In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, Akira Kiteshi AKA Tommy Forrest is a man who has been on the tongues of many lately in the dubstep and glitch-hop communities. With several releases this year on labels such as Black Acre, Boka, and Muti Music, he has successfully infiltrated the line-ups of many kickin’ parties. DJing before many of us were even old enough to wipe our own asses, Tommy is no newcomer to the game. His analog juiciness reminds us how old school isn’t always as old as you think. Recently, I got the opportunity to sit down (at a computer) with Akira Kiteshi.. the man behind the Samurai mask.

Who IS the real Akira Kiteshi?

The real Akira Kiteshi is a part hermit part dragon man child from the dark forests of the Highlands who has spent most of his life perfecting the art of making bass from branches and heather before being trained in the delicate art of tree stump drumming by an old Japanese samurai warrior!

What’s your process when you sit down to start a new track? Do you start with patches you made beforehand, or do you do it all in one sitting?

When I sit down to write a tune I always start with a blank template. I find that when you start with a preset template you fall in to the habit of writing lots of tunes quickly….But they all sound the same.

I remember reading that all of your sounds come from analog outboard synthesizers. Can you tell us a little more about your production method?

Yeah most of my sounds come from outboard gear. I spend quite a lot of time pushing buttons and twiddling knobs till something interesting happens then I’ll do most of my re-sampling and sequencing in Renoise. In terms of vst’s I mainly use Reaktor.

If you could give one valuable tip to an aspiring electronic musician, what would it be?

INCOMING WISDOM: Treat everyone you meet in the industry with respect, be it a promoter, another producer or a fan. You’re no different to them, and you’ll meet the same people on the way up as on your way down!

What is your motivation for writing music, and what sort of fulfillment do you find from it?

I think love of all types of music is my motivation for writing tunes. So many inspiring artists. I think the best part of writing music is the pleasure it gives other people.

You’ve traveled around quite extensively, DJing in many different places, correct? What’s the wildest experience you ever had while on the road?

There have not really been any wild experiences recently playing dubstep. America was pretty interesting! Some of the European crowds are mental! I love playing places like Germany and Holland. I used to play hardcore and gabba in the 90’s and some of those gigs were insane!

Would you say that your production has changed the way you DJ, or vice versa?

Nah not really. I think the sign of a good dj is one that can mix different styles in to one set and a good producer can make more than one genre of music. It makes both djing your own stuff more interesting, and keeps the old brain cells from getting stuck writing to one formula.

Who are some of your favorite producers right now? Who would you love to find yourself working with in the future?

I’m really feeling Reso’s tunes at the moment. The way he structures a track and the quality of his production is outstanding! I’m loving Blue Daisy, Raffertie, Kanji Kinetic, Kid606, NastyNasty, 1000names, Port Royal, Neil Landstrumm, Broken Note, Venetian Snares and loads more that I wish I could remember at the moment. I would love to work with someone like Tim Exile or Squarepusher on a track. That would be amazing! I’ve got some projects in the pipeline with a few of the artists I’ve mentioned in my list which will be out in 2010.

Akira Kiteshi blew everyone’s mind in 2009.. what can we expect from A.K. in 2010?

Hopefully some good music with plenty talented musicians, vocalists and producers. I’m working on a few ideas for my album. I’ve got a couple of new e.p’s which will be out about the end of Feb. I’m also working on the AK Kids album with Steven Hyslop (My other project) and the first couple of singles from us will be out early in the new year.

SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/akira-kiteshi

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/technoirbeats

Reso meets AK? Well, I suppose we can only hope! Anyway, Mr. Kiteshi also sent over few tracks for our loyal Bwompers, so make sure to pay him respect by checking out his Beatport releases!

DZ – Just Rollin’ (Akira Kiteshi Remix)

72 BPM

Stagga – TimeWarp Dub (Akira Kiteshi ReFix) (care of Chrome Kids)

72 BPM

Akira Kiteshi – Ulysses (Repost)

70 BPM

-Psymbionic