Hiroshi Watanabe (musician)

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Hiroshi Watanabe (* 1971 in Tokyo Prefecture ) is a Japanese trance musician, DJ and photographer. Watanabe is best known in Germany for his publications as Kaito on the Cologne techno label Kompakt . He continues to produce under the names 32 Project, Crunky Boy, Deep Emotion, DJ FX, DJ Mazinger, DJ Oddball, Nite System, Quadra and Tread.

Life

Born in Tokyo Prefecture in 1971, Watanabe comes from a family of musicians. The father worked as a composer and the mother as a jazz pianist. Watanabe learns to play the double bass at the Tokyo College of Music . After moving to the USA, he studied at the renowned Berklee College of Music , where he also obtained a degree in composition. He then moved to New York City , where he made his first musical appearance as a disc jockey in clubs such as Save The Robots, Twilo, Speed ​​and Tunnel from the mid-1990s. At the same time he started producing his own techno pieces.

His first record Sky EP was released under the alias Quadra on the Japanese label Frogman Records. He released his first album, Sketch From A Moment , produced in New York in 1997. In 1998, three productions of Watanabe reached the Billboard Hot Dance Music / Club Play charts . His remix of the track One More Time was featured on a single from the Divas Of Color project, which reached number 3 on the US Club Play Charts in 1998. With his Hiroshi's Epic Club Mix he was featured on the Kimara Lovelace single Circles , which rose to number 1 on the Club Play Charts in January 1998. In addition, he reached number 5 on the US Club Play Charts with the single Nite Systems released under his real name in the same year.

As Hiroshi Watanabe, he simultaneously published the compilation Beatmania - Beat Indication , which includes commissioned works produced under various pseudonyms for the music game Beatmania distributed by Konami . In March of the following year Watanabe moved back to Japan, where he initially only appeared as a remixer and continued to produce music for computer games.

In 2001, Beautiful Day, the first work of his trance project Kaito, appeared on Wolfgang Voigt's compact label, which until then had been known primarily for its minimal techno and ambient productions. In 2002 the first Kaito album followed with Special Life . He became known to a larger audience in 2002 through his live performance at Popkomm in Cologne . In the same year he performed at Sonar in Barcelona. Under the pseudonym Tread, he has been publishing deep house pieces since 2002 in collaboration with graphic designer Takehiko Kitahara on the NORM label he operates.

At the same time Watanabe turned increasingly to photography , which has a visible influence on the design of his publications. Since then, photos of his son can be found on the record covers of his Kaito albums. After his first own exhibitions, a first photo album was published in 2004 along with the soundtrack DVD Tiny Balance .

Watanabe is still active as a DJ and live act and runs his own series of events under the name Quadra at Club Maniac Love in Aoyama . He also appears as a resident DJ in the module in Shibuya . In addition to his publications, Watanabe delivered remixes for Superpitcher ( Tomorrow ), Larry Heard ( Reminisce ), Way Out West ( Don't Forget Me ) and also appeared as a producer for the Japanese musicians Kaori and Yamazaki Senri . He continues to compose jingles for television productions as well as music for plays and fashion shows.

Works (selection)

Albums

  • 1997: Quadra - Sketch From A Moment
  • 1998: Hiroshi Watanabe - Beatmania - Beat Indication
  • 2002: Kaito - Special Life
  • 2003: Kaito - Special Love
  • 2004: Hiroshi Watanabe - Tiny Balance Volume 1 Soundtrack
  • 2005: Hiroshi Watanabe - Sounds Of Instruments 01 (DJ-Mix)
  • 2006: Kaito - Hundred Million Light Years
  • 2007: Hiroshi Watanabe - Genesis
  • 2007: Kaito - Contact To The Spirits (DJ-Mix)
  • 2007: Hiroshi Watanabe - Big In Japan (DJ-Mix)
  • 2008: Hiroshi Watanabe feat. Keiichi Sokabe - Life, Love
  • 2009: Kaito Trust
  • 2010: Kaito - Trust Less
  • 2011: Hiroshi Watanabe - Sync Positive
  • 2013: Kaito - Until the End of Time
  • 2014: Kaito - Less Time Until The End
  • 2014: Hiroshi Watanabe - 袋 田 の 滝 From Formation To Present
  • 2015: Kaito - Another Stories
  • 2016: Hiroshi Watanabe - Multiverse
  • 2017: Kaito - Trust Another Stories 2

Singles and EPs

  • 1995: Quadra - Sky EP
  • 1996: Nite System - Wonderful Day
  • 1997: Quadra - White EP
  • 1998: Hiroshi Watanabe - Nite System
  • 2001: Kaito - Beautiful Day
  • 2001: Kaito - Everlasting
  • 2002: Kaito - Awakening
  • 2003: 32 Project - The Root Of World
  • 2003: Nite System - Get Back To The Underground
  • 2004: Kaito - Soul Of Heart
  • 2005: Kaito - Color Of Feels
  • 2006: Kaito - Hundred Million Light Years
  • 2007: Hiroshi Watanabe - Genesis EP
  • 2008: Kaito - Alive
  • 2009: Kaito - We Are Living Here
  • 2010: Kaito - And That Was The Way
  • 2011: Hiroshi Watanabe & Popnoname - Star Spell
  • 2011: Hiroshi Watanabe - Isolated Soul
  • 2013: Kaito - Behind My Life
  • 2015: Kaito - Snow Flow / Light Stones
  • 2016: Hiroshi Watanabe - Multiverse EP
  • 2017: Hiroshi Watanabe - Cygnus Remixes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Watanabe, Hiroshi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kaito (pseudonym); Tread (pseudonym); 32 Project (pseudonym); Quadra (pseudonym); Nite System (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese trance musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo Prefecture , Japan