Guy Perryman, 58, was born in Scotland and raised in Singapore and Australia before moving to Japan in 1990. Since then, he has gone on to host various radio shows in Tokyo. He now hosts the "Guy Perryman Show" on InterFM’s Friday morning slot.
1. What first brought you to Japan? I was DJing with Virgin Megastore in Sydney — when people used to actually buy CDs. My boss needed a British DJ in Tokyo so, in 1990, I came for the opening of the Virgin Megastore in Shinjuku. I thought I would stay one year in Japan, have a good time, and go back to London. And here I still am 33 years later.
2. Did you know much about Japan before coming? I grew up in Singapore and used to fly through Hong Kong quite often, so I knew Asia quite well, but I’d never been to Japan. This was in the 1980s, and everyone’s image of Japan was business and salarymen. When I arrived, it was completely different than what I was expecting. I knew nothing about Harajuku and the cool youth culture. This place was way cooler than what the world knew about.
3. What advice do you have for a newcomer to Japan? There’s lots. I would say go with the flow. Don’t try and change 130 million people. Don’t try and change a system just because you’re not used to it.
4. Is there anything about Japan you miss when you are away? The civil society and politeness in a mass group of people. It’s a real pleasure to be around. And onsen (hot spring), I miss onsen when I’m not in Japan.
5. Why do you think people have such a deep connection to music in general? I think about that all the time. Music is such a passion. Fundamentally, we’re born in a womb and we hear the heartbeat of the mother. That sound and rhythm are so ingrained in our DNA, which is why I think drumming is such a universal sound.
6. What is your earliest musical memory? There’s an artist you would never have heard of called Bert Kaempfert, who was a German composer. When you listen to his music you can hear where German techno comes from. It has nothing to do with techno, but it has got those rhythms. My parents played it all the time, and I loved it.
7. You’ve also said that the concept of “supersonic inspiration” is a big motivation for your work, can you elaborate? I’ve used airplane imagery for a lot of the radio shows I do. I thought it was a nice combination of words. It’s “super,” which is positive, and “sonic,” which is audio. Then, the interviews and the people you meet are all about being inspired, and I hope I can spread that to other people.
8. What is the best summer festival in Japan? I love Fuji Rock because it was the first one for me. I went to the second one ever. We set up a club tent with Virgin, and I DJed live in the tent. When you’re up in the mountains listening to music on a starry night, I mean you can’t beat that.
9. Do you have any classic summer songs? An all-time favorite — it’s a mellow one — is The Style Council's "Long Hot Summer.” The long version is seven minutes long, which is fantastic. There’s also a really funky song from the '70s from MFSB, who were a Philadelphia disco funk band. Their song, “Summertime And I’m Feeling Mellow,” has a nice funky beat. It’s smooth, I love that one.
10. You’ve interviewed stars like Paul McCartney, Coldplay, and DJed for Prince William. What’s a moment in your career that felt really special to you? DJing on an airplane. When I did “DJ in the Sky” for a couple of years with Virgin Atlantic Airways between London and Tokyo, I DJed live onboard the flights. That was the pinnacle of everything I do: radio, music and flying.
11. What’s more fun, live DJing or radio broadcasting? I’ll go with radio. I love DJing for people and seeing their faces, but I hate requests (laughs). When people get drunker and drunker they request terrible music. But in the radio studio, you avoid that pressure. You get requests, but you can sort of ignore them if you don’t like the song. Radio is just a magical place to be. I love it.
12. Is there a place for radio in an age dominated by streaming services? A club event manager asked me recently, “Do people still listen to the radio?” I said, “You’re a DJ booker who runs club events, are you going to put a streaming service in your DJ booth?” My point being, radio is a real-time, shared experience with a community of people. With social media, the audience and the broadcaster communicate in real time. That’s not the same as a streaming service.
13. What’s the importance of having English-language radio shows in Tokyo? Tokyo has a big international population. There should be media in multiple languages. In London, New York, Sydney — there’s all sorts of media in every language. Whether you’re an expat or a Japanese person looking for non-Japanese media, you should have an option. In fact, 99% of my audience are Japanese, but they want to hear a show about Tokyo in English.
14. How much does your international upbringing inspire your show? Very much. I’m really fascinated by listening to music from all around the world. Today, for example, I looked at the charts in Nepal. I was thinking since it’s Mountain Day, let’s go to the Himalayas! So I played music from the Nepalese charts on the show. You can discover really cool pieces of music that you would’ve never heard of.
15. Have you ever made mistakes on live broadcast? Every show without fail. I usually kick myself and then laugh at myself, to try and not get too angry. The audience obviously picks it up, and if you make a joke out of it, they’ll go with it. If you try to seriously cover it up, you can, but I prefer to make a joke from it. That’s part of the fun of live broadcasting.
16. Do you listen to the same music off-air as on broadcast? It’s different in some ways. If, like today, I’ve just made a three-hour show about contemporary pop and world music, I would probably go home and listen to something completely different. I might listen to a classical music station, or some ambient music — something really chilled out. I also listen to a lot of instrumental music.
17. Which artist doesn’t get the credit they deserve for their talent? Good question ... Bert Kaempfert! No, there’s a Japanese artist called ReN (Nagabuchi), who I’ve interviewed a couple of times. He’s a brilliant songwriter and performer, and sings in Japanese and English. He performs in big theaters for a couple of thousand people, but he should be at Tokyo Dome, you know. I want to see him become a global star.
18. What do you think is the greatest era of pop music? I’m not going to say my own generation, everyone always says that. I love music that was made 1,000 years ago. I love the 1980s and the '60s. Even today, I find that people are still making amazing music.
19. You've written a manga, how did that project come about? It started when I worked with a station called FM Banana here in Tokyo back in the day. One holiday, the producers asked the DJs to each make a little story. I titled mine “Tixi Bo & his Tekno Gizmo.”
20. What’s it about? I came up with this character whose headset kept picking up pirate radio frequencies. I then made it into a short manga and had a friend do some illustrations. I’m actually still expanding that story today. It’ll definitely become an audiobook at least. I’ve changed his name to Tixi To, but that’s the only thing that’s changed.
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