Imprints brings you weekly profiles of the most exciting independent record labels the world over, written by movers and shakers from within their own electronic music communities.Name: Booty Tune
Vibe: The weirder side of 160 beats-per-minute
Founded: 2008
Location: Osaka, Japan
Claim to fame: It's home-away-from-home for juke, footwork, and ghettotech outside of the American Midwest.
Upcoming releases: TheDynamic Time LPby EQ-Why, the Unknown EP by DJ Torch, and Spin Da Wax Part.2: Bass 4 Yo Booty by Typhonic
By the numbers: The label has released 18 digital EPs, 2 CDs, 4 compilations and remixes.
Artists-to-watch: Gnyonpix, Satanicpornocultshop, DJ Fulltono
What's the Deal?
Roughly 6,299 miles (or 10,137 kilometers) away from the South Side of Chicago, you can find a group of stylish dudes forming a battle circle in an Osaka basement nightclub, while the DJ spins the finest in high-energy Chicago booty tracks. They can actually bust the basic moves of Chi town's footwork style, and the DJ is scratching and blending his own productions with everything from Dance Mania classics to 2013 anthems. Somewhere in the mid-2000s, a Midwestern sound that was—until recently—overlooked by the rest of the country, made its way to Japan where a small community of ardent devotees formed. Helmed by footwork and juke fanatic Koichi Furutono, aka DJ Fulltono, Booty Tune has released music by genre-defining legends such as Traxman and DJ Clent as well as experimental newcomers.While footwork and juke currently enjoy their time as the electronic music style du jour, a lot of the attention has been on American and European purveyors of the sound, perhaps most notably Teklife's DJ Rashad, as well as UK labels like Hyperdub and Planet Mu. However, a brief sampling of the Booty Tune discography should remind fans not to sleep on Japan! The most recent release, 44,100 EP by Gnyonpix, is full of booty tunes that miraculously make you want to cut a rug and contemplate the meaning of life at the same damn time. Below DJ Fulltono gives us the story of Booty Tune in his own words in an insightful interview you don't want to miss.THUMP: Explain how Booty Tune got started.
DJ Fulltono: Booty Tune was established in 2008. I remember that that was the period when booty sounds like ghettotech and juke made the shift in their release format from analog to digital. Looking back on that time, CDs were still hugely popular in Japan, and buying digital wasn't how we did things here. At the time I was still DJing with vinyl records.However, all the new ghettotech or juke tunes were being released digitally only, and a French label called Booty Call was actively releasing tunes by the likes of DJ Rashad and DJ Clent. While that was great, there wasn't really anyone bringing such great music to Japan. With this sad case as a start, I decided to create a blog of my own to introduce those artists and sounds to Japan while at the same time establishing a digital music distribution label called Booty Tune.Artists and crews in Booty Tune come from many different music backgrounds and gather here for the love of juke, footwork and ghettotech.What's the scene like in Osaka?
In terms of the juke and footwork scene in here, it's just a start. As you may know, under the fueiho (Japan's "no dancing" law), nightlife is almost dead, especially in Osaka where the "War on Fun" began in earnest. Since 2010, the police have been taking the fueiho law at face value, busting all-night parties and shutting down clubs that are permitting dancing without a proper license. Can anyone really believe that the best way to solve the city's drug problems and other crimes is to close all the venues? I simply cannot agree with government policy, and the media outlets which believe such a thing.This has been the state of Osaka and Japan in general for a couple of years and we have literally lost our place to play. Nonetheless, I can feel that our lust for music and club culture has brought the nightlife back into good condition little by little and I have started a new party in Osaka recently. It's pretty tough in many ways living in here, though I will never give up my struggle and I'll try my best to keep the party rolling.What's your favorite label that isn't your own?
Dance Mania, obviously! Although I have bought almost every record released in Chicago, Dance Mania is something very special for me. Did you know that it was quite popular in Japan in the mid-90s?People who love techno and house used to play and listen to DJ Deeon, DJ Milton and DJ Slugo, but unfortunately they stopped following Dance Mania because the BPM kept getting higher and faster.I was hooked on the sounds, despite the current tendency in Japanese dance music.
