Japanese City Pop Vinyl DJ, Culture Curator, and Retro-Romanticist

Since 2016, Van Paugam has been a unsung hero in raising City Pop music to global popularity. Having been the first to create the format for these songs to become marketable to contemporary audiences, he’s inspired countless other DJs, collectors, and record labels to release compilations imitating his style. in 2019, his YouTube channel was taken down by an individual that fraudulently claimed to own the copyrights that led to him removed because of these complaints submitted to the Recording Industry Association of Japan, causing him to be permanently banned from the platform forever. The individual is sill at large for now.

Not being deterred, Van took his vinyl collection to bars, clubs, and lounges around Chicago. Having since proven his determination, he’s performed City Pop vinyl world-wide, collabored with City Pop artists, and interviewed the Godfather of the genre, Van continues his mission today by working for the Japanese Culture Center of Chicago, and working closely with the Japanese Arts Foundation of Chicago to expand on the over 200 events that he’s dedicated to city pop in the city and beyond. Having a deep appreciation for Japanese culture, Van hopes to bring more lost treasures from Japan into the future.