the hatch thrives on pure possibility. Listening to the group’s music, it feels like nothing – no style, no genre, no sound – is beyond their bounds. Over the past decade, the Sapporo quartet has incorporated elements of prog, funk, noise, Latin music, contemporary jazz and more into its writhing post-hardcore sound; each of its records oozing a particularly elegant and arty brand of punkish chaos.

the hatch’s music is as enjoyable for the directness of its grooves as it is for its bewildering complexity. Zakiyama (bass), Midori Yamada (vocals, trombone, keyboard), Ryōken Miyazaki (guitar) and Ryu-Sun’s (drums) most recent record, 2022’s shape of raw to come, continued in that vein with its rollicking mix of jaunty math rock, dense jazz fusion and longform hardcore. Read our full review of that record here.

The theme of the band’s Selector is ‘the future of the hatch’, with each band member exploring sounds, styles and approaches that they’d like to incorporate into future music. As one might expect of a band already so spectacularly sonically diverse, it’s teeming with an ambitious range of styles and sounds. The band further explained:

‘the hatch is a band that is constantly changing, so the members have chosen songs that are related to what they want to express and do in the future.’

Zakiyama  

imagineIAM – “River Giver” (2016)

I want to dance on stage with this beat.

 

Idles – “The Beachland Ballroom” (2021)

I want to play gentle bass on sweaty ballads.

Midori Yamada  

Kode9 – “Angle of Re-Entry” (2022)

Instead of a polyrhythmic approach with long, fascinating loops, I'd like to try it with seamlessly undulating grooves that don't develop to the same extremes of the hatch’s previous music.

I'd like to try a polyrhythmic approach where the groove swells seamlessly without the extreme development of the hatch’s previous music, rather than a polyrhythmic approach with long, mesmerising loops.

 

Blake Mills and Pino Palladino – “Ekuté” (2021)

After hearing them when we played at FRUE last year, I've been studying how to fill a groove with depth without relying on spatial effectors. I'm naturally attracted to the sounds of chamber music.

Ryōken Miyazaki  

Mogul de Jade – “Canção do João” (2013)

My favourite Norberto Lobo. Next for me!

 

Sebastião Tapajos and Pedro Dos Santos – Sebastião Tapajos and Pedro Dos Santos (1972)

Listen to entire album on Spotify and Apple Music. I’ll do demon arpeggios!

Ryu-Sun  

Evan Marien – “Caliber” (2022)

The colours like laser beams, we’ll all pursue a similarly superhero-like sci-fi feel.

 

Alec Schulman – “Rivers I’ve Crossed” (2023)

The sound of this is quite close to the firmness, gentleness and expanse of the cymbal sound I want to bring to the band.