Akiko Kiyama brought Richie Hawtin home to see her parents and they approved. Akiko is a Japanese techno artist based in Berlin. She studied classical music as a child before getting switched on to the club scene through drum ‘n’ bass. Richtie Hawtin’s Plastikman releases encouraged an interest in techno and in turn allowed her to do what most Japanese DJs can’t, and become known outside of her homeland. Her debut album is called 7 years and apparently traces her last seven years of musical development. “Making tracks is like listening carefully and having conversations with music,” she says, “After a while I can hear where the sounds want to go. It’s like I can help them move. I don’t think I’m making music myself – it comes from the sounds themselves.”

Akiko Kiyama brought Richie Hawtin home to see her parents and they approved. Akiko is a Japanese techno artist based in Berlin. She studied classical music as a child before getting switched on to the club scene through drum ‘n’ bass. Richie Hawtin's Plastikman releases encouraged an interest in techno and in turn allowed her to do what most Japanese DJs can’t, and become known outside of her homeland. Her debut album is called 7 years and apparently traces her last seven years of musical development. “Making tracks is like listening carefully and having conversations with music,” she says, “After a while I can hear where the sounds want to go. It’s like I can help them move. I don’t think I’m making music myself – it comes from the sounds themselves.”

That’s either a wonderful insight into the music making process or one big, fat, excuse for making awful tracks. You can decide for yourself here