Issa Tejima

On Practice

I study music production and sound design at UTS. I’m a first year student and still getting used to this whole uni stuff. I’m enjoying it a lot. I took a gap year and travelled solo before I started university. My medium is photography and I also produce songs/DJ.

In Year 6 there was a DJ collective playing music at the park, offering free lessons to people. My parents pushed me to go up to them and ask them for lessons. I didn’t have a passion for it at the time and eventually I stopped showing up. Around a year ago, I realised how sick DJing was and bought myself a DJ control. I officially started DJing over the past year, everyone is a DJ now and it’s really about how you differentiate yourself.

There’s a niche for every genre, there’s a lot of different styles I’m drawn to. I do like to incorporate some weird stuff too. Mndsgn and Knxwledge are my main source of inspiration– they’re kind of what got me into making music. Listening to their sets is what made me not only want to produce music, but good music.

On Culture

My Japanese heritage doesn’t necessarily influence my photography or the music I produce. It’s a lot of my dad and his influence. He had a camera and I stole it from him, he’s also a big music guy.

Our home was always filled with the rich sounds of RnB, jazz, and gospel music—genres that my father played constantly. These genres became the soundtrack of my childhood and, over time, they seeped into my subconscious. When I create music, I often find that these influences naturally emerge in my work. The rhythms, melodies, and harmonies that were a constant presence in my upbringing have left an indelible mark on my creative process.

On Communicating With Artists

 I’m always inspired, I don’t map out my inspiration and make connections. Everyday interactions with other artists and regular people inspire me. More importantly, genres inspire me. I know it might sound cliché to say that I “listen to everything,” but when I say I listen to music, I listen to music. I dig really deep and appreciate the music I’m listening to. Most of the new music I discover is through YouTube, I’ll listen to random sets. Song radios on Spotify is also where I spend a lot of time finding more songs. 

On Storytelling and Experimentation

The songs I make don’t have lyrics in them. I tell stories through the music but not in a literal way. I’ll produce music with the intention of evoking emotions in listeners and I will often replicate chords from different songs. I think every art form is telling a story of some sort. Art is self expression and there’s always a message somewhere in the music or photography.

On Live Music

 I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I don’t actually enjoy going to larger shows. I’m not super adamant about paying a large amount of cash to see a good singer. Smaller venues are always more intimate. I think larger pop stars also have a fan base that don’t necessarily connect with the music because of its production. That doesn’t diminish the right for others to listen to larger singers, but I do think being in a room with other people who appreciate the production of music is really important to me.

On Democratising Art

I’ve been thinking a lot about the democratisation of music production and photographyI think it’s natural, especially with the way technology is operating now. Everything is a lot more accessible. You can buy speakers, MIDI keyboards, digital instruments, everything is there on your screen. As a result, the music landscape has become more diverse and inclusive, fostering innovation and enabling a wide range of voices and styles to emerge and thrive. Photography is a bit different, but I think it’s also become a lot more accessible with iPhones and the rise of digital and film cameras.

On Audiences

I don’t really think about how other people perceive my photography or music when I’m making them. You can’t really have self-expression if you’re making it for other people. My focus is on creating something that feels authentic to me. You eventually become numb to producing music or taking photos because you get used to the processes and it’s just something that naturally happens. Eventually, you lose the sense of what you originally started off with because the final product is never anywhere near where you began. 

It’s always interesting analysing listeners’ and audiences’ responses to music and photography. You can never go back to the first time you listened to a song or looked at a photograph.