Dancing Full Power, Non Stop with DJ Rinaneko - HappyCat

RINA means happiness in Hebrew and NEKO is a cat in Japanese: HAPPY CAT!

As her DJ name indicates, the style she plays creates a free and distinctive experience for the audience by blending groaning thick bass lines, eccentric consonance, and an always developing rhythm while adding poly-rhythmical Techno, electro, and breaks.

DJ Rinaneko's music constantly adopts new styles since her interests are how people are entranced by the music and how to intensify the dance floor.

Therefore, her music turns out hard, deep, vigorous, and ravishing sounds which she uses to bring about this experience.

Nowadays this original character and her skills are appreciated worldwide. 

Phanganist caught up with her here on Koh Phangan...

Tell us your Koh Phangan story…
I came to Koh Phangan ten years ago whilst traveling for one day then after that I came eight months ago.

I organized one party at Merkaba where I had a project with a professional drummer that I DJ with.

I then came back three months ago and played at many parties, nine in total including Waterfall Party, Pirates Bar, Chill Up Mountain Life, and Sandcastle.

So you are from Tokyo...
I’m a professional DJ, a resident DJ of the label "Mudskippers",  a composer, a model, MC for an online channel, and event promoter "Planet"  but also a teacher at a DJ school in Tokyo, I have been teaching music for five years.

I went to the Eclipse festival in 2006 and before that, I was a dancer, I loved Trance music and would go dancing a lot.

I saw Eclipse and the dancefloor there where there were so many types of people, Asian, kids, older people, the dancefloor was all as one with the same rhythm, I actually cried, I was moved.

I started to think about being an artist, a DJ, I wanted to connect with the people, it’s difficult to explain the feeling.

I practiced and now play but I am still learning, I make parties in Tokyo with my events company ‘Planet’ almost every month.

Explain the type of dancefloor you build…
It depends on the dancefloor and the party, I’m a DJ and a dancer so I play music at the same time as I dance so the audience will see that this is my feeling.

I give music but I want to play with people on the dancefloor, to connect and share my feeling with people. I play Dark psychedelic Trance and Techno, Electro, Breaks, Progressive trance, any kind of psychedelic music.

I don’t know what I will play but I have a lot of weapons with me, this is why djing is so interesting. If I can make everybody together as one this will make the moment. I have a lot of experience as I have been to a lot of countries. I went to play in the USA, Slovenia, France, China, Australia, and Koh Phangan.

What inspires your sets?
I get inspiration from anything, outdoors festivals are the best as there’s so much choice. I get inspiration from nature, dancefloors, smiling, new DJs, and artist’s music.

I dance a lot! Full power nonstop. It’s kind of therapy for me, I know about dancing high.

I’m sometimes social but I want to concentrate, I think Japanese people are more serious about dancing and I love that.

Why do you think this is?

I think this is the culture, it’s so strict in Japan. I cannot say for everybody as there are so many kinds of music in Tokyo, overground, underground, everything.

I feel a similar feeling in Koh Phangan as party people come to the island and everyone wants to dance and enjoy the music, they are hungry.

I feel I can show them something different so I want to share my feeling, my experiences, and my music. This is why I love to come, to DJ and enjoy and share the moment.

Tell us a bit about the DJ school you work for.
I work at a DJ school ‘IDPS’ with famous DJs, DJ Tsuyoshi, CPU, Funky Gong, and Michiru who are famous DJ and artists in Japan and abroad.

We have a lot of students, about forty to fifty aged from sixteen to eighty years old! The eighty-year-old lady has a Guinness record for being the oldest DJ, she was my student and I invited her to learn as she loves music, I even took her to Europe on a tour.

I love everything, I love teaching, I want to share my experiences and for my students to have success. I want to help them to create a new generation.

I teach techniques and how to promote yourself, promo is so important and we are artists that need to show our music.

What are your main projects for 2016?
I will promote a big festival near Tokyo for October, it’s the biggest campsite and a beautiful place in nature in the mountain.

It is organized by ‘Planet’ which I run but I will continue djing and help organize parties in Koh Phangan with Fabrice.

Congratulations on your engagement, what work have you got planned with Fabrice PHB?
I would like to make a project which is back to back with him and to promote parties.

I really want to bring Japanese DJs here, they are original and also to bring Phangan DJs to our festival in Japan, this is my main wish for this year.

What do you enjoy about Koh Phangan in your free time?
Mostly I go to parties, I love to see the views, sunsets, the sea, and the ocean are so beautiful but mostly I am with music.

What is your music philosophy?
Music is my self, my spirit. When I DJ I try to not think anything, I play with my feeling and I show my spirit and share this with people.

I need music, I need dance, I learn many things from music and dance, really important things.

I have many, many things that I want to share, to share myself.