Headshot by Jeremy Amar; home-page photo by Anita Culp: Kato Hideki performing solo for the Christian Marclay Festival at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Biography
Kato Hideki (family name Kato) is a Japanese-born multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, engineer and educator. His work is truly diverse with a wide range of forms and sounds from experimental, ambient, alternative rock, soundtrack and to sound design. He released seventeen titles as artist. As composer and producer, he collaborated with musicians, choreographers, film makers, theatre directors and visual artists. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Born in 1962, Kato studied creative writing at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his future collaborator, Yoshihide Otomo and became a member of the trio Ground Zero. He collaborated with various musicians such as Tony Buck, Yamatsuka Eye, Koichi Makigami, Tatsuya Yoshida and John Zorn. He produced his own records, including Player Piano with Yoshihide Otomo, Makio Tada and Michiaki Tanaka; and a twin-bass trio, Bass Army, with Ruins bassist, Kazuyoshi Kimoto and Ground Zero drummer, Masahiro Uemura. He also worked as a composer and engineer for a music library production company.
In 1991, Kato appeared on Koichi Makigami’s album “Koroshi no Blues” (produced by John Zorn) with Marc Ribot and Nana Vasconcelos. In 1992, he moved to New York City; he performed at Zorn’s 40th anniversary festival at the Knitting Factory with Fred Frith and Eyvind Kang. He was an artist-in-residence at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center in 1993.
In 1995, he composed, recorded and produced the acoustic album “Hope & Despair,” featuring Dougie Bowne, Masahiko Kono, Zeena Parkins and John Zorn. The piece was originally inspired by the photography of Robert Frank. The live performance at Roulette featured Daniel Carter, Susie Ibarra, Masahiro Kono and JC Morrison. The album was reissued in 2021 with new cover art by MAGNUM photographer Alec Soth. A vinyl LP of the album is to be released on Joyful Noise Recordings in January, 2023.
In 1995, he co-founded the experimental trio Death Ambient with Ikue Mori and Fred Frith. Their highly-acclaimed debut album was recorded at Bill Laswell’s Green Point Studio by Bob Musso. Death Ambient toured Europe and the UK with guitarist Jim Plotkin; their performance in London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The trio’s second album “Synaesthesia” was recorded at B.C. Studio by Martin Bisi and released in 1999. Their third album, “Drunken Forest” was produced by Kato. The pieces on the album were composed around the theme of the climate destruction. The basic tracks were recorded with the trio by Myles Boisen in Oakland, CA. Kato recorded additional instruments & sounds, and mixed the album in Brooklyn.
For the solo bass work “Turbulent Zone,” Kato developed his own prime number tuning system for fretless electric bass. He recorded with his Rick Turner Model 1 bass, and released the album in 1998. He performed the piece at “Swirled Music” concert in 1996, Bang On a Can Marathon in 1999, and on tour in Europe. The piece was noted in Bill Martins’ Book “Avant Rock: Experimental Music from the Beatles to Björk” (Open Court, 2002).
In 2001, he received a commission from The Kitchen where he premiered his composition for 10-piece ensemble, “Mystic Ship of Life.” In 2004, Kato recorded “Green Zone” with Yoshihide Otomo and Masahiro Uemura. The theme of the music was the US invasion of Iraq. Green Zone toured Japan and recorded their second album, “Bayt”. He formed the “electro-guitar” trio OMNI with Toshimaru Nakamura (guitar and no-input mixer) and Tetuzi Akiyama (guitar and electronics) in 2006. Their self-titled CD was released in 2009, with cover photography by Alexey Titarenko. In 2007, he composed the piece “Tremolo of Joy,” based on Native American myth and magical realism, and recorded it with Charlie Burnham, Calvin Weston, Briggan Krauss and Ed Tomney.
In 2010, he formed the group Plastic Spoon, featuring Karen Mantler, Doug Wieselman and Shahzad Ismaily. Kato wrote songs based on social justice issues; the music was sonically inspired by productions from the 1960’s. Plastic Spoon appeared on Spinning on Air (hosted by David Garland on WNYC) in 2011. The album “Singles in Mono” was released in 2020. The idea of making a record in mono was inspired by a conversation with the legendary Latin bassist, Andy Gonzalez, with whom Kato had worked as a composer and engineer.
In 2012, Kato was selected as an Artist-In-Residence at Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, CA, where he created the sound installation Hashigakari (“Sound Bridge”) with drums.
In 2019, Kato appeared on Jeremiah Cymerman’s 5049 Records Podcast and discussed his work.
