Keiji Haino

Born in Chiba on May 3, 1952. Inspired by Antonin Artaud, he initially aimed to work in theater, but an encounter with The Doors changed his direction to music. He has studied and absorbed a wide range of expressions from early blues, especially Blind Lemon Jefferson, to European medieval music, to popular songs throughout the world. In 1970 he joined the group Lost Aaraaf, named after an Edgar Allan Poe poem, as vocalist. Meanwhile, he started to work on home recordings and taught himself guitar and percussion. In 1978 he formed the rock band Fushitsusha. Since 1988, after a recuperation period from 1983 to 1987, he has been internationally active in various formats including solo, groups such as Fushitsusha, Nijiumu, Aihiyo, Vajra, Sanhedrin, Seijaku, Nazoranai, and The Hardy Rocks, and as a DJ under the name “experimental mixture.” He has also collaborated with artists from different backgrounds in performances that take the possibilities of guitar, percussion, hurdy gurdy, string instruments, wind instruments, indigenous instruments from around the world, and DJ gear to the extreme through his idiosyncratic techniques. He has released more than 200 recordings and performed live over 2,000 times.