Summer is in full swing, and this month we celebrate the 15th anniversary of seminal Tokyo imprint Mule Musiq with the help of Mule boss Toshiya Kawasaki and Kompakt mainstay Superpitcher!

Lineup

Superpitcher
(Hippie Dance / Kompakt - Cologne)
aka 1/2 of Pachanga Boys
https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/superpitcher
https://soundcloud.com/superpitcher_official
https://superpitcherkompakt.bandcamp.com/

Toshiya Kawasaki
(mule musiq / Endless Flight - Tokyo)
https://soundcloud.com/mulemusiq
https://www.residentadvisor.net/record-label.aspx?id=1228

with support from Your Sunday Best residents
Sheppard
Andy Warren
Ginkgo

Cover: $15

Event on RA: https://www.residentadvisor.net/events/1268770

Artist Bios

Superpitcher
Superpitcher is Paris-based Aksel Schaufler, a German producer commonly affiliated with Kompakt. The Paris-based artist's production career dates back to the late '90s before he made his appearance on the Cologne label with "Shadows," a deeply melodic downtempo house affair featured on the Total 2 compilation—and his contributions thereafter, including a plethora of later EPs and two long-players, have established him as one of Kompakt's central artists. His range of work encompasses techno, microhouse, and the dreamy emotive pop for which he is most widely acknowledged.

Much of Schaufler's work has landed on Hippie Dance, the independent label he co-founded alongside Rebolledo in 2011. Schaufler and Rebolledo are also Pachanga Boys, a production and performance duo founded in 2009. But Superpitcher’s roots go deep. His pre-Kompakt days saw him produce dub and reggae as Sir Positive in the late '90s. In 2015 he also released the Disco In The Sky album as King So So, an album that marked an evolution in his sound and laid the foundations of his later projects. Within his catalog of more recent material is The Golden Ravedays, Schaufler's third and latest long-player offering, and his most expansive work to date. The album arrived over the course of 2017, with one 12" "chapter" vinyl record released at the end of each month, before being made available as one complete box set later that year

Toshiya Kawasaki
Lawrence, DJ Koze, Jus-Ed, Optimo, Minilogue, DJ Sprinkles, Henrik Schwarz and The Revenge. What do they all have in common? Mule Musiq, the Japanese label set up in 2000 by Toshiya Kawasaki. Along with its sister labels Mule Electronic and Endless Flight, you could put on an enviable dance music festival with Mule's roster of artists.

Kawasaki's astute A&R over the years is the main reason for that. He's looked outside of Japan as often as he has looked inside it for the music that has made his imprint so successful internationally. That's a rarity in Japan, where the stereotypical strategy to become big in the country is to focus on one or the other.

But while Mule is known throughout the world of house and techno, not much is known about Kawasaki. Formerly working in fashion, he's only recently started to DJ outside of Japan on a more regular basis. Yusuke Kawamura recently visited the label boss to investigate the origins of the imprint, and how Kawasaki has maintained such a high level of quality over the years.