1LDK is Yiqing (b. Beijing) & Goos (b. Amsterdam). After meeting in 2019 outside a club in Amsterdam, they stayed in touch and continued their parallel lives. Yiqing had been DJing in Tokyo, promoting events, and writing for different publications but always feeling the need to work on something more personal and creatively fulfilling. Goos had been living in Amsterdam, making music and producing for his solo project Yoong, and booking events.
One day, Goos moved to Tokyo and texted his friend Yiqing about starting a band. Eventually they bought a microphone and wrote what would become their first single “Spring Dream” and didn’t show it to anyone for six months. Upon releasing “Spring Dream” in 2025, they made their live debut and 1LDK was born. “That’s when it became a serious project” says Goos. Named after a 1 bedroom apartment with Living, Dining, and Kitchen areas, “1LDK” is a distinctly Japanese term and a reflection of their daily lives or “maybe a more glamorous version” Yiqing clarifies.
Inspired by their different lived experiences and “outsider” backgrounds living in Tokyo and the stylings of Faye Wong, Jay Chou, Kahimi Karie, and Pizzicato Five, 1LDK’s music speaks to a new lost generation raised on cinema and Y2K pop music who can relate to their “big city” sound and pastiche of the cosmopolitan and 2000s indie era.
