In his Chicago debut, Aki Onda presents Cassette Memories (2003)—works compiled from a “sound diary” of field recordings collected over the past decade. His instrument of choice is the cassette Walkman. Not only does Onda capture field recordings with the Walkman, he also manipulates multiple devices with electronics in his performances. Rather than a conventional speaker system, Onda also uses old tube guitar and bass amps for their added warmth and depth.

Aki Onda (b.1967, Nara, Japan) is a self-taught musician, composer, producer and photographer. When he was 16 years old, he started taking photographs of musicians for magazines in Osaka and Kyoto. Through numerous photo shoots he became acquainted with many well-known musicians, and decided to become a musician himself. In 1990, he started making music with a sampler and computer, and formed Audio Sports with Eye Yamatsuka and Nobukazu Takemura in Osaka. Onda later moved to Tokyo and established himself as a producer. From 2000-2003, Onda was a visiting composer at the Electronic Music Studio at Dartmouth College. He has collaborated with Otomo Yoshihide, Toshimaru Nakamura, Akio Suzuki, Shelley Hirsch and Alan Licht. Onda lives in Brooklyn.