ICHI, from Nagoya in Japan, takes the notion of a one-man band to new limits, combining his quirky handmade instrument inventions with steel-drum, ping-pong balls, toys, tape-loops, xylophone, double bass and trumpet, all in the space of one short set.
Having toured as a solo artist in Japan, the UK and Europe, playing at festivals including GREEN MAN, NO DIRECTION HOME and GLASTONBURY (where he received a standing ovation), ICHI has been making waves and it's unsurprising that many notable characters have been turning their heads. He is championed by the likes of DAVID BYRNE, BBC6's TOM ROBINSON and LAUREN LAVERNE, and DEERHOOF, who invited him to play with them in New York at their event The Wordless Music Series. In Japan he has shared the stage with such artists as ASA-CHANG & JUNRAY and SHUGO TOKUMARU, and has had an animation made based on his character for NHK (BBC equivalent), as well as recently making TV appearances on NHK.
ICHI's 2nd album MEMO, recorded onto analogue 8-track tape recorder and released in Japan on the Indy label COUP, combines the raucous energy of street music in west Africa, the pastoral reflectiveness of goat-herders, and the humour of Monty Python, and is driven with energy, quirkiness, and his playful manipulation of the mundane.
As well as a musician ICHI is a practicing and exhibiting artist and film-maker, and is usually seen with a cine camera in his hand, or his hands rooting through Bristol skips for materials for his musical and sculptural inventions, or his hands in the earth - he made a human sized interactive earth xylophone at Bristol's FORAGE FESTIVAL organized by QU JUNKTIONS. Recently he exhibited in London with fellow musicians-come-artists such as Francois Marry (FRANCOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS- Domino), ALESSI`S ARK (Bella Union), Kate Stables (THIS IS THE KIT - Brasslands), ROZI PLAIN (Fence) and RACHAEL DADD (Broken Sound), for the show D.I.Y Is All You Need.
Having toured as a solo artist in Japan, the UK and Europe, playing at festivals including GREEN MAN, NO DIRECTION HOME and GLASTONBURY (where he received a standing ovation), ICHI has been making waves and it's unsurprising that many notable characters have been turning their heads. He is championed by the likes of DAVID BYRNE, BBC6's TOM ROBINSON and LAUREN LAVERNE, and DEERHOOF, who invited him to play with them in New York at their event The Wordless Music Series. In Japan he has shared the stage with such artists as ASA-CHANG & JUNRAY and SHUGO TOKUMARU, and has had an animation made based on his character for NHK (BBC equivalent), as well as recently making TV appearances on NHK.
ICHI's 2nd album MEMO, recorded onto analogue 8-track tape recorder and released in Japan on the Indy label COUP, combines the raucous energy of street music in west Africa, the pastoral reflectiveness of goat-herders, and the humour of Monty Python, and is driven with energy, quirkiness, and his playful manipulation of the mundane.
As well as a musician ICHI is a practicing and exhibiting artist and film-maker, and is usually seen with a cine camera in his hand, or his hands rooting through Bristol skips for materials for his musical and sculptural inventions, or his hands in the earth - he made a human sized interactive earth xylophone at Bristol's FORAGE FESTIVAL organized by QU JUNKTIONS. Recently he exhibited in London with fellow musicians-come-artists such as Francois Marry (FRANCOIS AND THE ATLAS MOUNTAINS- Domino), ALESSI`S ARK (Bella Union), Kate Stables (THIS IS THE KIT - Brasslands), ROZI PLAIN (Fence) and RACHAEL DADD (Broken Sound), for the show D.I.Y Is All You Need.