“Djs 10 Sui and Apache 61 both played some extreme drum and bass sounds, Apache 61 in particular deconstructing the form so much that the beginning of her set slipped into pure searing, tearing audio art territory.“ (DJ Magazine)

Erupting onto the scene sometime in 1996, ‘Apache 61’ is the mashed up mayhem produced by Mieko Shimizu, a Japanese ex-pat living in Brixton, South London. Beautifully out of hand, it’s unashamedly driven by it’s rhythmic core – layers and layers of cross woven breaks, and shattered percussion, battling shards of sub bass. Through this brutal backdrop she manages to interleave magical, stateless melodies, rich harmonics and ambience drawing from the fringes of the avant-garde.

Somehow she articulates a strange sonic paradox; one that leads the imagination somewhere totally unlimited, and refuses to be constrained by dancefloor arithmetic.

Since the first single and album released in ’97 on Daisyworld, [run be ex-YMO synth genius Haruomi Hosono], Apache 61, dubbed by the press as the Japanese female Drum’n Bass Ninja, has been performing all over UK & Europe - crossing over the art and music scenes.
In this role she has been party to various collaboration works such as the “DysFunkt!onal_Beats” live project; the work with Jazz pianist and Electronica artist Pat Thomas; ’1000 Guitars’ project creator and composer Rhys Chatham; and the ex- ‘Japan’ bass player Mick Karn. Apache 61 has also remixed such artists as YMO and Cold Cut.

She is currently finishing a new album, and an EP [china_syntax] which will be released in October 2002 on No Immortal Records.