Japanese producer KaNa goes it on her own, starts new label

KaNa is an extremely talented and versatile producer from Yokohama, Japan. Her music and DJ sets cover an exciting cross-section of styles, tending toward progressive house, trance, and EDM. She is not only a music producer & DJ, but also a professional artist and illustrator working for an animation studio in Tokyo. She’s released music on various labels throughout her career (Otographic, Lost Garden, Pineapple Digital, among others), but has now decided to “do her own thing” and release music on her new label, Snow Freques.

Below is a special interview with KaNa about her new label, as well as a deep progressive DJ guest mix (which includes tracks from her new label, Snow Freques) that she prepared especially for us.

Hi Kana, thanks for talking with us today!

First of all, tell us a little about who you are and your new label, Snow Freques. How would you describe it / what exactly would you like to express or accomplish through the label?

I’m KaNa, a music producer/DJ from Japan. I mainly make Progressive House/ Trance. And most important one thing: I’m a pure music lover producer who loves all Electronic Music!

Snow Freques’ is my own label/ circle that I launched in 2020. (In the Japanese doujin scene, it’s called “Circle.”) And it is a direct transmission of what I want to express the most right now, and acts as an antenna that connects us in order to convey our listeners and fans. One of the features is that we release CDs as a physical product along with digital downloads, and I myself (KaNa) produce the entire process from composition, arrangement, artwork design and mastering for now.

 

The first thing we want to accomplish is to keep releasing and get people to remember the name ‘Snow Freques’, and letting more people know about the amazing electronic music that we love.

Why did you originally create the label?

The music I express is not always bound by the boundaries of existing genre and styles. It is important for me to have a base from which I could express music that didn’t fit into those categories, and one of the ways I could do that was to have my own label. That’s why I created a label that allows me to experiment with music and genuinely enjoy presenting it.

How did you choose the name “Snow Freques”?

The label name comes from my original track Flower of Snow, and Freques is a combination of Freak, Flake and Frequency. Wouldn’t that be cool?

What type of music or artists would you like to include as new releases on the label?

As usual, Progressive House style tracks will be included. Others may include the Melodic House or Deep Organic House types that I’m interested in now. And actually I would like to do some retro-futuristic music inspired by the 80’s or 90’s. Wouldn’t you like to listen to it?

Tell us about the reception for Snow Freques releases so far:

EPISODE 01 and 02, our first two releases in 2020, received a lot of positive feedback from listeners and fans. It was a giant step for us that many listeners accepted our original concept of combining nostalgia and aggressiveness. Some listeners said it reminded them of music from Japanese video games. I have been influenced a lot by video games in terms of melody, chords, and sound, and those are one of the key elements that shape my music. So it’s really gratifying for the label and me that those elements are being well received.

What are some of the next upcoming releases?

We are planning our brand-new release, EPISODE 03, for the spring of 2021. It will be available on both physical CD and digital. Last but not least, I would just say that Snow Freques is like a hidden gem that could grow in value in the future. I’m purely excited about growing this miniascape-like project with everyone.
You can stay on the forefront of Snow Freques by keeping up with KaNa’s updates!

Thanks again for the interview, KaNa, and we wish you of course huge success with the label!

Follow KaNa on:

¦ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kanaijuin
¦ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kana.ijuin/
¦ Facebook KaNa Fanpage: https://facebook.com/KaNa.fanpage
¦ Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kanaijuin
¦ Instagram: https://instagram.com/kanaijuin
¦ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3pZsTuQKmljBk6PBnbA3Tq
¦ Bandcamp: https://kanaijuin.bandcamp.com/follow_me