Takuya Nakamura: The Lot Radio

Takuya Nakamura is a force. Originally from Japan, he brings a heritage of jazz and electronic music that’s sharp-edged, offbeat, and unforgettable. The guy didn’t just stroll into music; he came in hard, blending worlds that typically orbit far apart. His weapon of choice? The trumpet — an instrument he wields with the precision of a jazz master but the intent of an electronic producer. There’s nothing traditional about how Takuya plays it; he’s turning its brassy sound into something raw, pushing his own boundary between acoustic and electronic. 

His journey into music was unconventional. Starting out in Tokyo’s underground jazz circuits, Takuya quickly realised he wasn’t content with the constraints of genre. Moving to the U.S., he found himself mixing sounds in ways most wouldn’t dare, picking up modular synths and using live looping to add layers of unpredictability. It’s as though every performance is an experiment — a session to see just how far he can stretch the trumpet’s limits without losing its core. 

At The Lot Radio, Nakamura was fully in his element, bringing a curated chaos that worked on every level. His integration of modular synths added depth, and with each loop and effect, he reshaped the atmosphere on the fly. He oscillated between hard-hitting rhythms and dissonant melodies, throwing us into a constant push-pull. Every layer seemed to have an intention — one that only Nakamura could pull off without letting it collapse into noise. 

Looking ahead, Nakamura’s future is as unpredictable as his sets. He’s clearly not interested in conforming, and his work sits in a niche that has the potential to evolve into something bigger — maybe new collaborations, maybe even his own live-electronic jazz collective. The one thing that’s certain? Takuya Nakamura will keep pushing his boundaries and ours, leaving us to guess where he’ll go next. 

Watch the set here