GEZAN, Ainu music, identity
–When did your involvement with the Ainu people begin?Mahito: The first time was three years ago when I went to the first Utasa Festival in 2020. I was shocked at how close people were to the music. I am a musician, so usually I am singing on stage and there is an audience listening to it, but in the Ainu Upopo (one of the traditional forms of Ainu group singing), there is no boundary between singer and non-singer, professional and amateur, on and off. and the distance between the singer and the song is shocking. That close distance to the music was shocking and very interesting. Moreover, they are singing songs collectively and psychedelically, and I was simply drawn to them musically. The way Ainu people interact with songs seemed really new to me.
Bon Odori may be similar. Partly because of my occupation, I have a kind of obsessive thoughts about my identity, like “I have to be unique,” but when I become a part of everyone going around in a circle like that, I feel like I’m free from that kind of obsession. I don’t have to stand out, I just have to be part of the circle. It reminds me of a kind of animism, a sense of being one with nature, and it felt good. That is how I fell in love with Ainu’s songs.
from: tokion.jp/en/2023/04/06/interv…
Ainu music?
youtube.com/watch?v=yTA8_2gwIh…#japan #ainu #gezan #animism #hope #psychedelic
Mahito the People talks about GEZAN's new work Anochi and the possibility of alternative music;Part 2: On Hope for Peace, Songs of Ainu and the Pluralistic Flow of Time - TOKION
An interview with Mahito the People of the band GEZAN that released Anochi. The second part focuses on "No War 0305", the album Anochi, and the Zenkankaku-Sai Festival.細田 成嗣 (TOKION)