kanekoayano has been added to the Osaka date of OGRE YOU ASSHOLE’s self produced event “DELAY 2026,” marking a reunion that feels less like a booking and more like a continuation of an ongoing dialogue. Having appeared at the event’s inaugural Osaka edition in 2024, and with OGRE YOU ASSHOLE returning the gesture at her own show last December, the two have built a quietly reciprocal relationship over time.
At a glance, their connection reads as understated, but the overlap runs deeper. Kaneko has long cited OGRE YOU ASSHOLE as an influence, and her project’s drift toward psychedelic and krautrock textures mirrors a shared musical language. Behind the scenes, they are also linked by key collaborators such as engineer Soichiro Nakamura and live PA Yukio Sasaki, pointing to a common approach to sound. More than anything, what binds them is an attitude. Their sustained commitment to live performance in Japan and abroad feels almost defiant in an era increasingly shaped by digital saturation and flattened values. The exchange between Manabu Deto and Ayano Kaneko may unfold with quiet composure, but it carries a clear and unshakable intensity beneath the surface.
INDEX
Where OGRE YOU ASSHOLE and Ayano Kaneko First Crossed Paths
When did you two first meet?
Deto: I was invited to DJ at a uri gagarn event at Daikanyama UNIT, and Kaneko was performing a solo set. Do you remember how many years ago that was?
Kaneko: It has not been ten years yet. It was well before the pandemic, around May 2018.
Deto: We did not really talk much at the time, but it was my first time seeing her live, and it left a strong impression. I was simply struck by how powerful her singing was. And then when she finished, even though she had just delivered something so intense, the way she walked off stage felt almost like she was saying that what you just saw has nothing to do with me anymore. That contrast really stayed with me.
You were already familiar with OGRE YOU ASSHOLE before that, right?
Kaneko: Of course. I even bought a ticket and went to see their show at Hibiya Open Air Concert Hall in heavy rain in September 2018, and I had seen them earlier at Shimokitazawa SHELTER too, so at first I was just a regular fan. Then later, we properly shared a bill for the first time at an event organized by Shibuya WWW in February 2022 at Meguro Persimmon Hall. It felt like a moment where we were starting to think about doing more things together going forward.
That was also around the time when your band was going through changes, like switching support members, right?
Kaneko: That show actually became a bit of a turning point for me. Since it was a co-headline show with OGRE YOU ASSHOLE, Soichiro Nakamura was there, right? He had already been mastering my work, so we had known each other for a while.
That day was also the first time I used an old combo amp I had just bought, but the roadie had set it up using a head instead. Nakamura said something like, you bought that amp because you like its sound, so why are you doing that? It was a small thing, but it made me realize I was starting to forget the sound I actually love.
I had been so focused on other things that I was about to lose sight of it, and that moment really pulled me back. In that sense, that day has stayed with me very strongly.
Deto: About two years after that, we asked her to play our event “DELAY,” and we did another co-headline show at Misono Universe. By then, the impression was completely different. It felt like something really significant had happened. I had been hearing people say things like, Kaneko’s band is incredible right now, and that was part of why we invited her. But when I actually saw it, it had truly become something else. I was honestly surprised.
How had it changed?
Deto: The sound of the band had this much deeper presence to it. I had not seen them that many times, so I cannot exactly explain what had changed on a technical level, but the way it hit you was completely different. Before, there was still an impression of her as a solo performer, with her voice at the center and the band supporting it. But at that point, it felt more like a solid mass of sound coming at you all at once.
Even though the name kanekoayano had always been used, and the live setup already leaned more toward a band than a typical singer songwriter format, it felt like the sense of being a band really intensified over those two years, right?
Kaneko: There were some lineup changes, so that was a big part of it. The effects I use and the overall sound direction have not changed that drastically, but changing the rhythm section had a huge impact. That might be the key difference. But also, what I mentioned earlier, being asked that question at the Persimmon Hall show, what is it that you really want to do, that was probably a big moment too. It made me rethink everything from there.