Vibe: The weirder side of 160 beats-per-minute
Founded: 2008
Location: Osaka, Japan
Claim to fame: It's home-away-from-home for juke, footwork, and ghettotech outside of the American Midwest.
Upcoming releases: TheDynamic Time LPby EQ-Why, the Unknown EP by DJ Torch, and Spin Da Wax Part.2: Bass 4 Yo Booty by Typhonic
By the numbers: The label has released 18 digital EPs, 2 CDs, 4 compilations and remixes.
Artists-to-watch: Gnyonpix, Satanicpornocultshop, DJ Fulltono
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Roughly 6,299 miles (or 10,137 kilometers) away from the South Side of Chicago, you can find a group of stylish dudes forming a battle circle in an Osaka basement nightclub, while the DJ spins the finest in high-energy Chicago booty tracks. They can actually bust the basic moves of Chi town's footwork style, and the DJ is scratching and blending his own productions with everything from Dance Mania classics to 2013 anthems. Somewhere in the mid-2000s, a Midwestern sound that was—until recently—overlooked by the rest of the country, made its way to Japan where a small community of ardent devotees formed. Helmed by footwork and juke fanatic Koichi Furutono, aka DJ Fulltono, Booty Tune has released music by genre-defining legends such as Traxman and DJ Clent as well as experimental newcomers.While footwork and juke currently enjoy their time as the electronic music style du jour, a lot of the attention has been on American and European purveyors of the sound, perhaps most notably Teklife's DJ Rashad, as well as UK labels like Hyperdub and Planet Mu. However, a brief sampling of the Booty Tune discography should remind fans not to sleep on Japan! The most recent release, 44,100 EP by Gnyonpix, is full of booty tunes that miraculously make you want to cut a rug and contemplate the meaning of life at the same damn time. Below DJ Fulltono gives us the story of Booty Tune in his own words in an insightful interview you don't want to miss.
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DJ Fulltono: Booty Tune was established in 2008. I remember that that was the period when booty sounds like ghettotech and juke made the shift in their release format from analog to digital. Looking back on that time, CDs were still hugely popular in Japan, and buying digital wasn't how we did things here. At the time I was still DJing with vinyl records.However, all the new ghettotech or juke tunes were being released digitally only, and a French label called Booty Call was actively releasing tunes by the likes of DJ Rashad and DJ Clent. While that was great, there wasn't really anyone bringing such great music to Japan. With this sad case as a start, I decided to create a blog of my own to introduce those artists and sounds to Japan while at the same time establishing a digital music distribution label called Booty Tune.Artists and crews in Booty Tune come from many different music backgrounds and gather here for the love of juke, footwork and ghettotech.What's the scene like in Osaka?
In terms of the juke and footwork scene in here, it's just a start. As you may know, under the fueiho (Japan's "no dancing" law), nightlife is almost dead, especially in Osaka where the "War on Fun" began in earnest. Since 2010, the police have been taking the fueiho law at face value, busting all-night parties and shutting down clubs that are permitting dancing without a proper license. Can anyone really believe that the best way to solve the city's drug problems and other crimes is to close all the venues? I simply cannot agree with government policy, and the media outlets which believe such a thing.This has been the state of Osaka and Japan in general for a couple of years and we have literally lost our place to play. Nonetheless, I can feel that our lust for music and club culture has brought the nightlife back into good condition little by little and I have started a new party in Osaka recently. It's pretty tough in many ways living in here, though I will never give up my struggle and I'll try my best to keep the party rolling.What's your favorite label that isn't your own?
Dance Mania, obviously! Although I have bought almost every record released in Chicago, Dance Mania is something very special for me. Did you know that it was quite popular in Japan in the mid-90s?People who love techno and house used to play and listen to DJ Deeon, DJ Milton and DJ Slugo, but unfortunately they stopped following Dance Mania because the BPM kept getting higher and faster.I was hooked on the sounds, despite the current tendency in Japanese dance music.