Ken Ishii Artist Bio

Ken Ishii (ケンイシイ) is a successful techno DJ and producer from Tokyo. He has released work under his own name as well as under the pseudonyms: FLR, Flare, UTU, Yoga, and Rising Sun.

Ken Ishii debuted on a legendary Belgian techno label, R & S Records, in 1993. In that year he straight won No.1 on the UK’s NME magazine’s techno chart, which led him to worldwide recognition. In 1995, the highly praised album “Jelly Tones” (R & S / Sony Japan) was released. In the following year, the video for the single “Extra” from this album (directed by Koji Morimoto, the animator of the worldwide hit cartoon, “Akira”) won MTV’s “Dance Video of the Year”.

Since then, Ken has been regarded internationally as one of the Japanese pioneers who can create world class electronic sounds. In 1998, he produced the official theme song for the winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and it was played in more than 70 countries around the world. Then in 2000, Ken was interviewed and was on the cover of Newsweek magazine, featured as a symbol of the Japanese new culture. This was acclaimed as a great undertaking by a dance/electronic music artist.

He also produces music for films, such as doing the theme song and soundtrack for the monster hit Japanese film “Whiteout” in 2000, which led him to be nominated in Japanese Academy Awards. He expands his boundary to games as well. Rez, the game Ken contributed his exclusive tracks to, became a cult hit. In 2005, he reached a major achievement in being in charge of the music and designing an exclusive 12.2 surround sound system for the Seto-Nihon Pavilion, enforced by the Japanese Government, at World Expo in Aichi, Japan.

These days, Ken spends 2/3 of his time on travelling in Europe, Asia, North/South America DJ’ing and working as a true international artist/DJ. In 2004, he was awarded the Best Techno DJ at “Dance Music Awards” in Ibiza, proving himself to be one of the world’s most talented DJ’s in the scene as well. He often plays at mega dance festivals, such as Monegros (Spain), WIRE (Japan) and more. His unique blend always drives crowd into frenzy.

Ken set up his own label, 70 Drums, in 2002 starting off with an album “Future In Light”. His latest album is “SUNRISER” in 2006 and he again shows in it his futuristic vision and his deep love in his musical root, early Detroit techno. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.