Keiji Haino (JP) + Jim O’Rourke (JP) + Eiko Ishibashi (JP)

KEIJI HAINO is a Japanese musician born in 1952 in Chiba, Japan. He initially devoted himself to theatre, inspired by the radical writings of the French poet and actor Antonin Artaud (1896-1948), until he discovered The Doors via their song When The Music’s Over, which decided him to become a musician. He immersed himself in a vast spectrum of musical expression, from primitive blues to medieval European music. In 1970, he became the lead singer of the avant-garde rock group Lost Aaraaf, named after a poem by the American poet Edgar Allan Poe (1808-1849), before forming the experimental rock group Fushitsusha in 1978. During these years, he learned to play the guitar and several percussion and traditional instruments and recorded his first solo pieces. After a break in the 1980s, he alternated between solo and collaborative projects since 1988, combining rock, noise, improvised music, and drone.

JIM O’ROURKE has been working in music and film since the late 80’s, as a producer for Wilco, Sonic Youth, Beth Orton,Stereolab, John Fahey, Joanna Newsom and many others, including the Grammy Award winning ‘A Ghost is Born’ by Wilco. He has been a member of Gastr Del Sol, Fennoberg, Loose Fur, The Red Krayola, and Sonic Youth. In film he has scored films for Werner Herzog, Koji Wakamatsu, Olivier Assayass, as well as musical consultant for The School of Rock.

His own work ranges everywhere between his series of albums on Drag City to his work with Merce Cunningham, commissions for the Ina-Grm, as well as championing underappreciated artists like Tony Conrad, Loren Connors and Roland Kayn both through his own reissue labels and archival work to secure the future of their music. 

EIKO ISHIBASHI is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist whose work has ranged from acclaimed singer-songwriter albums to scores for film, television, theater and exhibitions to improvised music.
Her own records have been released by Drag City, Black Truffle, and Editions Mego, amongst others. In 2020, she was commissioned to create music for art and photography exhibitions, such as The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ “Japan Supernatural” exhibition at Sydney, and the “Memory of Future” exhibition at Mandako coal mine in Kumamoto, Japan. Amongst her film scores is Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s 2021 Academy Award winning film “Drive My Car” for which she won the “Discovery of the Year” award at The World Soundtrack Awards and Best Composer award at the Asian Film Awards.