Releasing one of the albums of 2016 in Ceremonial, Anchorsong has become a musical favourite for us and music fans alike. On record, every track takes influences from tribal sounds, such as afrobeat or highlife, as well as the stylings of his home country, creating an incredible dream world of unique progressive beats and otherworldly atmospherics. Live, Anchorsong starts with a blank canvas, using his MPC2500 to paint an intriguing soundscape of pulsing rhythms that swell and evolve into an utterly spellbinding show, whether it is solo or with orchestration. Ahead of his February tour, he is playing at The Rose Hill in Brighton for a very special intimate show, we spoke to Masaaki Yoshida to find out more about Anchorsong.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town in Japan called Tokushima, located on an island called Shikoku. It’s miles away from Tokyo but kind of close to Osaka. It is very small, not that exciting and not much of a music scene. I was their till I was 18 and then moved to Tokyo to go to university. When I was 27, I moved to London.

What kind of music were you brought up on?
There was not much of a music scene when I was growing up. There are a few venues and clubs but they are shutting down. Until I was 13/14 I was listening to only Japanese pop, like everybody else. After that I started listening to rock music from the UK and America – my favourite probably being Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and a bit of Oasis. I was pretty much a rock kid.

When did you start playing music?
I started to play the guitar at the age of 18, but that was pretty much just a hobby. I became a little more serious when I was about 20, starting a band with college mates. We made a lot of tracks for years, but before we performed live we disbanded. It was then when I started to write my own material. I decided to be a live solo act and use the MPC2500 – that’s how I became Anchorsong.

What are your main influences?
As a music fan I listen to all kinds of music. But growing up listening to rock music means it is my deepest influence. I started listening to electronic music when I was 20 as well as black music. As a performer and a producer, that has the biggest influence on me know.

Have you been thinking about the next release?
I am working on new music continuously and I have completed a few songs which I am completely happy with. At this point, I have no idea when it’s going to be released as I would like to release an album rather than an EP, and that will take a bit longer. What I can say is that I am really into Indian music at the moment, and recently did a recording with a tabla player in Japan. So my next record will probably reflect at least a little bit of that.

What has been a musical eye-opener?
One of the biggest discoveries for me was DJ Shadow, it sounded like nothing else I had listened to before. The more I listened to his music, the more I discovered the music that influenced him. Until then I knew next to nothing about hip-hop or any kind of black music. It led me onto acts like Aphex Twin, UNKLE and Boards Of Canada, and gave me this opportunity to listen to a range of different types of music.

Who would be in your ultimate supergroup?
Jimi Hendrix on guitar. Jaco Pastorius on bass and Dave Ghrol on drums. They are mainly just the musicians I want to meet.

What would be your perfect line-up of any three acts for a concert you are putting on and where would it be?
I would have Bjork, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Linda Perhacs on an all-female line-up. It would be in my hometown by the beach.

If you could work with any artist, who would it be and what would they bring to Anchorsong?
It would be Jimi Hendrix. I would want him to play a killer guitar riff. All I need to make a track is one short riff which can be repeated for hours, and a Jimi Hendrix riff could be repeated for days.

What music are you listening to at the moment?
My current favourite is someone called Ananda Shankar, nephew of sitar player Ravi Shankar. He makes a completely different type of music, although still plays sitar. His music is almost like psychedelic rock.

Do you get to go to many gigs?
That is probably my hobby. The last amazing gig I went to, which was actually quite a while ago, was Feist at the London Palladium. More recently I saw Rhye perform at a festival in Thailand.

What are your future plans?
Hopefully I’ll be playing lots of shows this year, especially in the summer. No holidays, as I do the thing I love every day. I have been talking to this solo producer called INGA, who is from the States and makes an almost psychedelic jazz. I discovered his music last year and as I was listening to it, he emailed me – pure coincident. He came to London to play so I met him then, and since then we have been talking about doing collaboration.

Website: anchorsong.com
Facebook: facebook.com/Anchorsong
Twitter: twitter.com/anchorsong