Inoyama Land was formed in 1977 by Makoto Inoue and Yasushi Yamashita. In 1983, their first album produced by Haruomi Hosono, Danzindan-Pojidon, was released on the Yen label with a 2020 vinyl re-release. In the 1990s, the pair became involved in sound design for various sites such as museums, international stadiums and installations. For the past few years, previous works have been re-released from ExT recordings and Inoyama Land returned to live performance.
In 2018, they appeared as a headliner with Morgan Fisher at Camp Off-Tone, the only ambient music festival in Japan. In 2019 they performed at Kakou Ryuryoku, the finale of the Red Bull Music Festival in Tokyo. Their latest release is a compilation of later environmental compositions, Commissions, on Empire of Signs.
There is a place called Fortune Bay (Fuku-ura) near the studio where we worked on the piece. It’s filled with subtle movement of bright waves, small old fishing boats, fishery fire seen offshore after sunset, and morning wind. These are the things that control tempo and tone of the piece.
When you become aware of deep listening, you realise your ear and mind were fully occupied with unwanted sound. It's a stimulating experience once you open up your covered ears and try to absorb the sound.