Eucademix is the moniker of Yuka Honda, a producer, composer, performer, and visual artist renowned for her innovative, genre-defying approach to music and multimedia. Through her compositions and self-crafted video art, Honda seeks to transport audiences and expand the possibilities of sound and visual expression.
Her work is shaped by a bold and distinctive fusion of influences: the experimental energy of New York’s downtown jazz scene, the raw power of hip-hop and street music, the intricacies of classical music cherished by her mother, and the profound inspiration of nature—wild, beautiful, and at times mercilessly harsh. Honda’s artistry blends experimental textures with rhythm-driven grooves, engaging both the intellect and the body.
During the COVID-era lockdown, Honda conceived the idea for her solo electronic project, naming it Eucademix after her second solo album (Eucademix, released on Tzadik). Though the project was developed in isolation, she envisioned it as a live performance, limiting her instrumentation to what could fit in a carry-on bag and a backpack. The solitude made her realize that connecting with a room full of people through music was the most vital aspect of her work. Over the past few years, she has cultivated a singular performance style by following her instincts. She describes her artistic approach as “continuum, quantum, and sensory.”
Born in Tokyo, Honda spent her formative years in Germany and Denmark before later living in Aix-en-Provence and Paris. These cultural experiences deeply inform her sonic explorations, resulting in a distinct and boundary-pushing body of work.
In 1994, Honda co-founded the band Cibo Matto with Miho Hatori. Their debut album, Viva! La Woman (1996), captivated audiences with its iconoclastic fusion of influences and infectious grooves, spending six weeks at #1 on the CMJ charts. Their iconic music video for “Sugar Water,” directed by Michel Gondry, remains a visual and conceptual masterpiece.
More recently, Honda has continued to explore new creative directions with her two-part EP series Farm Psychedelia I and Farm Psychedelia II, released under the Eucademix moniker. Alongside her solo work, she collaborates in the duo CUP with her husband, guitarist Nels Cline, blending poetic lyrics with experimental soundscapes. She also performs in Mycorrhiza, a project with multi-instrumentalist YoshimiO (of Boredoms and OOIOO), exploring vibrant, improvisational music that reflects their deep creative synergy.
Honda has collaborated with an impressive roster of artists, producing albums for Sean Ono Lennon and Martha Wainwright, among others. She has performed at numerous tributes and special events, including creating an orchestral arrangement for the Ryuichi Sakamoto Tribute at Roulette in New York City.
In 2019, she premiered her multimedia opera, No Revenge Necessary, at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY. This work explored the coexistence of humans and AI entities in a post-apocalyptic world, reflecting on themes of resilience, transformation, and the complexities of humanity.
Deeply connected to the rhythms of the natural world, Honda is also a board member of the Catskills Agrarian Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to food sovereignty and regenerative agriculture. Her recent works, Farm Psychedelia I and Farm Psychedelia II honor the radical farmers of upstate New York who are innovating solutions to food insecurity, further bridging her artistic practice with her commitment to community and environmental stewardship.