Biography
Chihei Hatakeyama (畠山地平, born 1978) is a Japanese musician, sound artist and mastering engineer from Kanagawa Prefecture, based in Tokyo. His music centers on ambient and drone, using electronic processing to transform instrumental recordings into slowly changing layers of sound.
Hatakeyama began playing electric guitar in rock bands as a teenager before turning to computer-based composition. In 2002, he formed the electroacoustic duo Opitope with Tomoyoshi Date. His debut solo album, Minima Moralia, appeared on Kranky in 2006, followed by Opitope’s first album, Hau, on Spekk in 2007. His subsequent recordings have appeared on labels including Room40, Home Normal, Dronarivm and Gearbox Records.
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Guitar, piano and vibraphone have provided source material for his compositions, with analog and modular synthesizers becoming part of his setup over time. His recording methods combine improvisation with editing, looping and overdubbing. On Late Spring (2021), he focused on single-take guitar and synthesizer performances, exploring how recording equipment and effects could alter the instruments’ sound.
Place and memory recur throughout his work. Forgotten Hill (2019) grew from a visit to Japan’s Asuka region and his interest in its history. For Thousand Oceans (2024), he returned to guitar drones, drawing on memories of childhood visits to the Izu Peninsula. Lucid Dreams (2025), released by First Terrace Records, took inspiration from insomnia and the shifting sense of time experienced in dreams. It featured contributions from Cucina Povera and Nailah Hunter.
Hatakeyama also runs White Paddy Mountain, an independent label he established to manage the release of his own recordings and introduce other Japanese ambient artists. His work beyond these releases includes the score for the documentary Life Is Climbing! (2023).
With drummer Shun Ishiwaka, he recorded Magnificent Little Dudes, released in two volumes by Gearbox Records in 2024. The pair recorded the main material in a single day, combining Hatakeyama’s electric guitar and effects with Ishiwaka’s drums, percussion and piano. Vocalist Hatis Noit and cellist Cecilia Bignall contributed parts recorded later in London.
His numbered Void series continued with Void XXIX in July 2026. That September, White Paddy Mountain released The Empty Rose, a collaboration with Ken Ikeda. Its sixteen pieces were developed through approximately a decade of recording and editing.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.