1. Hi Yosa. Please tell our listeners a bit about where you come from, and what is your musical background?

Well, I was born in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from junior high school. I went to France. I spent 2 years there, and then I decided to go to England. In England, I was in London, and had been studying at Dulwich College which was the old school of Chemical Brothers. I have been living in the dormitory and the guy living next door had turntables in his room. At that time, I didn't even know what a DJ was, but I was extremely interested in it somehow. The guy told me how to use them, and I started DJing at some friend's house parties. Then I came back to Japan to go to Japanese university, and started DJing in earnest. My musical background is hugely influenced by my mother. She has been teaching dance at home, so I've been listening a lot of Jazz and soulful dance music since I was just a kid. So my music is basically based on House music , but mostly influenced by black music like Jazz, Soul, and and Hip-Hop, the music I'd been listening for a long time.

2. You have released on labels like Druempoet Community, Supplement Facts, Compost and Dirt Crew to name a few, coming from Japan how were these contacts established?

First I sent my demo to Varoslav who is the A&R of Supplement Facts. He and the label owner Guy Gerber liked the track, so they included it in their label compilation. Since then we've been getting along well, and my new track is gonna be appear in their second label compilation as well. The same thing happened on Dirt Crew. About my release on Drumpoet Community, they made contact with me through myspace. They told me that they wanted to release my track "Rough Jam", the track which was in my profile page player. I was a big fan of their label, so we signed for an EP, and we released "Rough & Tough EP". Michael who is the owner of Compost Records liked the release, so he offered me to do remix for the artists on Compost. I did two remixes, one for Eddy meets Yannah, and one for Marsmobil. They are going to be released later this summer.

3. What do you focus on the most while playing your live shows?

When I DJ, I really focus on making the night to be the best for the audience. I never play cheesy uplifting tracks, but I'm doing my best to make the crowd happy by my music from my record box. By contrast, when I do LIVE, I show off my music all the way to the people on the floor. But as I see the reaction, fortunately people like my music!     

4. Any new Japanese artists you like to recommend?

Recently many Japanese artists have been in the spotlight world widely. Ryo Murakami(Poker Flat/Dessous) might be the most famous in this scene, but you should also keep your eyes on the artists like Kez YM(Yore), Stereociti(Mojuba), and Shu Okuyama(Milnormodern). There are more I want to list up, and I want more and more Japanese artists to be focused globally.

5. What is your favorite thing to do besides music and why?

I love movies, fashion, art, and all the creative stuff. Besides DJing, I'm also an editor for the culture magazine "honeyee.com" (www.honeyee.com). Some of the articles are written in English as well, so please check it out.

www.myspace.com/yosatokyo
soundcloud.com/yosa

Artist of the Week:YOSA will air Tuesday July 13th at 18:00, with repeats Wednesday at 12:00, and Saturday at 10:00.