Merzbow (Japanese: メルツバウ, Hepburn: Merutsubau) is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada artist Kurt Schwitters' artwork Merzbau, in which Schwitters transformed the interior of his house using found objects. The name was chosen to reflect Akita's dada influence and junk art aesthetic. In addition to this, Akita has cited a wide range of musical influences from progressive rock, heavy metal, free jazz, and early electronic music to non-musical influences like dadaism, surrealism and fetish culture. Since the early 2000s, he has been inspired by animal rights and environmentalism, and began to follow a vegan, straight edge lifestyle.
In addition to being a prolific musician, he has been a writer and editor for several books and magazines in Japan, and has written several books of his own. He has written about a variety of subjects, mostly about music, modern art, and underground culture. His more renowned works were on the topics of BDSM and Japanese bondage. Other art forms Akita has been interested in include painting, photography, filmmaking, and Butoh dance.
In 2000, Extreme Records released the 50 CD box set Merzbox. Akita's work has been the subject of several remix albums and at least one tribute album. This, among other achievements, has helped Merzbow to be regarded by some as the "most important artist in noise".
Masami Akita (秋田 昌美, Akita Masami) was born in Tokyo, Japan on December 19, 1956. He listened to psychedelic music, progressive rock and later free jazz in his youth, all of which have influenced his noise. In 1972, he became the drummer of various high school bands, which he left due to the other members being "grass-smoking Zappa freaks". By this time, he and school friend Kiyoshi Mizutani had started playing improvised studio sessions that he described as "long jam sessions along the lines of Ash Ra Tempel or Can but we didn't have any psychedelic taste". Additionally, Lou Reed's 1975 studio album Metal Machine Music would be cited as a key inspiration by Akita in 2013, who regarded it as "one of the inspired records which led me to making music only by noises and sounds generated solely by non instruments".
He later attended Tamagawa University to study fine art, at which he majored in painting and art theory. While at university, he became interested in the ideas of dada and surrealism and also studied Butoh dance. At Tamagawa, he learned of Kurt Schwitters' Merz, or art made from rubbish, including Schwitters' Merzbau (meaning Merz building, German pronunciation: [ˈmɛʁtsˌbaʊ̯]), which is the source of the name Merzbow.
He is known as a vegan who avoids meat, eggs (except those from chickens he raises himself), dairy and leather products. He is a strict straight edge, abstaining from alcohol and tobacco. An avid bird lover who keeps many birds at home, he includes "Bariken" in his work titles and inserts anti-KFC flyers in his works. He actively supports animal rights organizations like PETA and opposes whaling and dolphin hunting.
After completing his degree, Akita became a freelance writer and editor for various magazines in Japan. He frequently wrote on a variety of topics involving sexuality (including pornography, S&M, and Japanese bondage), underground and extreme culture (including music and art), architecture, and animal rights. None have been published in English.
The Anagram of Perversion (倒錯のアナグラム 周縁的ポルノグラフィーの劇場, Tōsaku no anaguramu: Shūenteki porunogurafī no gekijō) (1988)
Mannerism of Heterodoxa (異形のマニエリスム 「邪」の民俗, Ikei no manierisumu: "Ja" no minzoku) (1989)
Fetish Fashion (フェティッシュ・ファッション 変貌するエロスと快楽身体, Fetisshu fasshon: Henbō suru eros to kairaku shintai) (1990)
Birth of Sex Symbol (セックス・シンボルの誕生, Sekkusu shinboru no tanjō) (1991)
Noise War (ノイズ・ウォー ノイズ・ミュージックとその展開, Noizu wō: Noizu myūjikku to sono tenkai) (1992)
Terminal Body Play (快楽身体の未来形, Kairaku shintai no miraikei) (1993)
Body Exotica (ボディ・エキゾチカ, Bodi ekizochika) (1993)
Scum Culture (スカム・カルチャー, Sukamu Karuchā) (1994)
Modern Sexuality Bizarre (性の猟奇モダン 日本変態研究往来, Sei no ryōki modan: Nihon hentai kenkyū ōrai) (1994)
Nude Empire (裸体の帝国 (ヌード・ワールド Vol.1 ヌーディズムの歴史 1), Ratai no teikoku (Nūdo wārudo vol. 1: nūdizumu no rekishi 1)) (1995)