Memories of MZA: The Beatmaker Cooks Up A Smorgasbord Of Nostalgia On Debut EP

MZA wants to take you down memory lane with his debut EP (Credit: Richard Sta Ana)

The power of recollection is a wonderful thing to behold. Matt Sekiya, otherwise known as MZA, has pieced together a fascinating time capsule in the form of his debut EP, Balmoral. It’s a device that channels the phenomenon of nostalgia – the glimpses of his childhood summers in Japan, a reverence for hip-hop behemoths like J Dilla and DJ Krush, and even nods to his beloved neighbourhood bakery growing up. Balmoral is the culmination of his flashback excavation, sonically deciphered into a series of electronic instrumentals shaped by his myriad of influences. Thematically and musically, you’re getting a deep dive into MZA’s tailored reminiscence.

One thing that immediately pops out is how organic everything sounds. MZA doesn’t shy away from sampling, plucking from sources that range from the warmth of jazz to the purity of traditional folk instruments. And when he does pile on the layers, MZA displays a clear inclination towards authentic, un-digitised sounds, be it snares that snap, bongos that roll naturally, or Rhodes-inspired pads that add a lo-fi elegance. This is a sound that’s full of humanised dynamism, and it’s a rush you can palpably feel in every track.

Opening number, “Morning Salutations”, is a sombre trip-hop crawl that pulls trumpet samples from the late Japanese jazz virtuoso, Toshinori Kondo. Title track, “Balmoral”, drastically turns up the tempo with a charging drum & bass salvo. “前川町” sticks to more four-on-the-floor sentiments with its strings-embellished deep house configuration. And then you have “Sunset”, an instrumental hip-hop closer beefed up with turntablism scratches and psychedelic sitar-esque hooks. As a full record, it’s a mesmeric hodgepodge that scrupulously shows the versatility of the Japanese-Singaporean, a forte that he’s also shown in his other pursuits.

Devoted to music, MZA has been involved in the scene in different capacities. Aside from production, MZA meticulously runs a specialised music blog called ZŪJAGO, co-runs a label called Yen Disco Soundsystem – where Balmoral is released on – and has been DJ-ing for years at venues like Choices Cuts Goods + Coffee, Potato Head Singapore and Kilo Lounge. These connected routes stem from an acute wisdom in musical knowledge, and the release of Balmoral marks his next discerning detour.

For this interview, MZA digs up the memories as he talks about the construction of his debut EP, the organic nuances of his music, and how he finds the energy to juggle everything on his plate.

The beatmaker toyed with samples in the creation of his EP (Credit: Richard Sta Ana)

Hello Matt! Congratulations on the release of your debut EP. After producing and performing for several years, what was the driving force that made you want to put out this EP now?

Hey Kevin! Thanks so much for having me and excited to be talking about this new release. For the past few years, I’ve been more active as a DJ and while that was really enjoyable, it was never the end goal. I’ve always wanted to make more music and did intend to slowly transition into it. However due to the pandemic, that process accelerated from the lack of gigs. It is bittersweet, but with the extra amount of time, I’ve channelled that energy into producing music which resulted in this EP.

The EP explores themes of nostalgia, from your neighbourhood bakery to memories of your summer holidays. Would you say you’re a very sentimental person? And how does music help you communicate these emotions?

Yeah, I'm quite a sentimental person. A lot of albums hold different memories and my adolescence was spent listening to one too many Death Cab songs. As a whole, music is very important to me as I’m quite introverted, so it is an outlet for me to express myself freely and a form of escape.

On this EP, I channelled the emotions from my memories more into moods, so finding the right sonic textures and instruments to convey that was important. I wanted the music to sound contemplative and cohesive despite the varying BPMs and styles. Also the track order is meant to be cyclical, with music elements being shared throughout but augmented differently. This is because I had this concept of birth/rebirth and the cyclical nature of life while researching Buddhist texts during this EP.

“I wanted to be more like the DJs that I looked up to like MURO, Jeff Mills and Gilles Peterson who had a diverse palette of sounds throughout their careers.” (Credit: Richard Sta Ana)

Genre-wise, it touches on everything from trip-hop to deep house and even drum & bass. Are these all influences that inspired you growing up?

Growing up, my influences were extremely eclectic. I’d remember waking up in the mornings and my mom would be playing Native American flute music, followed by Shania Twain and maybe the radio or MTV later in the day; while my dad was more into jazz and funk. So I had this diverse range of sounds being transplanted into my mind constantly.

Narrowing down a genre that really inspired me growing up, it would be jazz followed by hip-hop later on. I even wanted to study to be a jazz guitarist when I was 16 (which my parents objected to). House and drum & bass only came in later on while DJ-ing, mostly because I started to feel restricted playing primarily hip-hop and expanding my sound was a way to free myself musically. DJs tend to get pigeonholed into genres a lot and I wasn’t really fond of that. I wanted to be more like the DJs that I looked up to like MURO, Jeff Mills and Gilles Peterson who had a diverse palette of sounds throughout their careers.

