31-year-old beatmaker and DJ, MZA has managed something amazing with his aurally intoxicating third ep Impermanence.
Hailing from Singapore, he delves with gusto into a plethora of genres from the UK electronic scene.
His ep transports us into an 80’s, 90’s rave scene, in this ten-track ep. Tracks like the thunderous Scatman Corruptor and Takeover conjuring vibes reminiscent of LTJ Bukem.
In this latest project the Singaporean/Japanese MZA has encapsulated that UK underground energy with startling impact.
We had to interview him in our never-ending aim to push amazing sounds–#itchysilk
3 min read
I grew up with a strong Japanese culture (because of my dad) so I use more Japanese samples and instruments and at times Southeast Asian influences too. I have used an instrument called the gamelan in my production too.
I wanted to study music, but my parents did not want me to follow that path.
I studied in culinary school rather than music. The urge to get into music however never went away. In truth it got stronger. While at school (I think I was like 19 or 20) I decided that I wanted to pursue music. I remember going to a gig (it was a local gig) and I watched them perform. I knew that I wanted to push my musical career.
In the early 2010’s I started listening to hip-hop, boom bap stuff; A Tribe Called Quest, Gangstarr. DJ Premier, DJ Krush they were producers that I really liked at the time. I was making mostly hip-hop, lo-fi and trip hop vibes. Eventually I wanted to expand the music I was making. So, I listened to a lot of house music and then that naturally kind of moved in garage, bass music, jungle.
Really loved music by MetalHeadz, LTJ Bukem -when I listened to their music it reminded so much of jazz. I realised I could really experiment in those UK scenes. When I started out my production was chilled out but in the last year, I wanted to make stuff that was a bit harder, more industrial.
With Impermanence (my third ep) there were tracks taken from my second ep ‘dharma delight.’ They did not fit that project but in this ep, they just captured what I was trying to achieve.
Scatman Corruptor I sampled from the Shining (1980). I was rewatching a few classic horror movies like Halloween (1978), Friday The 13th (1980) and eventually The Shining. There was something about the synths from that movie that immediately sparked an idea. In fact, some of the pads, the synths are sampled from the soundtrack.
aerial break had quite a few samples from the Gundam series which I pulled with Koala Sampler. Mostly a lot of beam laser sound effects, background pads that played during the battle sequences.
In the pipeline is an ep under a different alias which explores more themes and sounds from Northeastern Japan. In particular the indigenous cultures like the Emishi and Ainu. It has a lot more samples and a mix of Japanese, other Asian instruments and story elements from the Northeast.
I set up Yen Disco Soundsystem around 2020 during the pandemic. The aim of the label is to just put out different music with a focus on Japanese and Southeast Asian influences. Always open to collaborations so anyone’s welcome to reach out!
MZA uses SP-404 and Koala Sampler to make his music.
Impermanence out NOW