As Composer / Sound Designer, Kato has composed music for dance, theatre, live performance and films, including: choreographer Takehiro Ueyama’s works There and Here (2014) and In the Sea of Heaven (2017) for TAKE Dance and Dallas Black Dance Theatre; the Irondale Ensemble's production of August Strindberg's “Ghost Sonata,” directed by Johan Petri (1995); the La Mama production, “After the Rain,” directed by Watoku Ueno (2008); live performance project, “Sirens of NYC” by Raphael Perret, which was commissioned by the Swiss Institute (2009); and performance artist Jefferson Pinder’s “Escape Artist” (2011). His film scores include “In Heaven” (1991) and “Exit B9” (1991) by Japanese director Hideaki Sasaki; “Platform” by Bangladeshi director Rashid Mamun (2008); and Chilean director Nicole Costa’s feature documentary, The Journey of Monalisa (2019), which was presented at DOC NYC and Cannes Film Festival in 2020.
As Instrumentalist, Kato has been an active collaborator with other sound and visual artists. With Nicolas Collins, he performed at the Sound in Motion Festival in Belgium for a multimedia project in 1999, appeared at the Mixology Festival at Roulette in 2003, and New Sound New York in 2004. With James Fei, he recorded and released the CD “Sieves” in 2003. The duo performed at UCSB, The Stone, and Issue Project Room, and toured Japan in 2004. He was a frequent performer in Michael Schumacher’s Room Piece, appearing at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Merkin Hall, and the Sounds Like Now Festival 2004. He was a member of the analog synthesizer group, Analogos with Kabir Carter, James Fei, David Galbraith, Michael Schumacher, Sergei Tcherepnin and Ed Tomney. In April 2007, he collaborated with Briggan Krauss for the sound and visual installation piece ZURE ("gap") at Diapason Gallery, NYC. With the visual artist Ursula Scherrer, he created an installation/public art piece “Elevator 55” at the Dumbo Arts Festival (2008), a performance piece, “Dream Within a Dream”, at Experimental Intermedia in NYC (2009), and an installation, Slash, at Diapason Gallery (2010). He appeared at the Feeding Back, Listening In festival at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, performing with James Fei and Toshimaru Nakamura, along with Alvin Lucier and Yoshihide Otomo. He also appeared at the Whitney Museum of American Art for the Christian Marclay Festival in 2009, performing solo, as well as in collaborations with Zeena Parkins, Nels Cline, Wayne Horvitz and Robbin Holcomb. He performed in Marina Rosenfeld’s “roygbiv&b” at the Museum of Modern Art in 2011. He formed a duo, Amorphous, with the composer John King and performed at Bates College and The Stone. Their self-titled album was released on BandCamp in 2013. He collaborated with interdisciplinary artist Sachiyo Takahashi for a performance at Japan Society in 2021.
As Bassist, he was a member of Peril with The Necks drummer Tony Buck, Yoshihide Otomo and Michael Sheridan which toured Japan and Australia funded by the Australian Council for the Arts. They released their self-titled album in 1992 and appeared on Australian TV. He joined the trio Dying Ground with Eyvind Kang and Calvin Weston, releasing a CD and touring Europe as part of the Tzadik Records tour in 1999. He toured Europe with No Safety (with Zeena Parkins and Chris Cochrane) in 1994 and appeared on their album “Live in Italy” (2021). He appears on Karen Mantler’s albums Pet Project and Business is Bad (which he also co-produced and engineered). He joined the Brooklyn-based band Collapsible Shoulder with Chris Cochrane, Kevin Bud Jones and Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Their EP “Everywhere” was released on BandCamp in 2016. He is a member of Baba Bibi, a Brooklyn band led by singer-song writer / playwright Stew (The Negro Problem; Passing Strange) and he produced their debut album in 2021. He has worked with Derek Bailey, Eszter Balint, Samm Bennett, Steven Bernstein, Carla Bley, Hiram Bullock, Sim Cain (Rollins Band), Michael Callen, Anthony Coleman, Chris Cutler (Henry Cow), J.D. Daugherty (Patti Smith Group), Huge Davies, Anton Fier, Marco Franco, Keiji Haino, Erik Friedlander, Hikashu, Shelley Hirsch, Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto), Takehisa Kosugi, Gary Lucas, Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin & Wood), Sean Meehan, Raz Mesinai, Eric Mingus, Arturo O’Farrill, Gen Ogimi, DJ Olive, Mike Patton (Faith No More), Robert Poss (Band of Susans), Nuno Rebelo, Jon Rose, Greg Saunier (Deer Hoof), Elliot Sharp, David Shea, Syd Straw, Steve Swallow, Yumiko Tanaka, Tenko, Kazutoki Umezu, Hideo Yamaki, Yo La Tengo, Bill Wells and Carlos Zingaro.
