Interview with Seattle-based composer Sean Wolcott celebrating his return to Japan in April 2026
Introduction
▪︎ To start, could you give us a brief self-introduction and tell us a bit about your background?
From a very early age, I was impacted by music and art. I grew up constantly drawing, building Legos, and dancing around wearing my dad’s headphones and listening to his LPs on his turntable (Pioneer SE-305 and a Technics SL-1200), so being creative and feeling music in my soul has been with me from the start. When I was about 3 years old, in Seattle they played a show called “Star Blazers,” which was in fact 宇宙戦艦ヤマト. The show was my favorite, and the music by Hiroshi Miyagawa stirred something in me. This was perhaps the start of a lifelong love of things from Japan, but of course at such a young age, I didn’t know where it came from. I grew up loving many cartoons and things that I didn’t realize until later were also from Japan.
So, I was an artistic kid, always captivated by my imagination, loving lots of movies and music. In 1989, I discovered the group Run-D.M.C. and started to get into rap music, but I realized that the thing that was really captivating me most was the music they sampled. I was lucky to see them in concert in Seattle that same year. Then around 1990 I saw a poster for アキラ at a comic book convention. Just the image of the poster was so strong and unique, it felt life changing. Once I saw the movie, it was incredible, and the soundtrack and story and animation were on such a high creative existence, it affected me deeply. Around this time, it was extremely hard to find Japanese animation. It would be sold at conventions or comic book stores and would be photocopied “bootleg” versions.
Anyway, my point here is that a convergence of things in my life with art of many types from Japan helped lay a foundation and passion for exploring things in music for me that still continues today. In 1991 I heard the group Nirvana, and it gave me a sense I should start playing music. So I started to learn music, being self-taught on my dad’s guitar. I got a four-track tape recorder, and every day I would write song ideas, record them, and layer things on my four-track (Tascam 424 Portastudio). I ended up playing guitar in many local “garage bands” and quickly discovered more and more 60s and 70s soul, funk, jazz, and soundtrack music, which helped me go deeper with my own music and started me on a path to doing things like I am doing currently.
▪︎ You are active in both music and graphic design. How do these two fields influence each other in your creative work?
As I have been interested in both art and music from a young age, they feel very connected. My love for graphic design started with looking at my father’s LP covers, and I was making cover art for my music projects, doing graphic design before I even knew what it was. As I got a little older, I was able to get jobs doing graphic design, always pursuing music on the side. And as I discovered more about the history of graphic design, I developed a great love for many designers from around the world, some favorites being Massimo Vignelli, who I was fortunate to become friends with and be mentored by, and designers like Tomoko Miho, Ikko Tanaka and Yusaku Kamekura.
In both design and music I find many inspirations come from Japan, Italy, and the USA. These days music is my primary occupation, but I still love to do design, and do all of my own album artwork and select design projects for other clients or musicians.
▪︎ Your music feels both simple and playful. What do you keep in mind when creating that balance?
It’s all a process of time and experience, but I feel like now that I’ve been doing it so long (35 years!), it helps me to keep it simple, having more confidence in myself and ideas, more clarity that I think can come with age and experience. And in terms of playfulness, they call it “playing music.” While it is extremely hard work, it is also the most fun thing one can do in life, I think, so these things come out naturally. Also, I try to work quickly and not overthink things, just to trust my instinct, which I think helps these attributes as well.
▪︎ How did the band members you currently work with come together?
It’s a continual process, rooted in me continually pushing to do things that are more ambitious with my sound and compositions, and then needing to find great musicians who can help realize my vision. But the great thing is that, when the conditions are right, I have been fortunate to be able to manifest my biggest dreams for music projects, finding extremely specific types of music players around me.
For instance, when starting on my 「修羅女武者」 (Lady Swordfighter) project, something I had been wanting to do for a while, I was fortunate to meet Aura Ruddell, who plays koto and piano and sings on the albums, and who helped encourage me. And when I needed a shakuhachi player, I didn’t find any at first but instead found Kodō Araki VI living close to my studio, who is a master preserving a six-generation lineage of Kinko-ryu shakuhachi. He played his great-grandfather’s fue on the album. And when I need a very specific style of singer, I’m lucky to find them close to me. So I think it is a mix of luck and manifestation of one’s own ideas that can happen when the time is right. And once you have a few great players, they know even more great players. So you can go from not having many contacts to a dream list of people to work with to help execute your ideas over time.
▪︎ Are there any artists or works that have had a major influence on you, past or present? We would especially appreciate it if you could mention any Japanese artists or works as well.
For me, I feel like music and art, extended to movies, illustrations, manga, and toys, are things I like to keep around me at my studio. They help me to feel always inspired and also feel that unexpected things are possible. So for artists that had a major influence on me, it was Nirvana of course at the start of my journey, and after that Motown and soul music, which is a rhythmic foundation of so much of what I do. But all the time, I love to explore new possibilities in sound.
