Last weekend, Modern Music Guild brought Japanese-American electronica artist Yuka Honda to Oberlin to perform at the Cat in the Cream and lead a workshop in the TIMARA gallery. Best known for being half of the duo Cibo Matto in the ’90s, Honda now works as a touring solo artist. 

Honda’s performance was riveting. Her stage presence filled the whole room, despite the only actual performance element being her sitting at a table with her laptop and switchboard. Occasionally, she would lift up a white box with green lights which signaled a switch in music and provided visual stimulation for the audience.

Oberlin students came out in droves for Honda. The chairs and tables in the Cat had been rearranged to form rows of seating in the middle. As the chairs and couches filled up, students squeezed in around the rows.

“There were a lot of people there, and there seemed to be an energetic response to her performance,” College third-year Eli Rosenkim, who booked Honda, said. “People were lining up afterwards to talk to her. I didn’t realize there were a lot of lifelong Cibo Matto fans, so that was really sweet to see.”

Despite the high energy and the general coziness, the Cat’s limited space was a definite downside. Many older community members were in attendance and could not find a place to sit, and even the youngest audience members started to become visibly antsy after standing through an hour-and-a-half-long set.

Honda’s music itself was electrifying as she switched from track to track.

“I don’t actually plan what happens,” Honda said. “But I know I’d like to create a contrasting situation.”

Honda’s improvisation kept viewers on their toes, creating a shifting and unpredictable dynamic. The show never grew boring or stale, moving from interpolations of classical music to the grating staccato sound associated with electronica, oftentimes one overlaid over the other, provided a refreshing change.

“If there isn’t any room for improvisation, then it starts to feel sterile, robotic,” Rosenkim said. “And having those elements keeps things new and interesting.”

Another major aspect of Honda’s music is its accessibility, which she delved into during her workshop.

“She held up a fader mini track, and she’s like, ‘This is cheap, and I use it,’” College first-year Harper Joyce said. “Everything she uses fits in a carry-on suitcase, and she just travels with that.”

As someone taking her first foray into electronic music, this was very encouraging for Joyce.

“I didn’t know much about her before she came here, and I think it just made me much more appreciative of the art form of it,” Joyce said. “And then the workshop was just really inspiring. I was in such awe of her the whole time.”

Honda’s own methods are also very easy to recreate.

“Nature is a teacher,” Honda said. 

Living in upstate New York, Honda draws inspiration for her music from the sounds the trees make. It would not be challenging for an average student, even with little experience, to go on a walk and record the sounds around them to turn into a track.

Nature’s influence was present in Honda’s performance — much of her set was serene and had audience members shutting their eyes and swaying to the rhythm.

Honda was booked with the intention of offering students a look at underrepresented creative pathways for aspiring musicians.

“I think having [figures] who are diverse in practice and identity helps provide role models or expand people’s ideas of what is possible,” Rosenkim said. “[Modern Music] Guild’s mission is bringing artists that fall through the cracks, whether that be for identity reasons or because they make music that doesn’t fit into a [musical] tradition that the school books a lot of.”

Honda’s performance was beautiful and thrilling, but what matters almost as much as the music itself was how inspiring she was to Oberlin students. After the performance, everyone was going up to her for a picture and to tell her how much her music meant to them. Her workshop was no different. Honda taught students how easy it is to start making music with only a few dollars and some trees.