Worth Knowing, Worth Going is Style Weekly’s spotlight on members of Richmond’s music community who are poised to make waves in and around the city. This time we spoke with WRIR-FM 97.3 DJ Freddie J, who hosts the weekly “Banji Kaicho” show focusing on Japanese and Asian music. Freddie grew up in China, attended college there and briefly worked in Shanghai before immigrating to the United States to attend a computer science graduate program at the University of Virginia. Throughout that journey, which included a 2020 move to Richmond, Freddie was deepening his knowledge of jazz, which was the focal point of the “Point of Departure” show he co-hosted at UVA’s community radio station, WTJU-FM 91.1. But he collects vinyl from multiple genres, and he’ll draw on that collection for a DJ set on Friday, Sept. 13 at Plan 9 Records in Carytown — part of the store’s weekly DJ series soundtracking shoppers’ own crate digging.

Style Weekly: How did you get your start DJing live and on the radio? 

Freddie J: I came to the States in 2016, first [to] Charlottesville, where I attended UVA for a master program, then I started to volunteer at the radio station there, WTJU… That’s the time I first got into DJing, also hosting [a] radio show. But I’ve been collecting records for a long time. The show I did there was a jazz show, because I’m a huge jazz fan. I did that, actually, until this July, so it was like seven years I was at WTJU.

I moved to Richmond during the pandemic, like May 2020. I have some connections with WRIR folks, so I was like, “Maybe I should just start another radio show here, which will be slightly different from what I did at WTJU.” I also love Japanese and Asian music, so I think that’s something that’s not being that much covered, not only in Richmond or Virginia, but [nationwide]… The first year of the pandemic, I didn’t do too much outside the radio itself. But then when it starts to open up, I start to make more connections with people here, and then start to gig around the town.

How did you decide on the name and format of your current radio show? 

So the name of the show is inspired by Pizzicato Five, which is one of my favorite bands. They were huge in the 1990s and early 2000s — a Shibuya-kei, J-pop band. “Banji Kaicho” is the name of one of their songs…

I try to make the content, the music, as diverse as I can, because I’m naturally a big fan of many different kinds of music: pop music, jazz, folk, rock, electronic, experimental. I try to rotate the styles weekly, and then also put some focus on the contemporary artists living in our time, and up-and-coming Asian artists around the world.

What other artists shaped your listening when you were growing up?

I grew up listening to generic pop music, rock music, as everyone else does. But jazz really changed my listening, and my conception of music. It really has a huge impact on my life, as well… [John] Coltrane, Miles Davis, [Thelonious] Monk, [Charles] Mingus… Horace Tapscott was one of my favorite jazz pianists. There are so many of them. I’m also really into avant-garde jazz and free jazz, which is when it slightly goes underground, like beginning the 1970s, [with] different scenes happening, like in Chicago, in the New York lofts, or in Europe and in Japan — all different countries. That really has an impact on my conception of, “Oh, jazz music was born in America, but it really spread out and goes to every corner of the world.” For example, Japanese jazz artists have their conception and adaption of jazz music into their own tradition, which is always refreshing to listen to. So I think having all these thoughts in mind, I started making them into this new WRIR show.

It has an aesthetic, a concentration on Shibuya-kei, which is 1990s J-pop music. That music is actually a really interesting combination of classic American pop music, but then also lots of lounge, like soft jazz, easy listening, but also house music. So it’s really a combination of all of them, and I think that represents my show as well, because it covers lots of different aspects of the genres of music, and I tried to combine them together into one show.

I saw you did a surprise DJ set at a park in the Fan recently. What other live DJ gigs have you been enjoying lately? 

I’ve been starting to host city pop — which is 1980s Japanese disco — parties since last year. We’ve done four in Richmond since last August… That was a really interesting experience, because city pop has been getting popular for the past 10 years thanks to YouTube and other streaming services, getting much more recognition in the West. It’s really great to see [that] Richmond also has a big crowd for it, and [that] people show up and respond really well to it…

The park scene is the new series I try to curate. It’s a reggae and lovers rock pop-up. We show up with some equipment and records and play reggae in the park, which is a great summer vibe. We did one last month. I’m actually thinking about doing another one this upcoming Saturday… We’re just asking friends to come and hang. It was a great occasion.

What do you have on tap for your set at Plan 9? 

I think I will do all vinyl, just bring a crate of Japanese records. I think style-wise, it will be a classic “Banji” show — what I [do] on radio, like all different genres, but maybe on the chill side.

What else is coming up that you’re excited about? 

[I’ve] got a busy schedule in September. I’m doing four shows [this] weekend: Plan 9 and then that evening, I’m going to Helen’s, teaming up with Tommy 2600 who’s another WRIR DJ. That’s more [of a] dance party thing. I’m probably going to play lots of house music and new wave, kind of like a night house party. Then Saturday is the reggae pop-up. On Sunday, I’m teaming up with a local AAPI [Asian American and Pacific Islander] organization, DJing for their small mixer and party event… I’m excited.

Freddie J. will perform a DJ set at Plan 9’s Carytown location on Friday, Sept. 13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free. “Banji Kaicho” airs each Monday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on WRIR. For more information, visit wrir.org/show/banji-kaicho.