Tatsuya Nakatani is a Japanese-born percussionist and composer now based in New Mexico. Known for his extraordinary work with gongs, percussion, and bowed instruments, he has developed a singular approach to sound through decades of performance and experimentation. His Nakatani Gong Orchestra (NGO) is a large-scale, ongoing project involving ensembles of performers across North America.

How would you describe music?

Sound, vibrations, art, improvised. It's never easy to describe what a proper name for it is from the creator's side view.

What is your relationship to music?

My music is everyday life and living, even if I am not doing music, playing, or touring today.

What draws you to the instrument(s) you play, and/or to composing?

Percussion, gongs, or anything that makes a preferable sound. Selected sound.

What groups or musical communities have you been part of, and how have they influenced your playing or composing today?

I look at myself as belonging on a large scale to this North American continent. I used to reside on the East Coast — New York City, Pennsylvania, Boston. And I am Japanese, originally from Osaka. All places have different habits or ways of approach, by culture and by closed society manners. I have come to a point where I belong to no specific culture myself, and after three decades of work, I am now free to do my own thing.

What musician(s) most influenced your approach to music, and why?

I have no specific names to present. But almost everyone, or every musician, famous to unknown, is my influence. I'm always learning.

Who or what influences you most outside of music, and why?

I think all activities I do besides music are my influences. Everyday working for something — repair work on my van, working at the shop for bow making, cooking food, repairing my house, booking tours, answering this interview. All of my activities somehow become "to be able to do my music," and feed me.

What deceased performer(s), improviser(s), or composer(s) would you most like to have a conversation with, and why?

Peter Kowald, Billy Bang, Frank Lowe. I met them and worked together when I was very young. I didn't know music, or many other life things, and even my English was not enough to communicate deeply. I'm not sure what I would ask them now, but I feel I could ask something more than at that time. They may talk to me differently now, too.

What advice would you give to a young musician entering your field?

Keep working. In our living society, some are lucky and some are not. All have different lines to start with, and the speed of development is different. Being a musician is hard work, but if you don't count the hard part, then it is just work, which you do every day, anyway.

What do you hope audiences take away from experiencing your music?

Vibrations and feelings. You are alive and here, experiencing. Live music is important, and you must come see it.

Where do you see the music you're involved in heading in the coming years?

I see my NGO (Nakatani Gong Orchestra) as my lifetime work. There is a lot to do, and I still haven't gotten there yet. It is big, challenging, continuous work. I feel that if I don't do NGO, who will?

If you could shape the future of this music, what would it look like?

It will be an interesting time. New generations and young people — we always need them.

Where are you currently located or musically associated with?

Based in New Mexico. I have little activity here where I live, but there is a trio I work locally with — Raven Chacon and Carlos Santistevan.

What is your musical education or background?

I studied jazz for a short period of time in my late 20s.

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