Kow at wagamama wednesdays
I recently visited wagamama in Cardiff to check out their new ‘wagamama wednesdays’ event series. Read the event review here.
I had the pleasure of meeting Kow, Cardiff’s DJ for the night. We had a chat about all things music, and how he got to this stage in his DJ career.
(@kow_mvsic)
What got you into DJing?
It's been a couple of years since I started DJing, the main reason was really because my friend starting DJing and I was exposed to that clubbing scene in Japan. I started following him, then I began creating my own style. It really started as a hobby and kept going.
How different is the club scene in Japan compared to the UK?
In the UK the clubbing scene is consistent, but in Japan it's more diverse. Here, I feel like there's more of a limit to genres – like UK Garage, Drum and Bass, Jungle. But compared to that, Japan... it's more niche - there's a lot of inspiration from different countries, so the diversity is so cool. But I couldn't decide which one's better.
Who are your biggest inspirations?
My friend. It's been four years since I started learning English, before that I just knew the English alphabet, but I would just hang out with him and study a lot. Without him, I wouldn't have got to this level of English to begin with, and I wouldn't be here in the UK. I got the inspiration from him, and because of him I DJ here, too. He told me about the Wagamama competition – so because of him, I won the prize.
This is a competition. What does it mean to you to win it?
I just gave it a shot, and I won [a spot as a finalist], so I feel quite lucky and I'm quite proud of that. I'm so glad that I'm here as a Japanese person, DJing at a Japanese restaurant. Yeah, it's like cultural appreciation.
I bet it feels crazy to come here from Japan and for everything to spiral like this.
Yeah, all the way from Japan! It's crazy. The treatment is crazy; I've never been treated so good like this - that made me a bit nervous.
Give me a music recommendation!
Sammy Virji is huge in UK Garage and House - he's so good. Also, Overmono is one of the best female singers in UK Garage, her song 'Good Lies' is so good.