14.04.2021
This week’s mix feature is the first installment of the new – detroit.dance live worldwide series ? a continuation of detroit.dance live.
I decided to call it “worldwide” because it will feature guests from not only outside of Detroit or Michigan, but from around the globe.
The first guest is the amazing ruitokyo – someone I found on a late night Twitch hole a few months ago. He was playing a sunset set on his rooftop in Tokyo while it was about 4am in Michigan, and I couldn’t turn off the stream because it was so good – and his community in the chat were so welcoming. He originally comes from Lisbon, Portugal, and his streams are all about the visual experience.
He has done streams on his rooftop, in the snow, on the beach, and in the park. Who knows where he will stream next! That’s part of the adventure and the experience.
In his interview, we talk about things like the reason visuals are important to him, what Twitch streaming has taught him, bringing his style to a club setting, memories from countries he’s lived in, his advice for those moving and adjusting to a new culture, how long he has been DJing, the electronic music scene in Tokyo, his favorite nightclub moment, one thing people may not know about him, and more.
Hour one of his two hour mix will exclusively premiere on Deep Space Radio at noon on Wednesday / 1am JST Thursday – and his full mix will be available on the detroit.dance SoundCloud at 11pm EST / 12pm JST Thursday.
Be sure to check out his mix, on SoundCloud now.
detroit.dance: What do you do outside of music?
ruitokyo: I don’t have a job right now, but I used to be a teacher’s assistant before COVID happened.
detroit.dance: What are some other hobbies you have besides for DJing?
ruitokyo: I like to garden, take care of my house, and I used to paint a lot but not as much now. I like manual work, I just finished working on a new DJ booth.
detroit.dance: What did you change from your old DJ setup to the new one?
ruitokyo: Before I had older CDJs and a mixer, and I wasn’t happy with them so I was looking for something better. I sold all of my old gear to buy new gear and built myself a new DJ booth. It’s the one that you see when I am inside in my streams.
detroit.dance: How long have you been DJing and why did you start?
ruitokyo: My one year DJing anniversary will be in May. I’ve always liked records and I used to have turntables but I was never brave enough to DJ for people. When I lost my job last year, I decided that this would be the moment I would start to DJ. I’m married to a French guy and we change countries every few years so I always start from zero – I have to find a new job, new friends, etc. This time since we are spending so much more time at home with COVID I was feeling alone, so starting to DJ and streaming on Twitch made me forget about my problems and feel more confident and comfortable.
detroit.dance: I’ve noticed you like to play a lot of chill music or techno, so why that particular genre?
ruitokyo: I’m 40, so when I started going out at 17/18 years old it was a lot of house music and the beginning of bigger techno music. I like all genres but I’m more comfortable when I play techno and electronic music. When I started streaming, I was playing a lot of progressive and melodic house because I noticed people liked that. One day I decided that since I already had some followers on my channel that I was going to start playing what I actually liked, and people stayed and have accepted it so here I am. I also like a lot of smaller labels, and smaller labels do a great job with techno…especially Japanese style techno – I love the harder, hypnotic techno sound.
detroit.dance: You focus on the background and locations of your streams – why is that important to you?
ruitokyo: Most of the things that you see on my streams are things that inspire me. The colors, the decorations in my house, the rooftop, the sunrise, the sunset… everything has a meaning for me so it’s all part of the story of my set. People are always looking.
When I did my set in the park recently, my mix was not the best because I was using my new gear, but I had some people tell me that my mix was a story and they’re right. The story includes the background, the DJ, the mix, everything. I don’t want to be a boring DJ playing some tunes without inspiration. Sometimes I play for five hours and I have people stay from the beginning to the end enjoying the moment and the views. Some other streamers say that people don’t look at the screen, but I don’t believe that. When I get on the mic and do a speech, people say “You’re doing amazing”, “We love you”, “We love the background”, and things like that. So that means they are looking. That makes me want to create different visuals and do different things every time.
detroit.dance: What has Twitch streaming taught you?
ruitokyo: It seems like I never stop learning. I’m always trying to see what I can do better. I read things, I watch other streamers. I try to always have a good product for people to watch. You constantly have to improve because when you do something, another streamer is going to see it and then they are going to do it, and someone else is going to do it. It’s amazing because you are inspiring others and then thinking of a better idea at the same time, always improving to stay on top of your content and not be boring.
detroit.dance : Do you have a streaming schedule or do you just stream randomly?
ruitokyo: At random, really. I don’t like schedules. It means I have time to do my gardening, cooking, cleaning, spending time with my husband or my friends, and stream when I have time or when I want to. I should have a schedule, I could be more successful if I had a schedule, but I like the surprise when people receive a notification that I am streaming. I like when people say “Oh, I had a bad day and I got this notification, perfect I need this music.”. Sometimes I do a post on my Instagram beforehand or I post nothing.
detroit.dance: What other Twitch streamers or DJs have you been listening to lately?
ruitokyo: Tyler Johnston. He was just doing a stream in Windsor, Canada with a background of Detroit, actually. I just finished watching that. Metronomic.live, I saw him on Twitch one day and he became my inspiration to play on Twitch. Another one is Cameron Dare, he helped me with emotes and how to build my community. He isn’t streaming online as much anymore but we still keep in contact and have a beautiful friendship.
detroit.dance: When you move to another country, will you keep the name ruitokyo?
ruitokyo: I’ve played parties in Paris, and at home in Lisbon, and in other parts of Japan and people are always asking me if I will change my name and to be honest I love my name ruitokyo. I started here in Tokyo. My husband works in marketing and we have a bunch of friends who work in marketing, and they all said ruitokyo is easy to remember so it’s perfect. I don’t know where else I will go or where I will finish DJing but Tokyo is where I started so it is what I will keep. I also had someone draw my logo for me and I love it.
