Art of Mo’ Wax: Yamatsuka Tetsurō (EYƎ)
Part of the appeal of a Mo’ Wax release, other than the music, is their amazing artwork, and the label became famous for their visually appealing packaging. This series will take a a brief look at some of the artists who worked with Mo’ Wax between 1992–2003.
Yamatsuka Tetsurō (山塚徹郎) is a Japanese artist who creates work under the name Yamataka Eye, or EYƎ. Regarding his name, EYƎ revealed in 1993, “it comes from my younger sister’s name Aiko. I took the Ai part, writing it out like the English word ‘eye.’ No meaning, I just did it.” It’s this attitude of just doing things that has defined his career, which has been made up of multiple aliases and infamous live performances.
In the mid 80s, EYƎ and Mitsuru Tabata formed the noise group Hanatarashi (later Hanatarash), after the pair met while working at an Einstürzende Neubauten show in Osaka. Inspired by that bands use of power tools in live performance, Hanatarash took the idea further, culminating in a performance where EYƎ brought a bulldozer on stage. He would later tell Browbeat, “We pretty much destroyed… ruined that club. I was planning on throwing Molotov cocktails but the bulldozer I was driving tipped over and gasoline spilled out. If we threw the Molotov cocktails, we would have set the whole place on fire.”
After events like this Hanatarash were apparently banned from performing, and EYƎ moved on to Acid Maki & Combi and Zombie, a new group which soon dissolved, with its remaining members forming Boredoms.
Boredoms (later changed to V∞redoms) released several albums between 1988–2009, varying from punk noise-rock on Onanie Bomb Meets The Sex Pistols, to the more accessible, but still experimental, Vision Creation Newsun. It remains the group EYƎ is most associated with, and his unique vocal style led to collaborations with John Zorn, Sonic Youth, and Ween, among others. The band also released a series of remix albums starting in 2000 titled Rebore, with UNKLE, DJ Krush, and Ken Ishii, each creating album length mixes from the Boredoms catalogue.
The UNKLE mix, created from a jam between James Lavelle, Rich File, and Damien Taylor, was released following The Art Of War: Who Dares Wins, a Mo’ Wax compilation only available in Japan which was compiled by Lavelle and featured a song by DJ 光光光, another alias of EYƎ.
James Lavelle has always had a keen eye for visually appealing artwork, and the initial collaborations between Lavelle and EYƎ culminated in EYƎ’s artwork being used by Mo’ Wax the following year, on several releases by Malcom Catto.
EYƎ had been creating the artwork for Hanatarash and Boredoms albums since the early 80s, but it was during the 90s that his work started to appear outside of Japan, such as the artwork on Beck’s Midnite Vultures album in 1999. In 1996 EYƎ published Nanoo, a large book of his illustration and collage work, which is similar in style to what he would create for Mo’ Wax.
Starting in 2001, Mo’ Wax released two albums and singles by Heliocentrics drummer Malcolm Catto. All four of these feature artwork from EYƎ, and each use colourful hand drawn illustrations, with Copter also featuring some collage of torn and layered paper which creates some uneven dead space around the edges. They stand out as some of the most visually interesting releases from this period in Mo’ Wax’s history, and were EYƎ’s only work with the label, which began to close down in 2002.
EYƎ continued to exhibit his work, and in 2016 published a new book Ongaloo, featuring collages and illustrations produced for an exhibition of the same name. The show visited Tokyo, New York, and London and Newcastle in the UK, and featured mix media works including found objects alongside his illustrations. In 2010 he discussed his visual and audio work with Vice, and touched on how the internet was changing the way people interacted with art.
I have always placed equal importance on the music and the artwork of our records. Even 12 inches that didn’t have any artwork allowed me to enjoy them from a visual perspective. With everything being turned into data nowadays, the significance of music, and of course images, is shifting. I guess you could say that they are becoming a type of art that places utmost importance on the exchange of information, or sharing in general...Yet the internet is only one of the many options that are available to us. Because we have access to the “innernet”, we can make a conscious choice of using the internet.
Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic caused him to further reflect on how people’s listening habits would change, as capacity restrictions meant live performances have become a more personal experience for listeners.
But the pandemic hasn’t stopped him from producing new music, and while Boredoms are currently inactive, 2020 saw the release of his first solo album as EYƎ, followed by a new music project titled FINALBY( ) which performed during Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival in August 2021. Their performance was streamed online by over 50,000 people and EYƎ has promised there will be more in the future.
These past two years have also seen new visual collaborations, bringing his artwork to fashion brands, such as his capsule collection with London designer Kiko Kostadinov, and a set of glow in the dark sleepwear for NOWHAW. Perhaps his most interactive work though is a t-shirt featuring QR codes which give a download link to an exclusive one hour DJ mix.
What’s next for EYƎ is hard to guess, as he has said he sees the future as “blank”, but is excited by that very idea. Currently he is crowdfunding further FINALBY( ) performances, with fans already pledging over two million Japanese Yen. After reaching 700% beyond his initial target, we can be sure EYƎ and his music will continue to put on memorable shows well into the future.
External Links
EYƎ Blog (not updated since 2009)
Boredoms Official Website (not updated since 2009)
A Guide To Boredoms — Red Bull Music Academy (2015)
