Artist Profile: ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U

¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U is far from your average DJ. In fact, calling him a DJ at all feels like a gross understatement. Born out of the underground clubs of Osaka and now performing at some of the biggest festivals around the globe, his work is a visceral dismantling of genre boundaries that leaves audiences disoriented, exhilarated, and asking what the hell just happened. A  staple of the avant-garde performance troupe Asian Dope Boys, his DJ sets are just as chaotic, veering from techno to noise, from gabber to ambient, often within the same set, even within the same transition. Curious yet? Then, join Control Club as ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U presents his anarchic digital symphony on October 11.

¥UK1MAT$U’s journey into electronic music began far from the traditional childhood dream of DJ stardom. His early years were, in fact, spent in the construction. DJing would only start in 2008. His breakthrough came in 2014 when he played alongside Japanese luminaries like DJ Nobu and NHK'Koyxen at The Naminohana Special in his hometown of Osaka. That gig would prove pivotal, earning him a spot at Nobu's famed Future Terror party and setting his path toward becoming one of Japan’s most unconventionally exciting electronic figures.

To understand ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U’s musical approach, one must also understand the notion of creative destruction. The philosophy is simple: demolish genre-defining boundaries and create something entirely new from the debris—you could also call this approach radical musicality. What your milquetoast DJ might consider an act of sonic violence, ¥UK1MAT$U sees as creative liberation. In one performance, he might drop a soothing ambient track right after a blistering industrial beat. In another, he’ll infuse noise into the middle of a house set, leaving listeners suspended in discomfort before (maybe) pulling them back into more familiar territory.

But never forget that there is a method to this madness. Each set is a conversation between styles. It may feel antagonistic at first, but eventually, the sides reconcile into emotionally and intellectually coherent storytelling. This approach has made him a regular at clubs and festivals like Berlin Atonal, Berghain, Dekmantel, Bassiani, and, of course, all over Japan—sometimes sharing the stage with the likes of Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca and Adam X. Not to be outdone by live performances, his streams and mixes for the likes of Hör and Boiler Room regularly accumulate millions of plays.

In 2016, ¥UK1MAT$U's story took a dramatic turn when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Faced with a life-threatening illness, he abandoned his day job in construction and turned his full attention to music. Following two surgeries and grueling treatment, he emerged with a sharpened focus on his craft. In this new chapter, he launched Zone Unknown, a party series showcasing his curation where avant-garde electronic music could flourish.

This period would reach new heights in 2022 when he released Midnight is Comin', a compilation album on the Singapore-based Midnight Shift. The album features experimental peers like DJ Nobu, Gabber Modus Operandi, and Ryo Murakami and a wide-ranging exploration of ambient, dark ambient, and noise with ¥UK1MAT$U’s hand tying everything together into a cohesive narrative.

And yet, for all his global success, ¥UK1MAT$U remains grounded in his underground ethos. He is less interested in the trappings of fame than in the artistic potential of sonic experimentation. This mindset positions him as a vital figure in the electronic music world, where he continues to push boundaries and redefine what a DJ can be. His influence isn’t just in his music—it’s in his philosophy, his refusal to accept the status quo, and his commitment to turning the conventional into something unfamiliar, exciting, and new.

Despite his global notoriety, ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U remains uninterested in the superficial rewards of fame. His growing influence is found in his refusal to adhere to convention, transforming the formulaic into something thrilling and unexpected.