When you go to a techno club you might not expect to see an 82-year-old dumpling cook working the turntables—but that is exactly what you get when DJ Sumirock performs.
Sumiko Iwamuro spent most of her adult life cooking in the family restaurant.
When she turned 70, she decided to attend DJ school. Ever since she has been motivating crowds in Tokyo clubs.
And the crowd—half-a-century younger—loves her.
“She’s got this energy that goes beyond age, that can equal any young person’s here. She’s really cool,” said Fuminari Fujii, a25-year-old club patron.
Iwamuro mixes different styles of music in with her techno tracks. “It’s fundamentally techno music. But just that would be boring,” she explains, “so I add jazz, French chanson, and today I’ve added a bit of classical music.”
Whatever she chooses, she plays it with her audience in mind.
“When I spin the tables, I just want to match the beat, choose the right music,” she said, “but the best thing is for my audience to enjoying themselves.”
After 60 years of cooking dumplings, Iwamuro feels she is ready for a change of pace.
At an age when most people are well into retirement, DJ Sumirock is hoping to start a new career.
She’d like to quit her day job and move to the United States to start working the New York club scene.
Tokyo’s hottest new DJ is this 82-year-old dumpling chef
By NTD Newsroom