Naked Sweatshop is the musical collaboration between vocalist/guitarist Kyoko Jinjabrew and electronic composer/producer Klaas von Karlos. Episode 002: The I. Shinji Mixtape is the second release from this Los Angeles/Berlin-based experimental-electronic.
Similar to their debut release, the group explores the limitations of single take jams and improvised free association techniques, but this time with emphasis on longer compositions built around both meditative repetition and disruption. The resulting album is the culmination of a two year journey that began with less than a week of writing sessions in Los Angeles to final programming, arrangements, mix and mastering being finalized in both Stockholm and Berlin.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Naked Sweatshop about their newest project, challenges, technology 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.)
Kyoko – Can I answer with a collage?
I’m still exploring, to be honest. Both my parents immigrated to the US from Japan. I was born and raised in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, but I thought I lived in Japan until I was 5 years old when I started kindergarten. I only spoke Japanese at home, and watched Japanese television. I then moved around to Washington DC, NY, London and now living in Los Angeles.
I always have a hard time answering what style of music. It really depends on who I am collaborating with. Duke Ellington said that the highest compliment you can give to an artist is to be “beyond category”– so I hope to be that one day. For now… I just subconsciously screamed MOONGAZE! In my head so that seems appropriate. Anything you’d listen to on your walk at night looking at the moon. 🙂
Karlos – Both complicated questions. I was born and bred in St.Louis, Missouri, spent five years in NYC for graduate school and life bootcamp, and then spent the past seven years living in Berlin. The music I make is really an amalgamation of all of my influences stemming from my grandparents, parents, and my own adaptations as a child of the 80’s/90’s. When Kyoko jam together to form “Naked Sweatshop” we don’t really limit ourselves to even thinking of genre; it’s more of a synthesis of vibing off one another. If I had to call our sound anything, I think we make Neo Tauran Glitch Soul.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Kyoko – My name, Kyoko (響子) means “vibrations of sound child.” My father named me; he identifies as a jazz pianist. He taught piano at the Berklee College of Music, and I have fond memories of joining some of the student jam sessions when I was about 10 years old, getting up there and singing. I ran away from music for a while shortly after because I felt through my family that a career in music was a selfish pursuit. Now I’m motivated to pursue music to reclaim my name back.
Karlos – I started making music much later in life, around 2010. Before that, I was exposed to a lot of music because of the many musicians in my family and excellent foundational music education growing up in University City. Making music for myself emerged part from necessity and part self-therapy. After finishing my MFA in film, I spent three years in NYC freelancing in TV, indie films, and commercials while directing indie music videos and developing my own creative projects. I wanted to channel the live experience and direction emotional connect of music with cinematic images, so I investigated VJ’ing. After starting off with a basic NuMark VJ Controller, I moved onto an APC-40 that came with a version of Ableton Lite. I wanted to make “video-songs” instead of just music videos for other people, but it took too long to find people to make the music I wanted to accompany my images. Using all the free time I had following the aftershock of the 2008 Recession, I stubbornly dove into Ableton. My first musical project, ReVerse Bullets, emerged from that time. Since then, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have collaborated with some brilliant musicians, sound designers, and composers who constantly inspire and challenge me to keep going.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
Karlos – I don’t feel like we went in with a specific plan while recording this album. We recorded this album only 5 months after “The Tesseract Demos,” so I feel like that momentum carried over. Our first EP was made up of songs that came from our very first jams together. I think we were trying to make music together for 2 years, but time and distance were always in the way. The first EP really captures us finding our common sonic ground and trusting our intuition to vibe off one another, whereas while recording “The I, Shinji Mixtape” we were in synch from the beginning. During the mixing and mastering, I embraced the concept of this album being the mixtape on the SDAT player that the character anime Shinji Ikari used for comfort in the series “Neon Genesis Evangelion.”
Kyoko – Yess. I think whenever we make music we try to be fully present in the moment and leave any preconceived ideas, verses, or melodies behind. This episode is about being a container for meditative movement exploration – there’s so much liberation in inner work translated into physical expression, and we want to honor that journey with everyone listening. Encouraging humans to wake up, and come with us inward. Put on your headphones. Dance and meditate. Let us be your soundtrack and take us with you! At night, in your city or hometown – get all the fuck ready to go out, and put headphones on and decide to have a dance party at home instead. Have you listened to your limbs lately? Perhaps they have the information to move you forward.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Kyoko – I love that we don’t need to wait for permission to do anything in this digital music age. To release something “perfect” isn’t really the M.O at this day and age.
Karlos – I think the biggest challenge, as you mentioned, is the oversaturation of music in the age of digital music and streaming. I see this as both a blessing and a curse though. In one sense, the market is full of music by talented people with varying levels of production value, which gives fans a lot of options to find something that really connects them. At the same time, the dominant voices are still corporate, but the creativity and innovation is not there because the bottomline is the bottomline and advertising drives the market. Within that dichotomy exists a pretty fun and freaky schism where artists like us can sneak through and provide a missing sound and feeling that not all people – but the right people hopefully – will find and connect with.
What was the last song you listened to?
Kyoko – This song “Suki” by this Japanese fusion band called DREAMS COME TRUE. I fucking love waking up and blasting this tune and dancing around the apartment to this song.
Karlos – “Triumph” by Wu-Tang Clan from the “Wu-Tang Forever” double album. I watched the Showtime Wu documentary three times already, and it took me back to the time when I first heard and saw the only music group that I was sure were superheroes rather than real people. RZA’s early production style from 1994 – 2000 was imprinted on my bones.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Kyoko – Vinyl for sampling, CDs for selling, MP3s for airdropping? But honestly, a good song is a good song and should withstand all three formats and shitty headphones and the speaker on your mobile device.
Karlos – There is an obvious quality preference and ranking, but different situations call for different formats and there is a economic/class factor in terms of who has access to certain formats. Vinyl for aficionados, audiophiles, DJ’s and collectors. CD’s are almost obsolete, but I’m a firm believer in having physical copies of art. If everything is digtized, decentralized, and merely available via cloud, it does not take much for a totalitarian regime to essentially erase culture. I generally don’t like the quality of MP3’s, but they are convenient for casual listening and having access to entire your collection at one time.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Kyoko – ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I just helped to organize a zine journal with over 50 contributors of Asian descent, and we ended up mailing most of the copies. It was kind of a pain in the ass but I love how intimate and personal the whole process was. If I could I would media mail everything to keep it intimate.
Karlos – For purchasing music – Bandcamp. For streaming – Deezer. For me, it’s an economic choice and making sure the artists, rather the streaming execs in offices, receive fair compensation for their work.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Karlos – Right now, we are building a new mothership for all things Naked Sweatshop-y. For now, people can check out our Bandcamp, Youtube pages, the GLITCH label Soundcloud, or check us out on their favorite streaming platform.
Anything else before we sign off?
Kyoko – Listen to your limbs!!
Karlos – We’re hoping to play some live shows later in the year. Also, if time allows, we’ll release a new EP in the winter that will be a combination of some new, unreleased, and remixed tracks before our next full length.
