User:Reppop/yokota

Shinichiro Yokota (横田 信一郎) is a Japanese electronic producer.

Early life and education
Yokota was born on July 12, 1969, in the Ōta of Tokyo, Japan.

While he was an elementary school student, Yokota was introduced to the band Yellow Magic Orchestra, which he credited as a formative musical moment because he had previously been listening to "many fake Japanese Beatles bands" before Yellow Magic Orchestra came onto the scene. After hearing them, Yokota quit playing baseball and started taking classical piano lessons. He used his otoshidama money to buy his first synthesizer, a Casio MT-40.

Career
Yokota met fellow producer Soichi Terada through a mutual friend in 1987 after both attended an All Japan DJ contest. Inspired by Terada's performance of an original production, Yokota was soon introduced to house music by Terada.

In 1992, he started a custom car parts company, Night Pager, which specializes in tuning sports cars and modifying limiters for competition racers.

On November 30, 2016, Yokota released the album Do It Again and Again, his first full-length solo album featuring unreleased tracks from the 1990s as well as newly recorded material.

Artistry
Yokota has cited Japanese musicians such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Isao Tomita, as well as the German band Kraftwerk, as his main inspirations. He was also influenced by hip hop early in his life, mentioning songs like "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa, "Reckless" by Chris Taylor and Ice-T, and "Riccochet" by the B. B. & Q. Band as having a positive impact on him.

As Yokota couldn't understand English, he selected samples based on their musical quality. In an interview with Mixmag, he said, "What I do understand and listen for is the ‘hibiki’." The song "Do It Again" used a sample from Derek B's "Good Groove", with Mixmag noting that he "[warped] the refrain from alluring to enchanting to mingle with the track’s evocative melody and chords."

He and Terada have been described as pioneers of Japanese house music. Mia Patillo of Mixmag described Yokota as "timeless" and praised his ability to create "sophisticated music with only the essential elements at hand".