10 Songs with… iichiro taya
iichiro taya (Ott Yarris)
Born in 2004 and based in Sapporo. Works as a DJ while developing the art project Ott Yarris.
After making music with friends in high school, iichiro became deeply interested in electronic music and began DJing while searching for his own path as a solo artist. Based in Sapporo, he has gradually expanded his activities across Japan, including appearances at DJ PayPal and Loto Retina’s shows in Kyoto, as well as E.O.U’s “loopな” at WWWβ in May 2026.
Through Ott Yarris, he focuses on contradictory sensations found in everyday life and the commonalities that exist between seemingly unrelated things, reconstructing them through his own combinations. Working across music, space, and visual expression, the project seeks to create new experiences where harmony and discomfort coexist.
1. What was the first song you ever bought yourself?
seacret cm – Ling Tosite Sigure
I think Ling Tosite Sigure was the first artist I became genuinely obsessed with on my own.
I was around 13. Before that, I used to rent CDs from TSUTAYA, but I’d never actually bought one. At TSUTAYA, I came across a best-of album by the band, and then bought their album just A moment, which includes this song.
Even now, I still think this track is great. The loops of the guitar chords and rhythms might connect to the emotional quality of cloud rap and the feeling of dance music beats that I discovered later. It also fits the loneliness of the small seaside town where I grew up until junior high. The coastline.
2. What’s the last song you listened to?
Walls – Aceii & Marlon DuBois
I’ve only recently started properly getting into the artists around Shed Theory.
Back then, I was completely into Drain Gang. A lot of the people I’ve met in Tokyo have strong roots in hip-hop, and communicating with them through words, music, and artwork has helped me rediscover things I had previously overlooked. eijin from Mana Online, for example, has been a big influence in that sense.
But as I’ll get into later, discovering James Blake made me really drawn to minimal things from a sonic perspective.
3. What song reminds you of your first love?
Oreo – Tohji
The first time I dated someone was in high school, and that’s when I was listening to Tohji.
Maybe everyone in Tokyo already loved him at the time, but Tohji hadn’t fully reached Sapporo yet. I had barely listened to Japanese hip-hop before high school, and it was the best-dressed guy at school who introduced me to Tohji.
The song isn’t directly connected to any particular memory involving a girl, but it’s strongly tied to my memories of being a teenager. Even during the summer of my third year, after my girlfriend was no longer around, there was a t-mix Tour in Sapporo on the night of a huge fireworks festival. I felt a little lonely because I had no one to go to the fireworks with, but at 17, I went to see the show at a now-defunct club in Sapporo using a fake ID. That was also the first time I saw E.O.U DJ.
4. What did you listen to when you were in junior high?
The Wilhelm Scream – James Blake
This was the song that made me fall in love with electronic music. Until then, I had mostly listened to bands, and this track made me realize just how beautiful a space electronic sounds could create.
I think this was where the reason for my eventually finding myself in the electronic music scene began. It’s still one of the benchmarks for the kind of sound I love.
5. What song reminds you of your childhood room?
Prelude, Op. 28, No. 15 “Raindrop” – Frédéric Chopin
I remember Chopin playing in the living room when I was little. Maybe it was for educational purposes?
This is my favorite among his pieces. My mother also played Chopin on the piano, so I think I’ve inevitably been influenced by it in some way. I only listened to piano music, though I was actually made to take lessons on the electronic organ. I’ve always had this vague fascination with classical music.
6. What’s a song that makes you feel completely alone?
The Lighthouse – Dawuna
The sound is so good that it feels like everything outside of myself disappears into this song.
Thank you to whoever introduced it to me. It’s my ideal sound, second only to James Blake.
7. What do you listen to while traveling?
Track X – Black Country, New Road
It matches the wide, constantly changing scenery better than anything else. So I guess it might be different in Tokyo, because I’m talking about Hokkaido.
In high school, I made music with a classmate who I connected with through the vibe of this song. It’s one of the most important songs to me.
8. What’s your favorite film soundtrack?
The Zone of Interest Soundtrack – Mica Levi & Johnnie Burn
I saw this film at a huge cinema inside a commercial shopping complex, but despite being in that setting, I felt like I’d gone to see an alternative art exhibition or an experimental event.
The contrast between the pop, open environment of a cinema that families would go to, the huge audience, and the alternative nature of the expression—including the music—felt beautiful to me. The fact that the soundtrack was never officially released might also be part of why it remains so strongly connected to my memory of the film.
Mica Levi was already one of my favorite artists before I saw the movie.
9. What song represents the city you live in now?
venom / olvido – the hatch
If I define my city as the Sapporo where I currently live, the existence of the band the hatch is essential. This song was released as a vinyl-only single through UNDERCOVER before the album came out, and I vividly remember how excited I was the first time I put the needle on it. It’s still my favorite song. For me, they were nothing less than local musical heroes. I think the first DJ event I ever went to was Yamada Midori from the hatch’s event at PROVO.
After that, they continued to organize an event called The Justice every year, and I think what they created with both the band and the DJs became a movement on a national scale.
It became a starting point for me to meet so many people and discover so much music.
10. What’s a song you’d recommend?
eyes wide shut – meat computer
meat computer was the first artist whose underground hip-hop from overseas I became seriously obsessed with. There are so many songs that make up the different elements of who I am, including some that I couldn’t mention in this interview, so I wanted to choose this one.
I was seriously torn between this and 54–71’s Cosmetic Overkiller. If I were choosing a band, that would have been the one. But this time, I went with meat computer because their music is available on streaming.
11. Is there anything you’d like people to know about your project, Ott Yarris?
Right now, Ott Yarris mainly focuses on event curation and direction, but I see the project as a comprehensive art project built around a single concept. Alongside releasing music and performing live, I want to develop it into a platform for exploring different forms of expression in the future. Within that, organizing events, directing spaces, and curating acts are all forms of expression for me.
If DJing is the act of selecting and editing sonic information and presenting it as a single experience, then with an event, you can edit not only sound but also space, light, people, time, physical sensations, and all kinds of elements that engage the five senses to create one experience. I want to take existing things, reconstruct them through my own perspective, and express them in a more multidimensional form. In that sense, I see event curation and direction as an important form of expression for Ott Yarris.
The next event will be on October 12 at SPREAD in Shimokitazawa, where I’ll be curating the event and performing live as Ott Yarris. If you’ve found even a little bit of this interesting, I’d be happy if you could keep the date open.
If you’re discovering Ott Yarris for the first time, I’d recommend checking out the website and Instagram first. 🙂