Currently I’m enjoying listening to many Soviet-era jazz and funk records, Polish jazz, and as always I’m forever immersing myself in Japanese music, both traditional and contemporary. I have so many favorites, and I’m finding new ones all the time. Musicians, composers, and groups such as Akira Ifukube, Akira Ishikawa, Casiopea, Hiromasa Suzuki, Hiroshi Miyagawa, Hiroshi Suzuki, Ichirō Saitō, Jiro Inagaki, Joe Hisaishi, Kumi Sasaki, Kunihiko Murai, Masahiko Satoh, Masahiro Ikumi, Masaru Sato, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shigeharu Mukai, Shigeo Sekito, Taeko Onuki, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Tsutomu Ōhashi, and Zerosen are all great. But my favorites to listen to right now are probably Toru Takemitsu, Shunsuke Kikuchi, Yujo Ohno, Chumei Watanabe, Norio Maeda, and Isao Eto. Last year I discovered the LP Minoru Muraoka & New Dimension Group – 揺振摺 and have been very moved and excited by its progressive ideas and sounds.
I would also be remiss not to mention another important influence on my creative and musical education. As a child and into my teenage years, I was constantly in awe of the incredible compositions, arrangements, melodies, and musical approaches found in 8-bit and 16-bit video games of the 1980s and 1990s. On systems like the Family-Computer (NES), Mega Drive (Genesis/Mega Drive), and in arcade games, some of the most progressive and inventive music was hiding in plain sight in what many considered “kids’ toys.” Composers such as Kenji Yamamoto (Metroid), Takashi Tateishi (Megaman 2), Junko Tamiya (Strider, Bionic Commando), Nobuo Uematsu, Koji Kondo, Keiji Yamagishi, and others deeply influenced my musical approach in ways that can be heard throughout all of my albums.
▪︎ Have you drawn any inspiration from Tokyo or Japanese culture?
As you can tell from my previous answers, it has been all my life that things from Japanese culture and Tokyo have inspired me. So for me, I feel like it’s been a strong creative force, one that has made me who I am today in ways I can comprehend and even in ways that I cannot.
▪︎ During your first visit to Japan in 2025, were there any places that left a strong impression on you, or any experiences you particularly enjoyed?
It was such an incredible time, and it was such an honor to receive so much love and respect from everyone I met. The hospitality was very heartfelt, and doing events at Manhattan Records, Blow Up(hosted by CHINTAM), and Popcorn Records hosted by 2KD (YOJI TSUKADA) and Takayuki Inada was very amazing. Writing songs on the other side of the world, then being in Tokyo with a room singing along to the songs in Japanese had me tearing up. Other than that, traveling around Tokyo and seeing shrines and castles left a lasting impression. I’ve been sad not to be there ever since I left.
▪︎ Was there any gap between the image of Japan you had before visiting and the Japan you experienced firsthand?
No, it fulfilled all my hopes, and was even better in person!
Future Activities
▪︎ Could you tell us about your current and upcoming projects? Also, is there anything you would like to challenge or try on your next visit to Japan?
Currently I’m working on producing albums for two independent artists, Barbara Volk and another called Karaoke Machine. Other than that, I’m working on lots of my own music projects, with at least two more albums planned for this year past Crystal Eyes Stalk at Midnight, which I just released, and also another possible album with a singer I’ve been working with. For me, my work is also my play, so I’m a bit of a workaholic as I love it so much.
I’m excited to return to Japan again this spring and fall. I’m unsure what new experiences to have this time. The country is so rich with possibility that it can feel overwhelming coming from the outside, so for me, like my music, I’ll just not worry about it and see what happens.
Text by PoLoGod.
“SEAN WOLCOTT / 10-Speed TOKYO Release Party”
at Asakusa Micro (@asakusa_micro)
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 (National Holiday)
Entrance: ¥1,000 + 1 Drink Order
Seattle-based visionary composer Sean Wolcott returns to Japan. Having released 10 albums in a remarkably short period, he continues to captivate music enthusiasts around the world.
To celebrate this special visit, we are hosting the executive release party for the Japan-exclusive limited edition (100 copies) MIX CD “10-Speed.” With the support of the DJs who performed alongside him at last year’s “SEAN WOLCOTT JAPAN 2025: Shura Onna Musha,” this will be a one-night-only special event.
“SEAN WOLCOTT / 10-Speed” CDs and vinyl records will also be available for purchase.
The first 10 guests will receive a complimentary poster of “SEAN WOLCOTT / Shura Onna Musha: Escape from Hachijojima.”
Special Guest DJ:
Sean Wolcott (@seanwolcott)
DJ:
Ke-Ta The Disco 9 (@dj_ke_tathedisco9)
PoLoGod. (Threepee Boys / MOUSOU PAGER) (@domo_pologod)
OhMyGod (@akira_aka_djohmygod)
INADA TAKAYUKI (POPCORN RECORDS) (@popingood17)
Tagosaku (@tagosaku.jp)
2KD (POPCORN RECORDS) (@2kdancing)