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Audio: Introducing Faux Naïf’s dark 80s sound

Kimi Otsuka has a particular view on club music. Under her Faux Naïf alias she digs for records outside of the electronic spectrum, often championing the lesser known sounds of tropical goth, post punk and EBM. Her broad tastes in these genres mostly stems from the 80s, taking as much influence from British groups like The Cure and Cocteau Twins as she does any electronic producer. Though still fairly niche within London, Otsuka supports these sounds on her 199radio show and through her own parties, with her most recent event headlined by body music artists SARIN and Parris Smith. On 24th March she makes her debut at the club alongside Sunil Sharpe and Ugandan Methods in Room Two, so she delivered a hard-hitting EBM mix to give an idea of what to expect on the night. Download: Faux Naïf fabric Promo Mix Can you describe the mood of the mix? This mix is quite dark, which is typical of the style of music I select. I wanted to do something different to the set I will play on the night. It builds up into industrial and EBM techno. Where do you generally look for music? I follow lots of bands and labels on various platforms; Soundcloud and Bandcamp are my primary sources. Music blogs like the BRVTALIST and Secret Thirteen are also really good sources with excellent mixes and journalism on new/old and emerging artists. New wave and post punk seem to have had a big influence on you. How did you first get into electronic music? I would say I am mainly influenced by the 80s. I listen to a lot of genres from the whole era. Synthesizers are my weakness, I am attracted post punk style basslines which for me are totally danceable. The industrial scene from the late 70s and early 80s, and many bands that formed around the same time, were also an influence on me. I also love bands like The Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Slowdive. I really love slow music. I grew up going to clubs like Electrowerkz and also Nag Nag Nag during the Electroclash era, which is also a massive influence on my sound and also what I consider to be club music. I don't know my turning point for saying that I listen to electronic music as it has simply been a natural progression of listening to genres that are interlinked with other genres. It's just how I came to like what I like. What kind of hubs are there where you can enjoy this sound? Sadly there are not many places where I can 100% hear this sound in London, which is why I recently ran a project supporting this type of music. My aim was to showcase the new wave of body music, where I booked SARIN and Parrish Smith, who are both really great artists and I regard as key to this music scene at the moment. I also have a show on 199radio on every third Saturday of the month so I can push these sounds in London in some way; even if only on the airwaves I think it’s really important. This year I’m starting a new project called M II M focussing on emerging acts covering the Body Music, Wave, Post Punk & Dark Wave genres. More details to come soon… How do you feel about making your first appearance in Room Two? I’m really excited to be able to play some sounds from artists that might not have been played in Room Two before. It's an honour to have been asked to play.
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