Taigen Kawabe is still a little jet-lagged after spending the better part of January in Japan.
"I did something like 17 shows," he says from his home in the U.K., before detailing how this jaunt took him from Sendai to Okinawa. "It's kind of weird coming back to London, being in one place."
A handful of those Japan gigs were with Bo Ningen, the rock group Kawabe helped form in 2006 as bassist and vocalist. More performances, however, were for his new solo project, Ill Japonia, which pushes the 33-year-old out of his comfort zone. Under this guise he raps, trading in guitars and vocals buried in feedback for chilly trap beats that put the spotlight on his words. Ill Japonia's debut EP, "Ill," served as the maiden release for London label Eastern Margins on Feb. 7. That same month, he opened for British rock group Black Midi on its tour of the U.K. and Ireland.