Artists take on pseudonyms for a multitude of reasons, but in Zach Saginaw's case, those reasons run deeper than most. The Detroit-based, Japanese-American musician, DJ, Portage Garage Sounds label co-founder, WDET 101.9FM host, and longtime Ghostly International artist records under the alias Shigeto. It's his middle name and his grandfather's name, a tribute to the Japanese branch of Saginaw's family tree. Shigeto also means "to grow" — appropriate, given his premature birth weight of less than a pound. Today, Shigeto stands for Saginaw's vividly beautiful electronic music. Beat-driven but given to richly textured sound design, rhythmically fractured yet melodically sumptuous, Shigeto's music bridges the past and present, bringing the artist face to face with a creative legacy that spans decades.
Saginaw picked up the drums at an early age, spending much of his childhood playing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor music scene. After nearly flunking out of high school — save for his music studies — Saginaw spent three semesters studying jazz at the New School in NYC and three more in London, where he began woodshedding, obsessed with learning electronic production. Soon enough, beats materialized, Saginaw moved to Brooklyn in the early 2010s and took. . . READ MORE
Artists take on pseudonyms for a multitude of reasons, but in Zach Saginaw's case, those reasons run deeper than most. The Detroit-based, Japanese-American musician, DJ, Portage Garage Sounds label co-founder, WDET 101.9FM host, and longtime Ghostly International artist records under the alias Shigeto. It's his middle name and his grandfather's name, a tribute to the Japanese branch of Saginaw's family tree. Shigeto also means "to grow" — appropriate, given his premature birth weight of less than a pound. Today, Shigeto stands for Saginaw's vividly beautiful electronic music. Beat-driven but given to richly textured sound design, rhythmically fractured yet melodically sumptuous, Shigeto's music bridges the past and present, bringing the artist face to face with a creative legacy that spans decades.
Saginaw picked up the drums at an early age, spending much of his childhood playing in the Detroit/Ann Arbor music scene. After nearly flunking out of high school — save for his music studies — Saginaw spent three semesters studying jazz at the New School in NYC and three more in London, where he began woodshedding, obsessed with learning electronic production. Soon enough, beats materialized, Saginaw moved to Brooklyn in the early 2010s and took up the name Shigeto, and his peers and press began to take notice. Following a stint there, he returned home to Michigan in 2013 and since then has become part of the fabric of Detroit’s music scene.
Cherry Blossom Baby, Shigeto's first full-length statement since 2017, sprouts out from a collective thaw, ambitious, collaborative, and fully realized. It finds Saginaw embracing the role of producer and composer, showcasing a band-built sound that honors traditions in electronic, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop. Saginaw and a group of guests and players present a snapshot in time, a celebration of self-love and an expression of vitality distinctly rooted in Detroit and informed by his family's cultural history. "I am a cherry blossom baby," he says. "We all are cherry blossom babies, we all are resilient, we all are growing, we all will continue to."
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