August / September 2006

fRoots, Issue 278 / 279

Mugenkyo

The classy Japanese taiko drumming ensemble are based in....Scotland.

It's about the drums, but it's not just about the beat. In the hands of Mugenkyo, Japanese taiko drumming becomes a totality, taking in everything from music to performance to feel. Not at all bad for an outfit based in...Scotland. But over the last 12 years they've performed at many festivals, the odd Cup Final, even in a Bollywood film, and established Mugen Taiko Dojo, the first centre of the art in the UK. And it all happened by accident..."

I was a kit drummer in bands," recalls Neil Mackie, who co-founded the ensemble with Miyuki Williams. " I was about 30 and I thought I was getting older, what could I do? Miyuki had been offered the chance to teach English in Japan and I thought I'd go out there with her. I discovered taiko, which I'd never heard of before, or the culture behind it."

Perhaps surprisingly, the first taiko drumming he saw after arriving in Japan in 1992 didn't impress him. " It was just a bunch of guys having a drink and playing some drums. They'd get bored and take it in turns to play. Most traditional taiko is like that in Japan. It's played by local people at festivals. They're not particularly fine-tuned, they're not professionals."

But Mackie persisted, and began studying taiko. Once he met his teacher, Kurumaya Sensei, things changed. " He took taiko very seriously, and I began to see the professional groups who perform taiko. It's totally non-traditional, like Kodo (the best known of the Japanese taiko groups), who are frowned on by many for putting it on a stage and making a show of it. But that's what grabs you, that energy. My teacher has his own particular way of playing. I learnt that style from him, then I wanted to branch out, and he suggested I look at other groups. They were using different styles from all over Japan, and not playing them traditionally."

For two years, Mackie and Williams studied in Japan, formulating plans for their return to the UK. "We decided that we wanted to form our own group when we came back, a touring, professional group. But at first there were only two of us. We basically played in schools all over London, and gradually passed on the knowledge and formed a group. There wasn't anybody else doing taiko in Britain at the time, so we had to teach the players. After our first few theatre performances we knew we wanted to become fully professional. But the people with us then didn't want to do that, so we had to begin all over again.

We moved to Scotland, found our farmhouse, spent seven years making it into a taiko centre, and now we have a system of people coming through our training programmes."

That school, or dojo, has been vitally important to the development of Mugenkyo, not simply to spread the gospel of taiko, but to provide a pool of musicians for the band. As Mackie notes, "You're only as strong as your roots, and it was important to lay down roots so this could last. The more we play, the greater the expectations, and the better everyone needs to be. All the people with us have come through the dojo system; they've trained for two years before they perform with Mugenkyo. We're very aware we're European, and we're certainly not trying to be Japanese, but there are certain things people need to learn to ground themselves."

Yet while they remain very aware of where they're from, "a lot of rhythms we play are very traditional. The way I learnt was a lot of set patterns - certain rhythms go with other rhythms, and it's only when you've learnt them all you can mix and match. In taiko it's a different way of counting to other drum styles. I've broken the rules a bit, but that's ok."

But rules were made to be broken, and Mugenkyo do it with panache, not only with their costumes and startling choreography, but also the drums themselves. "We say we're the supporting act," Mackie observes, "the drums are the stars. They're beautiful, imported from Japan. They're works of art and amazing to play. Each small nagado drum is about £4000 and takes about four years to make, carved from a single tree. The big drum is made from a barrel, and costs £10,000."

But none of that counts for much unless you can play. Mugenkyo can, and they're not afraid to flaunt it, especially when Mackie and Williams play a duet on the massive odaiko drum, which is bigger than a man. They can't hear each other, but keep perfect time throughout. It's very impressive. "That takes a lot of practice," Mackie admits. "You have to have a lot of trust in the other person. It's almost like a sixth sense. You know when you're playing a pattern, you want to hear they're playing the same timing as you. It's come together over a few years."

Although they've released CDs, live performance is their essence, and each one is a challenge. "We pride ourselves on our energy, our ki, and put it all into our playing. Without that it's just a show. When we come offstage we're all exhausted, and that's important."