Kento Oiwa: Olympia Music History Project

Portrait by Jack Habegger

Formed in the mid-1990s by Japanese immigrants Kento Oiwa and Michiko Swiggs, IQU was a group unlike anything folks in Olympia–or anyplace else, for that matter–had ever witnessed.. 

I spoke to Kento in a hotel room on an assignment from the Olympia Music History Project, where this interview was first published. Beyond his involvement in IQU, Kento was also an active DJ and event organizer in the Olympia music scene throughout the 1990s. As you will hear, he’s a killer theremin player too.

Kento also helped organize the storied Yo Yo A Gogo festivals that filled downtown Olympia with people from all over the world, including friends from Japan like the Bloodthirsty Butchers and Copass Grinderz. This episode has been gussied up with some tasty music clips for your enjoyment. If you like, you can read the full transcript and dig a little deeper into this story–and other stories connected to it–at ⁠olympiamusichistory.org