Born in Kyoto, Rei Harakami studied film and initially wanted to pursue a career writing scores; however, a demo tape of his electronic material sent to the Sublime label garnered him the opportunity to remix Ken Ishii and, later, to appear on the Volume label's Trance-Pacific Express compilation. Harakami's debut album, Unrest, was issued in 1998, collecting works recorded as far back as 1995; Opa 9 was released the following year. ~ Steve Huey