Don’t let the manbun fool you, Shinya Mizoguchi, better known as starRo, is a game changer in electronic music. His magnetic and groovy Soundcloud releases average anywhere from 100 to 300 thousand plays, and he also has a spot on Soulection’s reputable artist roster. The Soulection crew is like the X-Mansion of today’s music scene, comprising of mutantly talented DJ’s and producers.
Professor X would surely be delighted by starRo’s gift for genre-merging to produce enigmatically and sonically addictive beats. We caught up with the current Los Angeles inhabitant to pick his brain before his upcoming set at the always popping Arkham.
I was listening to your Soundcloud, and your music is very eclectic. How would you describe your sound?
Groove oriented music infused with a bunch of modern dance beats, I don’t know. It’s basically r&b, jazz, soul, rock, and whatever music that I grew up listening to infused with hip hop beats and house beats. I don’t really know what to call it.
You’re originally from Tokyo, does that have any influence on your music?
Yeah, definitely but more of an indirect influence. I was a non Jpop kid, but living in Tokyo gave me access to all types of music. Tokyo is the kind of place that all the famous DJs will come to buy records. It’s a melting pot, so I grew up listening to jazz, soul, pop, rock, pretty much everything. But a huge part of myself is jazz. My dad is a jazz pianist, so I was forced to listen to jazz music.
Like most Asian families, did your dad force you to play the piano?
No, not at all. It was natural to pick up the piano because it was always there. I was classicaly trained in piano for 4 or 5 years, but it wasn’t fun anymore.
So how does he feel about your music career?
He’s very happy now. He used to tell me that the music industry is tough to survive, so he always told me that I could not make a living out of music. I grew up hearing all this stuff, and luckily it hasn’t been the case so far for the kind of music I’ve been making.
Being apart of Soulection must help since it’s become extremely reputable in today’s music scene. How did you get involved with Soulection?
I knew them from day one, and I was a huge fan of their radio. I sent in a demo, but the demo never reached them. I put out a Janet Jackson remix on soundcloud, and they reached out to me.
It seems like they are the cool kids at the lunch table if you will. What’s it like being a part of their crew?Everywhere I go, there’s this hype like “Hey you’re from Soulelection!” It’s kind of strange to me because I know how it started when it was just a collective. Now it’s so much more than that. For example, there haven’t been a lot of releases lately. So it’s kind of more than the music. Soulection is evolving which is a good thing; but at the same time, the evolution is really fast that I can’t keep up. Like what is Soulection today? I don’t even know. It’s a very interesting experience because I am my own artist apart from soulection, and those two things don’t necessarily evolve simultaneously.
On the Soulection site, you are classified under “Artist” rather than “DJ.” How would you classify yourself? What the distinction between nightlife performers nowadays?
I make my own music and beats, where as a DJ is more like a selector or orchestrator. I’m kind of doing both, but I see myself as more of a producer.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
I get inspiration from daily life, like when I’m shopping or stopping by stores or what music plays on the radio. I watch a lot of movies, and I live near the beach and palm trees. It’s a mix of everything. I don’t listen to music just for the sake of getting inspiration. I make the music that I want and listen to at this time. I’m not going to make trap beats because it’s a big thing.
Have you ever been to Shanghai?
I did a long time ago, but I’m expecting it’s not the same anymore. A lot of my friends have played, and they say it’s one of the best cities to play in Asia. So i’m stoked to discover the music.
Shanghai has definitely changed a lot, and it’s growing so fast. What do you expect?
It’s like Tokyo where East and West meet, but I think China is underrated since there was no music scene a few years ago. Though it seems like there’s a solid music scene now. It’s always interesting to see a music scene being built up from almost nothing and becoming a big thing. It’s actually more interesting to play somewhere where the music scene isn’t established. For example, like when I went to Manila where no one expected there to be a music scene. It’s actually very solid there because they know not many people stop by and play Manila yet, so the audience is really appreciative. Whereas in LA and NYC, we’re kind of spoiled because everyday there’s something going on which makes it hard to appreciate. So it’s always really cool to see cities like Shanghai, where it seems like people have more appreciation.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played?
One show in Toronto, maybe like 700 or 800 people, sold out show in the middle of summer, almost 30 degrees and the AC was down. The entire venue got super hot, and there were a few girls that passed out. The ambulance even came, but we still played.
That must have been excruciating! How did you manage to get through the set?
Actually, the heat brought a creative energy similar to hot yoga. The heat released everything, and everyone was on the same wave. You can’t think [because of the heat] so you just feel the music. The energy of that entire venue was really crazy, and it was one of the most beautiful energies that I’ve ever experienced. We all felt unified. The show opened up people’s minds, and we just felt the music and the energy.
> Dec 12, 10.30pm-late, RMB80 (RMB70 with QR scan). Arkham. See event listing here
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