On “Morning Salutations”, you managed to dig up samples from the late Toshinori Kondo. Why did you choose to begin this EP by connecting with such a revered figure in music?

Man first off, rest in peace to Toshinori Kondo-san. Immense respect for his wide body of work and his continually experimental nature. Up till his passing, he was still pushing his sound further and releasing new material; to me he’s the Japanese Miles Davis. His album with DJ Krush, 記憶 Ki-Oku, was a big influence on this track; that album connected with me on a deep level. DJ Krush is also a huge influence for me, in terms of sample choices from jazz to traditional folk instruments and the overall darker tones. Releasing “Morning Salutations” as the lead single is my bold statement of intent. It’s a signal that I want to continue the legacy and sonic experimentations of DJ Krush and Kondo for my generation and of course put my own spin on it.

Also big ups to Sora and Yota Kondo for releasing their father’s stems licence-free. It’s available on Bandcamp as BLOW FOR 3.11. Proceeds from it will go to Sakura Line 311 which helps rebuild the communities still affected by the Tohoku earthquake from 2011.

“I approached this EP more like a jazz session with different instruments, and arranged them in a way that some of them kinda trade licks and have mini solos too.” (Credit: Richard Sta Ana)

Overall, the EP has a very ‘organic’ sound; you can almost imagine a full band playing these tracks in a jam session. Was it a conscious idea to have this warm, raw aesthetic?

I’m glad you mentioned this! Yeah, especially since this EP deals with nostalgia and memories, it definitely needed a very human element. Which is why a lot of the drums aren’t very quantised and are played behind the beat. Hate to say it but it’s very much a J Dilla influence, especially from his work on D’Angelo’s Voodoo where he had Questlove play the drums similarly. A lot of the pads, synth and Rhodes elements on this EP were played and not sampled as well.

Overall, I approached this EP more like a jazz session with different instruments and arranged them in a way that some of them kinda trade licks and have mini solos too; this is probably most apparent on the last track “Sunset”. It’s a direction I’m keen on exploring deeper on future releases, perhaps even with a live band.

**Earlier this year, you were paired with Intriguant as part of the *SCAPE ALT. Residency programme. Did that experience shape your approach in making this EP?**

Absolutely. Working with Intriguant has helped me grow immensely as a producer. From our sessions, the key thing that I took away from it was being able to polish my work and give it more purposeful depth; to be able to move away from making beats that were unintentionally lo-fi into more fully realised soundscapes. His layering of synths and drums definitely rubbed off on me for this EP. He’s a Singaporean producer whom I really respect and enjoy listening to. Plus I hear he’s teaching music production classes at Grid Culture now so I highly recommend it if anyone’s keen to learn.

MZA has performed on the decks of venues like Camp Kilo Charcoal Club and Potato Head Singapore (Credit: MZA’s Facebook page)

Can you tell us more about your other projects, ZŪJAGO and Yen Disco Soundsystem? And how do you find the energy to balance all these ideas?

For ZŪJAGO, it’s a music blog focused on jazz, hip-hop and electronic music by Japanese and mixed-Japanese artists. I had noticed that for Japanese jazz music, there wasn’t much discussion or a comprehensive catalogue of the music online that was accessible to everyone. Oftentimes there are pieces of it available but only on pages in Japanese language or through YouTube, though the focus tends to be more on the ’80s era. Through the blog, I hope the music can be preserved and listened to by a wider and younger audience in the years to come!

As for Yen Disco Soundsystem, it’s a music imprint run by a collection of ragtag misfits who wanna release whatever music they want. We focus mainly on electronic music and hip-hop but we’re not gonna limit ourselves to just that. Admittedly we’ve been quiet on this front lately, but with this EP’s release there’ll be more music in progress. In fact, there is a hidden bonus track available on this EP’s Bandcamp release that’s a demo for what we’re working on next. Also we’re affiliated with Mosta Records now and there may be a vinyl release in the works soon, so keep a lookout for those!

Not gonna lie, it’s incredibly time-consuming running so many things on top of a day job that also deals in music. However in the grander scheme of things, these projects are meant to create and preserve works that hopefully bring the same feelings of joy and wonder that other artistes have done for me. I’m just passing that message onto the next and hopefully they’ll do the same in time to come.

And lastly, what would you like listeners to take away from this EP?

To remember and embrace where you came from. Also, Balmoral Bakery’s chicken pies are dope. Everyone should try it sometime!

Balmoral by MZA is out now on the Yen Disco Soundsystem Bandcamp page. Follow his Instagram page to stay updated with his activities, and his Mixcloud page to hear his mixes.