detroit.dance: Will you have merch in the future?
ruitokyo: Yes, people are asking me for that so I would like to do something very simple like a T-Shirt in both black and white with my logo. I will figure something out.
detroit.dance: What is the next thing that you would like to learn for DJing?
ruitokyo: I want to produce. Not to produce a track, but to produce sounds. One of my last streams during the day I used my new gear to put some effects over the music to create a new sound. That is the kind of producing that I want to do, create my own sounds and layers and mix them on top of tracks. To help create something new and tell my story. That’s why I bought a v10 mixer because I can have two channels separate from the other four to use for my own sounds. You can change tracks with the smallest sound and make it so much better. Like if you go to a restaurant and there are no candles, and the next day you go and they have candles and flowers everywhere, your experience is better.
detroit.dance: What is the electronic music scene in Tokyo or Japan like?
ruitokyo: It’s pretty small. We have plenty of good artists, but it depends on what genre you are looking for. If you want good techno, it’s very small. If you like EDM and that kind of stuff, it’s pretty big. There are few underground clubs. Tokyo has two of the best clubs in the world, Contact and VENT that have super sound systems and nice people, but a different vibe.
detroit.dance: Backgrounds and visuals are important to you, so later on when you get the chance to play in a club setting, what do you think you will do to bring your style to a club set?
ruitokyo: I would love to play in a club. You can’t change much of the scene because it’s already there. What I can do is tell a story to the people on the dance floor. When I was much younger I would go out often and went to many clubs around the world, some of the best ones, and I learned a lot from what I heard and I saw there.
The first rule is that you have to understand what people want. That doesn’t mean you change your style from techno to pop, but you have to know for example if the crowd wants something more melodic or aggressive. In my sets sometimes if I’m playing a faster 138-140bpm techno track I put some piano in the middle to calm everything down and people love that.
You offer a story to the people, and give the people your energy, but you also have to understand the people and receive their information. It’s very hard to have a constant playlist, you have to feel the moment and what the next track will be based on those moments.
detroit.dance: Do you have any dream clubs you would like to play at?
ruitokyo: LuxFragil in Lisbon, Portugal. It’s one of my favorite clubs in the world. I also like the idea of playing open air festivals. Not very big ones but some smaller ones. They’re amazing because there’s a small number of people, great sound system, great DJs – not just commercial or popular DJs. They are there to tell their story. The people are truly there for the music. The experience is quality.
detroit.dance: What do you enjoy about nightclub culture?
ruitokyo: I love when the party ends and everyone comes outside, you see the sun rising or the sun shining and you talk to people that you don’t know around you. You share the moment together, there is a connection. You are all tired, but those moments are magical.
detroit.dance: You travel every few years for your husband’s work – what countries have you lived in so far?
ruitokyo: We met in Portugal where I am from, then we moved to Madrid, Spain. Then we went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After that we went to Paris, France and I stayed a bit longer because I was working as a flight attendant and then we moved from there to Tokyo, Japan. So for the last 11 years I’ve lived in 5 countries. It’s a nice experience but it depends on where you are. Japan has been really hard for me, but streaming and music helps me a lot. At the end, you know so many different people and learn more about different cultures. I would like to go to Canada or the United States next, but it depends on the opportunities my husband has.
detroit.dance: Do you have any adjustment advice for someone who is moving to a new country?
ruitokyo: Yes, the first rule is respect the culture and their customs. Here in Japan, I’m not going to be 100% Japanese, but I still respect the rules of the street, the laws of the country, and their way of life. What is permitted in Europe may not be permitted here, and the other way around. I also can’t be 100% Portuguese here in Japan. There is a balance. I have to adapt, because they are the ones that opened their doors to me. Some people forget about that.
detroit.dance: What are a few things that you enjoy from the Japanese culture?
ruitokyo: The food! The food is very good here. The respect for each other. The gardening culture here is great.
detroit.dance: What are some of your favorite memories from a country that you’ve lived in?
ruitokyo: In Brazil, we had a beautiful house. I would have had the best house for streaming because it was surrounded by nature. Brazil is a poor country and now they have political issues but I loved it there so much because the people are always smiling, and I admire that. I have lots of good memories from there.
detroit.dance: If you could fly anywhere in the world to do a stream right now, where would you go?
ruitokyo: That’s a hard question. I love Paris so much so probably Paris. The last time I was there I did a stream inside because the weather was very cold.
detroit.dance: What is a word or phrase in Portuguese that you enjoy?
ruitokyo: Obrigado (Thank you).
detroit.dance: What are some of your goals for 2021?
ruitokyo: I would like to start to design and produce my own sounds. I would also like to do more sets on the streets but the gear I need to do that is expensive. The gear is also pretty heavy so it hurts my back when I have to carry it back and forth. I would like to keep improving my streams and maybe have the experience of some people in front of me when I stream.
detroit.dance: What is one interesting thing that people may not know about you yet?
ruitokyo: I always try to be 100% me and honest. I am very transparent. I am the same person on the phone as I am in person. People criticize me for that and say I should not be as transparent on the internet, and I say, “What’s the difference about being transparent on the internet or with your friends in person or with new people you meet at a festival?” Some streamers are amazing DJs but you don’t get attached to them because they are not themselves. I can’t be both ruitokyo and rui – that’s not possible. I am honest with people because I expect people to be honest with me.
Make sure you check out ruitokyo’s Destination Worldwide – Tokyo (Rooftop + Shibuya Crossing), and his Recipe by Request that will be posted on Friday (Pasteis de Nata – Egg Tarts).
Keep up with ruitokyo on his socials: