Inward as DJ Pizz

Rather quaintly, Kiyoshiro Kawano’s music making started from skateboarding. He was deeply involved in this activity and used to both skate a lot and watch dozens of skateboarding videos. At some point he noticed that all these videos contain quite a number of interesting tunes — so he started to collect music recordings. That is how his house came to be totally stuffed with various CDs. Then Kiyoshiro realized that local clubs and events in his town paid too little attention to a type of music he loves. That is why he became a DJ. He picked an alias, DJ Pizz, and started to share his favorite tracks with audiences. The desire to produce his own music gradually emerged from this context. That is when the second part of the nickname, Inward, came into existence.

First of all, the word “inward” tells us about the author himself — he is definitely inclined to introspection. We can also see here a kind of delicate dedication to skateboarding — it involves a trick called an Inward Heelflip.

Speaking of tricks, there is the one right in the middle of the composer’s pseudonym. It is impossible not to notice a deliberately uncommon usage of “as” instead of the conventional “also known as”. This makes the long alias contain two sections that are also simultaneously inseparable. Reading it for the first time, an unprepared person might have a short moment of perceptive discomfort — which leads us to the next point.

The primary driving force for Inward as DJ Pizz is stress, in a general sense. Sadness and anxiety — these are the components of his inspiration, as well as unpleasant surrounding conditions. Among the latter ones he mentions “dirty river with dust floating around and the sky covered with smog from factories”.

“Anger and frustration make these things look beautiful in my eyes, even more than popular tourist sites. I am sure, I would not notice this beauty if there were no stress. And I am grateful to it.”

This approach could look a bit paradoxical at first sight, but, seriously, what better solution is there than turning all the negative circumstances into music?