灰野敬二

Born in 1952 in Chiba. Inspired by Antonin Artaud he aimed for the theatre, but an encounter with The Doors stimulated him into music, where he has examined and absorbed an extremely wide range of music from the early blues especially Blind Lemon Jefferson or European medieval music to popular songs across the world. In 1970 he joined a group “Lost Aaraaf” named after Edgar Allan Poe’s poem as a vocalist. Meanwhile, he started to work on home recordings and self-taught the guitar and percussions. In 1978 he formed a rock band “Fushitsusha” that has opened up a completely new, powerful and profound dimension in hard rock. Since 1988, after a recuperation period from 1983 to 1987, he has been internationally active in various forms including solo, units such as Fushitsusha, Nijiumu, Aihiyo, Seijaku, Vajra, Sanhedrin, Nazoranai or Hardy Soul, DJ as “experimental mixture,” as well as sessions and collaborations with artists from different backgrounds. Drawing performance to the extreme of the guitar, percussions, the hurdy gurdy, diverse wind and string instruments, local instruments from across the world and DJ gears through keen physicality and unique techniques, he delivers incomparable sound that is full of shamanism without transcendency as well as raging intelligence and awareness. He has released more than 170 recordings and performed live at least 1,500 times with countless musicians including Loren Connors, Barre Phillips, Derek Bailey, Lee Konitz, Misha Mengelberg, Rashied Ali, Kang Tae Hwan, Kan Mikami, Kazuki Tomokawa, Motoharu Yoshizawa, Tatsuya Yoshida, Tori Kudo, Reiko Kudo, Chisato Yamada and Gozo Yoshimasu.