At what point did you realize that music was going to be your main path?

Moe Shop : Around the end of high school, it was a decisive moment having to choose what I wanted to do for my future. By the time I graduated, I had already been making music for almost six years, and I thought I was doing pretty well online. I tried going to art college for a couple of years, but as more and more revenue started coming in from platforms like Bandcamp, I decided I should just focus on music instead.

During that time, I was lucky to be surrounded by friends and family that supported me with that decision.

Your artist name “Moe Shop” reflects the Japanese influence on you and your music; how did all that come about?

Moe Shop : While I was still a teenager, I was really into anime, and that was ultimately how I discovered a lot of the earliest Japanese songs and musicians to influence my style. I already had the funk and house influence from my parents, but listening to Japanese music -- ranging from anime songs to artists like TeddyLoid, Tofubeats, or even Vocaloid artists like kz(livetune), all of this helped shape my style.

In 2016 I came to Tokyo for the first time for a DJ booking, and then I just kept coming back -- in 2019, I finally decided to make the move to Tokyo, sharing a living space with all my friends out here. Since all my influences and collaborators are out here, it just made sense for me to be here.

In recent years you have collaborated with many Japanese artists; how is the collaboration process?

Moe Shop : It might seem obvious, but there's definitely the language barrier hurdle. I don't speak much Japanese, so I have to find ways to work around that. Sometimes I get lucky, and the other artist can speak English, or I have a friend help translate my vision for the track. That being said, music is universal, so I do find that when I send over a track, and they give it a listen, there's a level of understanding that allows us to progress.

In recent years, what are some of the artists and music you’ve been following?

Moe Shop : There's a lot of people I'm going to miss, but lately, I've been inspired so much by artists like Ujico*/Snail's House, Yunomi, Hakushi Hasegawa, Mameyudofu -- all the new generation of talent in Japan has been super inspiring to me.

What’s your starting point when you begin to work on a new track?

Moe Shop : I almost always start with the chords. Whenever I'm about to start working on a track, I'll usually just jam out on my piano and synthesizers to find an interesting progression. When I find it, I'll then take it into my DAW and correct things like the voicings where I can't play them with my own fingers, for example.

Honestly, though, I'm just very obsessed with chords. I mentioned earlier pulling inspiration from Complextro, and while the genre doesn't have the most complicated chord progressions, it does have really interesting voicings, so that's also been a source of inspiration.

When I'm not starting with chords, however, I'll usually be starting off with the melody.

What’s your favorite chord progression?

Moe Shop : I don't know much about the exact naming of chords, but as far as examples go in recent years, I'm a fan of chords from artists like Cosmo's Midnight -- those really cool and cute chords and melodies. There's been a lot of overuse for that sound in more recent years, unfortunately, but I still have a soft spot for those early sounds.

How has your music production environment changed during these years?

Moe Shop : Compared to before, I definitely have a lot more hardware now. Back in 2017, I started going to various Book Off Super Bazaar's (second-hand store) where I ended up finding a lot of great deals on gear. Back then I managed to get myself some vintage analog synthesizers, grooveboxes, and even hardware like the volca sample.

The workflow using hardware is so different from working in my DAW. I really do feel like I can have sessions and create sounds I never could on my computer -- yet, at the same time, I really do feel like they can also complement each other in so many ways.

Using hardware has also been a major factor in the evolution of my music. For example, my "Moe Moe" EP uses a lot of hardware, and my more recent works are basically 50/50 on digital and hardware. Both sources have their pros and cons, but they really do complement each other.

What are your favorite music production tricks?

Moe Shop : One of my favorite production tips to give is, if you’ve been working on a loop for a long time and it’s just not going anywhere, try transposing it to a different key. It sounds simple, but it really can lead to new discoveries, as well as keeps the sound fresh for yourself.

Another tip would be, don’t be afraid to pursue the style of your favorite artists. Personally, I love pre-shifted claps, because the artists I love all use them. It’s an old-school electro vibe and something that became part of my sound.

About hardware, you use several volca synths and other small format synths, is the size something important for you?

Moe Shop : Yeah, definitely. I love my old-school synthesizers, but they’re so massive and heavy. I wish I thought of this earlier, but when you start getting into them you really have to take the form factor into consideration. For example, when I get a new synthesizer these days, I’ll always try and go for the module version to save space.

There’s something I’ve always liked about small synthesizers too. I think of synths as cool toys for adults, so for me when I have a rig with several small synths, it’s a totally different workflow. You can get really tactile, and that in itself is a whole lot of fun.

For the demo track you made in collaboration with KORG you used the volca sample and other volcas as well, how was the creation process? Did you create the sample pack first and used it to make the track, or did the track come first?

Moe Shop : When I first got my volca and was filled in on the project, I really wasn’t sure where to begin as I’d never done anything like this before. I started making some simple chords in my DAW, and then fed those into the volca sample. I just spent a while jamming repeating this process to see what would happen.

I tried making a variety of sounds that I could picture myself using in tracks -- piano, synths, tape stop, vocal shots, melodies, and chords. After loading all these samples onto the volca sample, I was thinking about creating the demo track on FL Studio first then recreating it on the volca; then I realized just how easy the sequencer on the device was to use, and it ended up feeling more intuitive to do the whole project from start to finish on it. Even things like side chain, for example, you can find workarounds with envelopes and motion recording. The whole process was a lot of fun.

In the track you were also using the Nu:Tekt NTS-1, how do you like it?

Moe Shop : In the demo track, I used it to make the riser sound. I managed to do this by modulating the volume, filter, and resonance on it.

I’ve been playing around with the NTS-1 a lot lately, it’s the smallest piece of hardware I own but it packs a sound as large as some of my bigger synths. The reverb and the delay on it are really good for such a small machine. It’s really interesting seeing it pull off such big pads, arpeggios, and reverbs in the form factor it has.

I honestly just really like processing audio through it too because of the effects it has.

Please tell us about your current projects and future releases:

Moe Shop : I’m finally starting to release a lot of the music I’ve been sitting on which is really exciting. My latest singles "WONDER POP" and "GHOST FOOD" are doing great, and my collaborative EP with Kizuna AI “RADIO LOVE HIGHWAY” is finally out in the wild now too.

I can’t say too much, but I have a lot more that I’m working on so hopefully I get to share all that soon too.