In the 2018 summer Japan tour, Zhu Wenbo and Zhao Cong met Kayu Nakada in Osaka. Later they introduced Kayu to more friends in China. Zhu Wenbo did the following interview with Kayu in August, 2018. One year later Kayu visited Beijing and performed there.
Zhu: In your performance, you use circuit board of synthesizer and drum machine, set different circuit boards together, make them short and make sound. A kind of circuit-bending I think. How long time did you perform in this way?
Kayu: It is 5 years. It began from 2013.
Zhu: How did the idea come out to you? Before using circuit board in this way, how did you perform? Could you play any instrument? Maybe you could tell me some about your background.
Kayu: I studied composition of european classical music in college of music.
I played the keyboard before.
I thought about “prepared piano” of a musical instrument seen in John Cage that it was possible in a current way. And I began it.
Zhu: Who influenced your music? Did you get influence from Japan noise(such as Incapacitants) or Toshimaru Nakamura’s no-input-mixboard?
Kayu: My music made from my life.
I look up to Atsuhiro Ito.(伊東篤宏)
Of course Toshimaru Nakamura and Incapacitants too.
I’m not Noise musician.
Zhu: And why is synthesizer/drum machine? Couldn’t it use television’s circuit board?
Kayu: Problem is voltage.
I can use television’s, but I die.
Zhu: Do you have many knowledge about synthesizer and drum machine? You told me that your job is cleaning floor,actually I think you should work in synthesizer store.
Kayu: No,I don’t have knowledge about synthesizer and drum machine.
I interest structure and phenomena.
so…I will be fired soon in synthesizer store.
Zhu: How did you get these circuit board? When you get them, could they still work in a synthesizer way?
Kayu: I get broken synthesizer from friends and I bought to used synthesizer.
Synthesizer is hard worker.
Zhu: Do you have any standard for these circuit board collection? Such as producing years, or if they are analog or digital?
Kayu: No, I don’t have standard. I dismantle all it if available.
Zhu: Do you use same circuit boards?
Kayu: Yes, I do. But I don’t get same sounds.
Zhu: Are these boards using AC power? Is there any electric dangerous in your performance?
Kayu: No, I use AC/DC adapters.
Circuit boards is destroyed for AC power.
You can use only DC power.
Human dies electric current of 100mA.
Human has electric resistance of 1000Ω.
At 100v, 100mA will flow and die.
At AC/DC adapters is 9v, 9mA will flow.
I win.
Zhu: Except set them in triangle, make electric short, is there any other way in your performance? I did not notice the details in Figya that day, so is there still any buttons or knobs in these boards?
Kayu: Yes, there is other way in my performance.
Be suspended.
There are some buttons and knobs of original synthesizer.
Zhu: In the CD you give me, the sound has a big dynamic. But I remembered in Figya’s performance, your sound was not like that. I think it was more like a drone, full of back ground noise. Could you control your sound accurately?
Kayu: I controlled volume. It was small sounds at that time.
I can’t control my sound accurately. But I can control my sound 20%. It is a set theory.
Zhu: Control sound accurately, is it important to you?
Kayu: No,it isn’t. It isn’t important to me.
Zhu: Do you practice at home?
Kayu: No,I am not. I will do only to understand.
Zhu: Please tell some recording details of this CD. Is it a multi-track recording? How many tracks totally and how many tracks using microphone? I think I heard some sound comes from your hands. Is there many edit work in the production?
Kayu: No, there is almost no editing work.
Tracks totally is 3 or 6. I used two microphones for the 6th track only.
Zhu: How did you give names to these tracks?
Kayu: Names are number when I remodel them.
It is tracks names.
Zhu: You were born in Tokyo, and moved to Osaka for 2 years. Many people told me that, the golden age of Osaka’s experimental music was already finished, and lots of musicians were attracted to Tokyo. How do you think about that? Is it true? Maybe you could also tell me the difference between Tokyo and Osaka’s experimental music scenes.
Kayu: It isn’t true.There is neither the beginning nor the end. Whether there are interesting people or not.
Now I think about Osaka’s experimental music scenes more interesting than Tokyo.
Zhu: Actually I can’t make sure your feeling or attitude to synthesizer… Do you like synthesizer? Because it is a little hard to imagine that, a people like synthesizer but use them in short; or, a people did not like synthesizer but spent a lot of time in synth circuit board collection…
Kayu: I can’t believe the act that I just use the device which a person made in a work and a performance for. so I don’t interest synthesizer. But I interest its structure and phenomena.
Zhu: In China, in these years many people dive into modular synthesizer. And last year in Tokyo, many instrument store I visited have modular synth corner. Do you have interests about modular synthesizer? Because I think your performance is also a way of “modular”.
Kayu: I don’t interest modular synthesizer too. I hate it.
But it is correct that my method is similar in structure of operation.
中田粥（Kayu Nakada）是东京人，两三年前搬到大阪。将大量鼓机和合成器的电路板堆落在一起造成短路是他的演奏方式。因为喜欢喝粥便给自己起了这个名字，当得知中国有加糖的粥和加鱼片蔬菜的粥时，他露出了吃惊的表情。
六月刚开始，我和朱文博去大阪前的几天，中田粥在 Twitter上发布了活动“六月的雨”，将在六月的第一个下雨天作独奏演出。六月六日，我们到了下着雨的大阪，第二天见到中田粥后才知道，那个时间他正在演出。
六月九日，我们在 FIGYA 演出，当然还有中田粥。那天是他的生日，演出结束后，他的女友给他准备了惊喜——一个自制的奶油蛋糕。蛋糕是中田粥最爱的椰子口味，白花花的奶油上有一个用白巧克力、色素、彩色意面和钢珠糖做成的高仿电路板——看上去就像是从中田粥的演出设备上拆下来的。
中田粥和电子乐手米子匡司（Tadashi Yanago）有一个不定期的系列活动叫“游行”，每期会邀请不同的乐手参加，发生在路边、公园、屋顶、河道旁、空置的房间、桥上或是城镇里任意的某个地方。我们离开日本后的不久，他们在河道旁进行了一场演出。我不知道具体发生了什么，照片里，一个人站在桥上，散射出好多条轻盈的条带，飘在河的上方，条带的下方，另一个人在划船。(赵丛)
采访：朱文博
Q: 你的演出形式是，把合成器和鼓机的电路板搭在一起，让它们短路，从而发出声音。也可以算是一种 circuit-bending 吧。你用这样的形式演出多久了？
A: 五年了。是从2013年开始的。
Q: 你是怎么想出用这种方式演出的？在这种方式之前，你是怎样演出的？你会演奏乐器吗？或许你可以讲一讲你的音乐背景。
A: 我在音乐学院学的是欧洲古典音乐作曲，之前我弹键盘。
作为乐器的话，我觉得John Cage的“钢琴加料”可以有一种当下的方式，于是我就这么做了。
Q: 有哪些人影响了你的音乐？Incapacitants 的大音量的日本噪音，或是中村としまる的无输入调音台，你曾受到过他们的影响吗？
A: 我的音乐来自于我的生活。
我推崇Atsuhiro Ito (伊東篤宏)。当然也有中村としまる和Incapacitants。我不是噪音乐手。
Q: 为什么是合成器和鼓机？电视机行不行？
A: 电压会是问题。
我可以用电视机，但我会死。
Q: 你有很多关于鼓机/合成器的知识吗？你告诉我你的工作是擦地板，但事实上我觉得你应该去合成器商店工作。
A: 不，我不懂合成器和鼓机。
我对结构和现象感兴趣。
所以……我会被合成器店炒掉的。
Q: 你的这些电路板都是哪里来的？它们当时都可以作为正常的合成器来使用吗？
A: 我从朋友那得到坏掉的合成器。我也会买二手合成器。
合成器很皮实的。
Q: 你收集的这些电路板是否基于怎样的标准？你会对合成器的年代有偏好吗？你会介意它们是模拟电路还是数字电路吗？
A: 不，我并没有什么标准。我会尽可能把它们都拆掉。
Q: 你会使用重复的电路板吗？
A: 是的。但我得到的声音是不同的。
Q: 这些电路板是不是都是需要交流电？在演出过程里，你是否会遇到电的危险？
A: 不，我使用变压器。交流电会弄坏电路板，只能用直流电。
100毫安的电会造成人类死亡。人的电阻是1000欧姆。所以100伏100毫安的电会造成死亡，但是经过9伏的变压器后就只有9毫安，所以我没问题。
Q: 除了搭建成金字塔，让它们短路，这些电路板还有其它的演奏方式吗？我那天没有留意，电路板上现在还有按钮或者旋钮可以使用吗？
A: 是的，我演出也会有别的形式，可以把它们挂起来。
电路板上有一些原装的按钮和旋钮的。
Q: 在这张CD里，是一种动态非常大的声音；但是我们在大阪演出的那天，我的印象里声音很浑浊，像是一片长音。你可以对声音进行比较精确的控制吗？
A: 我可以控制音量。那天是小音量的。
我不能精确的控制我的声音，但我可以控制20%。这是一种推测。
Q: 对声音进行比较精确的控制，对你来说这重要吗？
A: 不。它对我一点也不重要。
Q: 你在家的时候是否会练习？
A: 不，我没有。我唯一去做的是去理解。
Q: 也说说这张CD的录音过程吧。一共录了几轨？其中有麦克风收录的声音吗？我觉得我听到了手操作的声音。后期的剪辑多不多？
A: 没有什么剪辑的工作。
一共有三轨或是六轨。我只是在第六首用了两支麦克风。
Q: 曲目的名字是怎么起的？
A: 名字是我给这些电路板编号的数字
Q: 你出生在东京。两年前你从东京搬到了大阪。很多人都说，大阪的实验音乐的黄金时期已经结束了，乐手都被东京吸走了。你觉得是这样吗？大阪的气氛和东京有怎样的不同？
A: 并不是这样的。并没有什么开始或结束，不管到底有没有什么有意思的人。
我觉得现在大阪的实验音乐场景比东京更有趣。
Q: 其实，我不太确定你对合成器的态度。你喜欢合成器吗？因为我其实很难想象，如果一个人喜欢合成器却不停的让它们短路，如果一个人不喜欢合成器却花费很多时间去收集很多的合成器电路板。
A: 别人用来工作或表演，我只是用这个设备。我对合成器没有兴趣，我对结构和现象有兴趣。
Q: 在中国，最近这几年里越来越多的人开始入坑模块合成器；去年我去东京的时候，也路过很多的模块合成器的店。你对模块合成器有兴趣吗？你的这种演出方式其实也是一种“模块”呢。
A: 我对模块合成器也没有什么兴趣。我讨厌它。
但是的确，我的方式与结构的组织非常相似。