As Producer, Kato has produced all of his own recordings as leader. He co-produced Death Ambient’s three titles with Ikue Mori; and co-produced music with Chris Cochrane for the Bessie Award-winning “THEM” by Ishmael Houston-Jones, Dennis Cooper and Chris Cochrane. He co-produced and engineered Cochrane’s solo project “The Invention of Shoes vol. 1 & 2” in 2020. He co-produced, engineered and played bass on Karen Mantler’s “Business is Bad;” Collapsible Shoulder’s EP “Everywhere;” Stew’s “Baba Bibi,” and Eszter Balint’s “I Hate Memory!”
Kato teaches sound design at NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Integrated Design & Media program. He has also taught workshops at Bates College, the Experimental Festival in Buenos Aires, IAMAS, Chukyo University, Nagoya University of Art and Science, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Discography
As Leader:
Hope & Despair (EXTREME XCD 036, 1996; reissue Open Circuit Music 2021; Joyful Noise Recordings LP 2023)
Turbulent Zone (Music For Expanded Ears, MEE 89801, 1998, Open Circuit Music 2020)
Tremolo of Joy (Open Circuit Music, 2020)
Bardo (Open Circuit Music, 2016)
In the Sea of Heaven (Open Circuit Music, 2017)
The Journey of Monalisa (Open Circuit Music, 2019)
Plastic Spoon “Singles in Mono” (Open Circuit Music, 2020)
Green Zone "Green Zone" (Doubtmusic, dmf-106, 2005)
Green Zone "Bayt" (Disc Callithump, CPCD-002, 2008)
OMNI (Presquile Records PSQ003, 2009)
Player Piano “On the Edge of the Flame” (B-LOW / ART UNION BLD-2301, 1991)
Bass Army "Karada Wa Oto o Dasu Mono" (Trigram TR-P 907, 1994)
Collaborations:
Death Ambient (Tzadik Records, TZ 7207, 1995)
Synaesthesia (Tzadik Records, TZ 7226, 1999)
Drunken Forest (Tzadik Records, TZ 7264, 2007)
Sieves with James Fei (Improvised Music From Japan, IMJ-522, 2004)
Amorphous with John King (BandCamp, 2013)
Complilations:
Harvestworks Tellus CD #27: Mini Mall (Tellus 27,1993)
Tokyo Invastion Volume 1 & 2: Cosmic Kurushi Monsters (Virgin, 1996)
As Bassist:
With Koichi Makigami
“Koroshi no Blues” (Toshiba EMI TOCT-6496, 1992)
With Tony Buck
“Peril” (Dr. Jim’s Records, DRJIM007, 1993)
With Tenko
“At The Top Of Mt. Brocken” (RecRec Music, ReCDec 48)
“Dragon Blue” (Sound Factory, SF CD004, 1993)
With Yoshihide Otomo
“Ground Zero” (God Mountain GMCD-002, 1993)
With Hoppy Kamiyama
“Electric Sun” (God Mountain GMCD-003, 1994)
With David Shea
“Prisoner” (Sub Rosa, SR73, 1994)
“Hsi-Yu Chi” (Tzadik, 7005, 1996)
With Ikue Mori
“Hex Kitchen” (Tzadik,7201,1995)
“One Hundred Aspects Of The Moon” (Tzadik, 7055, 2000)
With Dying Ground (with Eyvind Kang & Calvin Weston)
“Dying Ground” with (Avant, CD-76, 1998)
With Karen Mantler
“Pet Project” (Angel Records / Virgin Classics, 2000)
“Business is Bad” (XtraWATT / ECM, XtraWATT-14, 2014)
With Nuno Rebelo & Marco Franco
“ZBD” (Raka RKIS001CD, 2002)
With Jim Pugliese
“Phase III” (Improvvisatore Involontario, 0008, 2008)
With Bill Wells
“Nursery Rhymes” (88 LP, 2015)
With Andrea Centazzo
“Los Angeles Tapes” (Ictus Records, 2021)
With Collapsible Shoulder
“Everywhere” (BandCamp, 2016)
With Eszter Balint
“I Hate Memory” (2022)
With Stew
“Baba Bibi” (2022)
As Producer:
With Death Ambient
Death Ambient (Tzadik Records, TZ 7207, 1995)
Synaesthesia (Tzadik Records, TZ 7226, 1999)
Drunken Forest (Tzadik Records, TZ 7264, 2007)
With Chris Cochrane
“THEM” (Tzadik 7637, 2011)
“The Invention of Shoes vol. 1 & 2” (BandCamp, 2020)
With Karen Mantler
“Business is Bad” (XtraWATT / ECM, XtraWATT-14, 2014)
With Collapsible Shoulder
“Everywhere” (BandCamp, 2016)
With Eszter Balint
“I Hate Memory!” (2022)
With Stew
“Baba Bibi” (2022)