Osaka Riot is the latest project of Ewout Decraene, a Belgian musician who has been part of more traditional formations within the national pop-and rock circuit, such as Rhinos Are People too (Studio Brussel Nieuwe Lichting Laureate) and Denali Wrench (Theater Aan Zee Laureate) before diving into his first solo project under the Japan-esque name. Osaka Riot aims to reclaim the ephemeral character of early electronic music while at the same time upholding a more contemporary expectation of the genre as dance music. He does so by improvising music on modular synthesizers in a context that would traditionally be reserved for DJ’s - thereby offering a new perspective on a format that is typically built on remixing pre-existing and inherently non-live music.

The instrument of choice, a modular synthesizer, is a conscious choice within the outset of the project. In simple terms, it is a system that one can build out of discrete components and electric circuitry in order to create an instrument tailored to the needs of the artist. In the case of Osaka Riot, the specific goal of the synthesizer was to create a system that is instable by design and therefore unable to easily recreate certain sounds or textures. This, in combination with the fact that live sets by Osaka Riot exist solely out of improvisation for all aspects of the music, allows for an approach that at first would seem out of place within a club or similarly dance-focused setting. The result is a unique (in the sense that it can never be repeated) exploration where both the artist and audience, through various feedbackloops, delve into the question of what constitutes dance music – and how far the notion can be stretched before it is no longer perceived as such.

Osaka Riot is active within the live circuit and has performed for both established as more grass-roots organizations such as Ancienne Belgique, Muziekodroom, Absolutely Free Festival, Zwart Goud Festival, Forty Five, Warrecords, Farrm and more. Additionally, he was finalist of Soundtrack, a Flemish/Brussels competition for musical projects.