We were lucky to catch up with Kazuri Arai recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kazuri thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

In the mid/late 90’s, at the beginning of internet boom, the idea of owning your personal computer was starting to become popular. My father, who is a journalist, always used some variation of typewriting tools and thought it was a very important skill to type (fast and efficient) so he bought the family an IBM desktop computer when Windows 95 came out. Alongside the purchase was an early DTM (Desk Top Music) tool set which included an audio/MIDI interface bundled with various music software, one of which was for MIDI sequencing/writing and included a library of sounds & samples so I immediately was hooked and spent hours after school teaching myself the basics of MIDI and Audio.

Fast forward to my sophomore year, I was lost with my academic path. I originally majored in Songwriting which was not quite what I thought it would be and not what I wanted to do. I knew I liked doing “tech-y” stuff on computer, and moreover, collaborating with and producing other artists. A friend of mine mentioned I should look into majoring in Music Production and Engineering, a study focused on working in the studio environment where communication was the most important skillset. As a Japanese native, that’s when I really had to improve my English and learn the studio “lingo” for recording and production.

While this is the basis of where my skillsets came from, a huge part of learning to survive came from real world experience. After becoming an assistant recording engineer, I had to learn on the fly as the environment is fast paced and you have to pick up and work with the situation that you have, often times with no time to fully process what actually happened..

During that time, I spent so many hours in the studio and never gave myself an opportunity to process what I learned. Had I done that and reapplied these learnings to my own personal projects, I could’ve potentially sped up the pace of my learning. Learning is not just about acquiring knowledge or facts but also applying what you learned. It’s a cycle of doing, learning and applying – rinse and repeat.

Only after I got into the recording business professionally, did I learn that there were very few women doing what I do. While I learned so much from my male colleagues and industry veterans, at the time, there were no communities of female engineers and producers. Certain topics were not in my male colleagues’ interests to discuss and I felt stuck.
These days there are many organizations and groups, such as Women’s Audio Mission, that represent and provide safe spaces to women & nonbinary people to be who they are and do what they love to do. That’s something I wish I had access to when I was just starting out.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Kazuri Arai and I am a record producer, recording/mixing engineer and a keyboard player under my brand Anything Kreativ. The name derives from the idea that being creative doesn’t have to be limited to something specific and it is borderless.

I was born and raised in Japan and grew up in a family where music was something only to listen to. Neither of my parents played any instruments or could read music. My mother was a HUGE fan of the Beatles and had (still does) all of the original LPs and other great music from 60’s and 70’s. Despite having non-musical parents, I somehow was born with many musical talents. At a very early age, I started to show interest in music and would sing everything in “Do Re Mi”, or was able to pick up an instrument and start playing it. At one point, I drew an entire music staff on a wall in their apartment when I was 4. Instead of scolding me, my parents praised me and were excited about it. They eventually found out that I had natural perfect pitch after speaking to a few professionals. I started taking piano lessons at age 7 and started writing music at 10. I then started doing DTM (Desk Top Music) at age 13 and played in a few bands throughout high school. At age 10, I decided I wanted to go to Berklee College of Music which is where I ended up attending college. This was definitely one of my life’s turning points. Not only did I live away from my family, I barely spoke English at that time. I cried from homesickness everyday in my first semester so I’d go spend 8 hours in the piano practice room and played until they closed. This experience made me feel like I could conquer any challenge. Nothing since has come even remotely close to the hardship that I endured through in my first year in college.

In my last semester at Berklee, I met George Massenburg. He is one of the icons/legends in the music industry. He has made hundreds of records and has been awarded multiple Grammy’s. He has also invented some of the most innovative tools in the business. George was my idol as he recorded and mixed all of the Earth, Wind and Fire records which are my all time favorites. I was lucky to have a chance to work with him in a class and told him I wanted to move to Nashville where he was building a now world-famous Blackbird Studio C. Upon moving to Nashville, I was lucky enough that George hired me as his assistant engineer. This was another turning point of my life. Since day one, this work was what I put all of time and life into. I would work 100 hours in 5 days or would work for 3-4 months at a time without a single day off. I believe I was really made for this type of work. It wasn’t easy by any means but it has always been very meaningful to me. The amount of failures and success I experienced in my early career, has brought me to where I am today.

I call my generation of producers/engineers a “Gap Generation”. We are fluent in understanding of how everything used to be, where records were recorded on analogue 2” tape or the kind of large budgets that used to be allocated for records to be produced. We are also fluent in more of the current workflows involving producing records on a laptop, in a house with a shoestring budget. Artists, producers and engineers from both the old and new generations have their specialists but we, the “Gap Generation” are a unique group of people who can bridge the gap between these two creative people and can communicate effectively to both. I think this is where magic and opportunity lives.

The barrier to entry in terms of recording and distributing a record has never been lower. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily cheap. It’s very common today for people to dismiss the costs (both emotional and financial) of making music. We have heard from executives of music streaming services calling musicians “slackers” or that their art doesn’t cost anything to create. Music is a collaborative art form so involving others with specific expertise costs money. Studios have been built at great expense to be a place of creativity and inspiration. Additionally, inspiration can strike at any place and any time even in the back of a cab. Both environments can yield great art in and of themselves and I pride myself in being able to produce quality work in any of these situations. That being said, I find using a mixture of both for various stages of the production process can maximize the quality, cost and experience of record making.

A great quote from the late Mark Rubel, “Our job is to make emotions audible” and that’s exactly what I am always working towards. This is my goal.

In order to capture a great performance that communicates emotion to the listener, I find that I’m often guiding the artist through a variety of organizational, personal and emotional journey. It is important to be resource(ful), instead of being a gatekeeper. I want to help artist recognize their dreams, or help artist articulate what they’re feeling and I want to do these with authenticity and honesty.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Working in a creative field and generally socializing with similar creative people tends to put you in a bubble. Being a lifelong musician, music has always been my focus and what I perceive as what is considered “good” or “bad” music is usually similar to what other musicians believe. However, I had to unlearn this after becoming friends with many non musicians in my late 30’s. It was very unnerving to hear what people thought was “good” but after a while, I realized what the general public sees and listens to is what drives the economy of the music business. I learned an important lesson that what we in the bubble may think “not-so-good” can be received as one of the best. It’s not about people in the bubble, it is about the audience. Since coming to that realization, I have been much more open to music. Of course I still have my opinions but I’m more open to suggestions from others and this allows me to learn new skills/patterns/tools. If music communicates a message or emotion to even one person, then it’s “good” music. There is no such thing as “bad” music, just a different opinion😉.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I dream of a place where I can provide a space (physically and virtually) where anyone can come and be who they are creatively, including myself. I want to be able to hire more women and nonbinary people in the technical field and give them real world experience where they only need to focus on their work. I want everyone to be able to make living doing what we do and be properly credited for our work. So many things drive me to work harder and hopefully provide more opportunities for people like me. The good news is I’m starting to see a more diverse representation in the technical fields both in University and Studio environments. A lot has been done in recent years but we still have a ways to go.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://anythingkreativ.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anythingkreativ/
• Twitter: https://x.com/AnythingKreativ
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@anythingkreativ

Image Credits

1: MET Alliance at Blackbird Studio A2: Don Cherel3 & 4: Duncan Vinje5: Sputnik Sound6: Charlsey Miller at Blackbird Studio H7: Women’s Audio Mission8: Austin Lauritsen