I’m looking for new encounters with unknown music.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I have a special feeling for each format. The first thing I got was a vinyl. The most played was a CD. Currently, the most owned and convenient daily use is MP3 files. Each has pros and cons, but the important thing is the music itself.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
So far, my favorite and most important platform is Spotify. I got to know a lot of great music and artists through Spotify’s recommendation algorithm, and the most important issue for me is how to grow Spotify’s Dugo page. Other platforms, such as Apple Music, haven’t completely broken away from the way of traditional music industry in that playlists are still created by real humans. In comparison, Spotify’s recommendation algorithms, software optimizations, and new cultural community through the playlist creation are all advanced, and Spotify is the key to success, especially for emerging artists.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
As I said, I place the highest priority on the Spotify page, so all Dugo’s work will be released through it in the future, but some of my work as a video game composer, and works that are not related to Dugo may be uploaded to Soundcloud. Any information will be available on the web site below.
Anything else before we sign off?
Never before has so much music and artists been saturated, and never before had so much freedom to reach potential audiences around the world. Though there are criticisms that streaming services are exploiting artists, now that all the features that once couldn’t be done without relying on record companies, such as label management, promotion strategies, and distribution services, have been democratized so that anyone can use them online, success depends on the idea of using those features well. As the pandemic has greatly increased the amount of time of facing yourself, it’s an opportunity to take time to think about it. I think the results will be different significantly in the next few years, depending on how you use your time and resources for that.
