Artist feature 031-mza

 August 26th, 2022

If you know Genius, GZA, then you’ll know how to say MZA out loud. MZA is the founder of a young label called Yen Disco Soundsystem based in Singapore. The single “四季ステッパー” reads Shiki Steppa in Japanese premieres on our YouTube channel today! The fresh release nods to the anime Samurai Champloo but it’s also inspired by 90s racing games. In masterfully combining a few genres, MZA encapsulates his inspirations into a chillout/liquid downtempo form. This first single is part of YDSS’s debut album “Welcome To Yenworld” coming out in a couple of weeks in September 2022. The label is forging a path with a unique blend of house, liquid dnb, trip hop and jazz.

Give us a little background about yourself. Where’s home for you?

I would say home is Singapore, having lived here since I was a kid. Originally from Saitama, Japan where my dad is from while my mom is Singaporean. Culturally I do still feel quite Japanese internally. Having grown up watching a lot of Japanese anime, movies, variety shows, listening to music (in particular jazz music, albeit a stereotype but true) and going back to visit family every year. Although I am able to hold my own in terms of eating spicy food which is absolutely my Southeast Asian heritage right there.

Is your sound a reflection of your upbringing?

Definitely very much influenced by the music that I grew up with. Especially from the 90s and early 00s which made a strong impression. Plus classic rock, pop, jazz and soul music which I used to jam to while secretly skipping after-school activities. All of this has informed the way I approach music and have an openness to exploring a myriad of music genres.

Did you have a mentor or a coach who encouraged you to develop your music?

I’m lucky and grateful to have had mentors who imparted different aspects of music-making. When I was a kid growing up, learning how to play music in church was a catalyst that got me started. Later on, while I was working at a record store/cafe my boss was a hip hop turntablist, DJ Drem. He really taught me how to DJ and we’d spend a lot of after-hours with the rest of the crew cutting up hip hop, soul, funk records and talking about music. In terms of music production, I have a good electronic music producer senior, Intriguant, who has given solid advice which I apply constantly in the studio. I probably wouldn’t have been able to finish an album’s worth of tracks if I hadn’t had his help in getting my workflow sorted early on in my journey.

Yen Disco Soundsystem was born during the global pandemic in 2020 and bloomed through a residency on Hong Kong Community Radio. What were the motives behind creating a label? In your view, what is unique to YDSS?

Truthfully the idea of starting a label was very much because I just felt the type and scope of music I wanted to make just didn’t fit into any labels in Singapore at the time. Immense respect for the labels here carving their own lanes likewise I felt that I needed to do the same. So far the genres covered on YDSS releases have gone from hip hop, trip hop, deep house, liquid drum n bass, UKG to even reggae. Which is an extremely disparate and tall order for any label to accept so it was best that everything is done in-house in the long run.

In that sense, YDSS is unique in the way that it’s difficult to define it in terms of genre perhaps to its own detriment. In terms of sound or instrument choices, it’s very much channelled through a Japanese and Southeast Asian lens. Traditional instruments like the koto, shamisen, gamelan, pipa etc. get played or sampled in combination with modern samplers and drum machines which creates an oddly organic yet machine-based sound.

What’s the story behind the name “Yen Disco Soundsystem”?

It’s hard to say but I think it started with a sketch of a logo I did pretty early on of a Fleischer-style disco ball man in the same pose as Porky Pig doing the “That’s All Folks!” at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons. So that evolved into Yenboy, our logo mascot. The idea of using the word “Yen” was probably because it represented money and it felt hip hop in the way of Biggie and Diddy. Having “Soundsystem” at the end just tied everything together and had a nice ring to it. Almost makes it feel like it was a massive booming entity.

Who else is involved in the upcoming album release of “Welcome to Yen World”?

There’s Yenboy, my label partner who produces more Kerri Chandler-esque four-to-the-floor type beats. GONJARA and IKO-AN are more hip hop driven, drawing inspiration from 90s boom bap, mid-2010s Stones Throw and Kaytranada. Warabi Bros is more of a reggae and organic music type project, a combination of everyone and is where we originated from around the Warabi, Saitama area.

What was your inspiration when you produced “Shiki Steppa”? What did you use when producing it?

I was replaying a lot of 90s and 00s Playstation games at the time, in particular Ridge Racer 4 which had this incredible jazzy, liquid dnb soundtrack. That was the main idea behind this track to recreate a similar sleek chromed-out sound with a very kinetic dnb-type beat. The main sample of the track was actually the same one used on Samurai Champloo’s ending theme “四季ノ唄” hence why the track name is an homage to it.

I used a Maschine MKIII and SP-404 on this track which was my main setup for most tracks up till this album actually. For a number of tracks on this album an iPhone app, Koala Sampler, was used to sketch them initially and finished in Logic Pro for arrangement and mixing. It’s pretty crazy how advanced phone apps are these days and it really helped this album progress cause there were a lot of days spent away from the studio for work and life reasons. Big ups Koala Sampler really!

While being a producer and managing a label, how do you balance the different tasks while staying inspired to create music?

It’s a challenge for sure especially since I have a day job as a record store buyer too which makes it feel like I’m working 24/7. One of the things that help is that I've started to divide my year into phases. Usually, at the beginning and end of the year, I find myself doing more music production, cranking out tracks and fussing over minuscule EQ details late into the night. In the middle of the year, I take a break of sorts and focus more on designing, copywriting and PR type of stuff for the label. We’ve also started to go away from singles to focusing more on EPs and LPs which are more intentional and concept-driven. There are already a number of ideas I’m planning to work on starting from around September so keep a lookout!

There’s a strong influence of the 90s in YDSS overall. What is it about the era that’s interesting to bring in today?

It’s definitely the best era hands down, biased opinion because that’s the era I’m from. In comparison to modern music right now I do feel like there’s much missing in terms of variety and individuality. It’s tough to distinguish a lot of mainstream music these days because they’re being churned out more like social media content. Where’s the real edginess and abject apathy? Where are the Björks, Dee-Lites and Massive Attacks of the 2020s? Being drowned out by a capitalist agenda I guess.

If you were a piece of analog gear, which would you rather be?

It'd be an SP-404 for sure. It’s a quirky piece of gear with an approachableness to it but also endless depth if you spend enough time on it. Kind of like a metaphor for how I hope my music is perceived too. 404 for life? Mos definitely!

Stay connected with MZA and look out for Yen Disco Soundsystem!

Bandcamp / Instagram / Soundcloud / Spotify