Aki Onda

Born in Japan in 1967, Aki Onda is an electronic musician, composer, and visual artist based in New York. Since 1988 he has used a cassette Walkman as a field recording instrument, accumulating a sound diary of environmental recordings gathered during years of travel. In performances under the title Cassette Memories, he physically manipulates multiple Walkmans simultaneously, layering and looping this archive into ritualistic sonic collages. The three Cassette Memories albums — Ancient and Modern (2003), Bon Voyage!, and South of the Border — were reissued on Room40 in 2020. He has collaborated with Ken Jacobs, Michael Snow, Paul Clipson, and Akio Suzuki.