Wataru Sawabe got his start in Tokyo's Itabashi district and studied composition at Showa College of Music beginning in 2006. That same year, he launched "Skirt" as a solo project—basically him layering overdubs to build up full arrangements on his own. By 2010, he'd established his own label, Kaczka Sounds, and really committed to the work with his debut album S-O-S, which marked a turning point in his output.