What role do you think platforms, labels and collectives play in underground music scenes?

I think platforms, labels and collectives in underground scenes are places that keep artists from becoming isolated. They connect artists with other artists, and sometimes with people far away who share a similar sensibility.

Releasing music through Deathbomb Arc in 2024 and 2025, and participating in compilations from overseas labels such as Santa Sede, made me feel as if the world outside Japan was opening up to me. I felt that my music was reaching people far away — people who probably love the same kind of music. That connection felt very strong to me.

Platforms and labels have also been very important for my activities in Japan, including opportunities to perform at events.

Before I became BAILEFUNK KAKEKO, I was already involved in music, and at that time I was part of omochi records, a label active in Tokyo’s independent music scene. omochi records organized live events such as SCUM PARK and SHIN-JUKE, which had a storm-like energy within Tokyo’s underground scene. Through that label, I had opportunities to work alongside artists from juke, hardcore, electronic music, punk and many other scenes.

Interesting artists who might never have met if they were only working alone were able to connect, make tracks together, and create new movements. I think creating those kinds of opportunities, and making the music scene richer and more interesting, is also one of the roles of platforms, labels and collectives.

After I started working as BAILEFUNK KAKEKO, it was also very important for me to perform at events connected to AVYSS, a music web magazine and platform, as well as K/A/T/O MASSACRE, where many different alternative artists perform across genres and scenes. K/A/T/O MASSACRE is curated and organized every Wednesday by just one person, and somehow it is interesting every single time — it is insane in the best possible way.

In a place like Japan, where the club scene and underground scene are relatively compact, and where each genre does not necessarily have a large audience, platforms like that are very important. Without them, unique artists might become isolated.

I think platforms, labels and collectives do not simply release or present music. They also support the birth of new music and new scenes.

It was the kind of place where it took about 40 minutes by car just to get to the nearest station. My family runs a dairy farm, and the area is surrounded by mountains. I grew up there until I was 18.

How would you define the music scene you belong to?

I feel that I belong to the Japanese baile funk scene. At the same time, I also feel that I am part of Tokyo’s alternative music scene.

I think the Japanese funk scene is still in the process of developing. And I feel like I am helping create that space together with other people.

When I first started working as BAILEFUNK KAKEKO, I didn’t really have the intention of “building a funk scene.” I was simply making and playing this music because I loved it.

But in 2024, I had the opportunity to invite KARAN! and TToten from Brazil, and we toured together in Japan. When I saw their B2B for the first time, it was so incredible that I almost couldn’t stay standing. I felt that, for me, this was the greatest music in the world.

When so many people came to their final show and I saw everyone going wild, I felt that maybe I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

After that amazing tour ended and the two of them went back to Brazil, I felt very sad to be separated from them. At the same time, it felt as if the baile funk that had been ringing out in Japan had suddenly stopped, and everything became very quiet.

From that moment, I started to feel that I wanted to create an environment in Japan where baile funk could be heard more naturally, and where people could enjoy it more freely.

At the same time, I am also part of Tokyo’s alternative music scene. Through a crew called tomodachi100, I work with DJs from many different backgrounds, and I also make music with rappers and singers.

In Japan, I think the number of people deeply involved in underground and experimental music is relatively limited. Also, rather than having one large shared foundation for club music, genres and scenes are very fragmented.

I think that is exactly why an extreme DJ like me could exist.

The scene as a whole does not necessarily feel unified. But that is also what makes it interesting. There are not many strict genre boundaries, and everything feels fluid. I often share the same night with DJs who play completely different kinds of music.

I think what makes Tokyo’s music scene interesting is that it is chaotic in the best way.

What were the difficult parts of continuing this project, and what went well?

What were the difficult parts of continuing this project, and what went well?

The difficult part was inviting Brazilian artists to Japan from the other side of the planet.

There were many things that were not easy. But what I gained from that experience was truly huge.

What went well was that I was able to release an album I could really feel satisfied with.

In Japan, funk is still not widely known. Especially bruxaria and mandelão — I think there are still many people who do not know them yet. So before, I sometimes thought that maybe I should make my expression a little easier to understand.

But with the album, I took one step further, searched for my own sound, and put it out into the world without worrying too much about how people would react.

As a result, I was happy to receive deeper reactions than before. But what made me happiest was that I genuinely loved the album myself.

What is one lesson you would share with people who are just starting to make music?

I think good things can happen when you put aside how other people might see you, and really pursue what you love.

There are so many people in the world, so when you release something filled with what you love, sometimes people with a very similar sensibility to yours will respond to it. I think that is something very precious.

What kind of structural changes do you think are necessary to create a more fair and sustainable scene?

When working with baile funk and South American music, I think it is important not to consume the music simply as “cool music,” but also to pay attention to its social background and share the context beyond the sound itself.

Also, Japan has Brazilian communities, but I feel there is still more room for connection between those communities and Tokyo’s club scene or alternative music scene. If these scenes could interact more, invite each other to events, and create spaces together, I think we could move closer to a richer and more fair scene. Of course, this is not only about Brazil. I think the same thing applies when working with music from other countries and regions as well.

At the same time, Japan’s music scene tends to be concentrated in major clubs in Tokyo, and it is not easy to keep local or alternative parties going financially.

However, I believe there are many DJs and artists in Japan with very unique voices. I think we need structures that can cultivate the ground for those artists and small parties, while also helping them connect more with overseas media, labels, radio stations, festivals and collectives.

If those pathways increase, I think Japan’s alternative music scene can become more sustainable and more open.