Coffee Break with boys be kko

Hi Ryunosuke, thanks for having this chat with us today. First of all we were curious about your artist name ‘boys be kko’. What does it refer to?

Thanks for the coffee break.

BIG fan of Melodic Diggers since it was a small Soundcloud account. I am very honored to be featured here this time.

The name [boys be kko] has no deep meaning, I have been using it since I was 20 years old and I missed the right time to change it. Whenever asked what "KKO" means, I gave different answers, So, it means "sad old man with no money" just now.

You are based in Japan. How would you describe the scene there, and what are your favourite cities and clubs to play at?

My favorite town these days is "Monzen-naka-cho".

I don't go to clubs these days, so it's hard for me to talk about the Japanese scene... In my opinion, it would be nice if they valued live-performers more.

How did you get into producing and djing, and how many years would you say were needed until you reached a level you were happy with?

I started creating tracks on a korg sequencer when I was in high school.

My first release was in 2018 and smolder for almost 10 years. I still can't get enough and I feel that SNS are further accelerating the growth of the scene-game. It's a tough game to keep up with.

You have been releasing on European labels such as Atomnation (Dutch), frankey & sandrino’s label sum over histories (berlin), and now Labyrinth (UK). For these releases, have you tried to adapt to a more European sound, or would you say it’s the Japanese influence that these labels are actually digging?

Up until recently, releases have attempted to diverge from the European sound. I have been throwing strange tracks from Japan into the scene and challenging to see what kind of impact they can have. I am grateful to the label for deciding to release my music.

Of course it's good to play the game and try to grow, but don't lose sight of what you really love, or you'll be left with nothing the day it falls apart.

Your EP ‘Elder Garden’ was just released on Labyrinth Records. Could you tell us about the gear and process used to produce the tracks, and about the story behind it?

The production took a long time because I was in a super slump. I spent my days playing Minecraft because I was tired of playing the game of the music industry.

I stopped digging for diamonds and resumed production little by little, and Monnaka was the first to be completed.

Gear used: a Moog Grandmother many times. I used the TR-8 as an external input, distorting it with the Grandmother's

amp and passing a spring reverb through it, like an effects pedal.

The artwork of the EP also caught our attention, as it fits the music nicely and features Japanese writing. What does the writing mean and who is behind this cover?

I like it very much too! It writes Monzen-naka-cho. This is the full name of the title track, Monnnaka.

Do you have upcoming releases we should look out for?

No release soon.

maybe you should send us demos for equanimity then :)

Last but not least: how do you like your coffee?

I like it, but it upsets my stomach lately.

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