Ryo Utasato
<< I think it's a very wonderful album, full of emotion and feeling! >>
Ryo Utasato, Interview (by Wolf Red) - May 2016
Editor's Note: Ryo Utasato was also previously featured on Sequential Dreams "Cosmic Touch" Album.
Interview by Wolf Red , radio programmer at Modul303.com - Listen to Modul303.com for the best in electronic music!
Kurenai
Sequential Dreams: Legends, released June 1, 2016
Ryo Utasato - Keyboards, Synthesizers, and Arrangements
Kuutana - Keyboards, Synthesizers, Guitar and Arrangements
The Legends Album is available here on Bandcamp
Liquid Fire
Sequential Dreams: Cosmic Touch, released November 23, 2013
Ryo Utasato - Keyboards, Synthesizers, and Arrangements
Kuutana - Keyboards, Synthesizers, Guitar and Arrangements
Based on an initial version of “Liquid Fire” by Ryo Utasato (Japan). This is a new Sequential Dreams version co-written, edited, and mastered by Kuutana (Canada) for Borders Edge Music.
<<... (Liquid Fire) is where you discover that you have made a full-increment jump into ethno-exotica (...) The “Zen-Sunni” religio-mystical tradition postulated in Dune as the ancestral faith of the Fremen is rendered plausible here. Like poetry, music’s first expression was sacred. Will the output of contemporary musicians serve as a springboard for the spirituality of the future?...>>
George Miler, December 19, 2013
The Cosmic Touch Album is available here on Bandcamp
Wolf Red: Can you say a bit about your music about your music heritage? Do you come from a musical family?
Ryo: Yes, both of my parents are musicians.
Wolf Red: How did you begin working with electronic music? Did you previously record with other instruments and then move on to electronic?
Ryo: I have always worked with electronic music, recording all the instruments via the keyboard and use of programs.
Wolf Red: Your music is often called “tribal” in that you blend ethnic inspired sound with more modern sound. Any thoughts you can share on this?
Ryo: I enjoy "world music" in its many forms and I try to blend those various sounds into my music.
Wolf Red: You are credited with composing soundtracks for movies and television, can you share a bit of your history? Any interesting stories about making these?
Ryo: When I was living in Japan, I composed the score for a full length independent film as well as, a major theater movie. I also worked on numerous TV programs. Here in America I have composed the music for independent horror and dramatic films.
Wolf Red: In the last few years you’ve also been working with your husband on Firesphere, a band based in Florida. Can you share a few words on that project and your participation?
Firesphere is an industrial rock/metal band combining techno and cinematic soundtrack to create something new and exciting. My husband and I created the concept and write all the music for Firesphere. I am also co-lead vocalist/front person with my husband.
Wolf Red: This is the second participation in Sequential Dreams albums and your new track “Kurenai” features traditional “Matsuri” (festival) chants. Can you share a bit about your thoughts and creative process in producing this piece?
Ryo: I don't really think about what I'm writing or its direction until I get fully into writing the piece. Ideas and feelings come to me during the process of writing. The same applies to various instruments I may use. It depends on the mood of the piece as to what instrument fits best.
Wolf Red: In finishing, do you have any impressions you’d like to share after listening to the finished Sequential Dreams “Legends” album?
Ryo: I think it's a very wonderful album, full of emotion and feeling. I am very happy to be a part of this wonderful album!
On the Sequential Dreams "Legends" album, produced by Borders EdgeTrack: Kurenai
Original composition and production by Ryo Utasato
Extended version composition guitars, synths, and arrangements by Kuutana
Sequential Dreams version mixed, and mastered at Borders Edge Studios Canada
Editor's Note: Ryo Utasato was a guest artist featuring on the Sequential Dreams "Legends" album. See at the end of the page for credits.
Ryo Utasato is a Japanese composer and singer/songwriter with a rich body of work that runs the gamut from electronica to ambient to world to rock and beyond. Being raised by parents who were both musicians themselves, Ryo has had no shortage of inspiration and has been creating music from a very young age. Her range of talent and unique experimental style is immediately striking and listening to one of her pieces will undoubtedly transport you to another place. Her soundtracks have appeared in a variety of film and TV, and she's worked in such genres as sci-fi, drama, horror and action. Her work was also chosen for the theme of World Heritage series.
Ryo's incredible musical sense combined with her genuine interest in world culture has opened her mind and pushed her to experiment with different types of sounds and instruments. Her music often features a mixture of seemingly contrasting sounds which collide at different points and produce unexpectedly moving results. On top of some of the more conventional instruments which Ryo has used in her music, she has also experimented with a number of others from different parts of the world such as the duduk (Armenia), the erhu (China) and the shamisen (Japan). The expanse and tremendous scale of her music is capable of taking us from one part of the globe to another, just by closing our eyes.
Music for media ResourceSound UK / Pump Audio USA
Work Experience composers and vocalist
NHK Television (International / Japan), EMI Music Japan, Warner Music Japan, Lantis (BANDAI VISUAL), IZUMI Broadcast Production Company, TOHO Music,