This past summer, Kūsou premiered at the Anvil Theatre in New Westminster, BC as part of the 2022 Powell Street Festival. This was a massive multimedia work created by composer and sound designer Yota Kobayashi, who worked with Japanese calligrapher Aiko Hatanaka, visual programmer Ryo Kanda, and yours truly providing all the sounds that you hear. I’ve recorded multitrack before but this was without question one of the most challenging sessions I had ever done — Yota knew exactly what he wanted and I daresay the final result is staggering. This four-minute highlight video gives you just a glimpse into the rich and beautiful world of Kūsou — a Japanese word meaning “the state of emptiness” (which, Yota pointed out to me, is different than “nothingness”.) 

Here’s hoping Kūsou gets many, many more re-mountings in the future. Until then, enjoy this sumptuous teaser.