![]() I really need to drop that because nothing is original - no good melody has not been done somewhere. I’m trying to kick this preconception that I have that if I listen to too much music, then I will inadvertently plagiarize it. Yeah, the melody sometimes just floats into my head. Those are all verbal - do you have musical inspirations or do they come with the words? Do you get a melody in your head and sing it wordlessly? I try and have at least 10 ideas before I go into a session because I’m not very good with spontaneously coming up with things. I get inspiration from books, podcasts, overhearing a conversation, or a combination of two words that are like really cool together and unexpected. I try and drop everything to focus on it, but often I can’t, and that’s where my notes app on my iPhone and my voicenotes app are where I store my notes. Where, when and why does your songwriting inspiration come from? Does it just happen and you drop everything and seize it, or is it more deliberate than that? ![]() My chill time used to be spent a lot on YouTube, but now I don’t do that as much because there are people reacting to my music or reviewing it, and I just have to be like, No, I’m just using this time to slowly switch off. (Laughing) Yeah, it’s literally that! I can’t stick to a routine, so it’s a mix: It could be journaling, meditating, yoga, sketching, reading. What do you do during that “Everybody fuck off” time? So having something that is purely for yourself - not for your job, not for anyone else’s enjoyment - is so key, because I didn’t have that for the first U.K. Because I think, yeah, like you said, a lot of people can see what I do as, “Wow, you’re fulfilling your dreams, and it’s all about you.” But you’re giving a lot - if you’re playing to 3,000 people, you’re giving to 3,000 people, and you’re trying to give everything. ![]() But I think it’s really important to keep something for yourself, so recently I’ve tried to implement at least half an hour or an hour every morning that is purely for me and for no one else. Yeah, a lot of artists are actually quite shy in our private lives - I consider myself quite shy and I don’t really like social interactions that much, but for my job, I feel like I can really turn it on. People tend to think it’s easy being a performer, but isn’t it exhausting not only to sing and dance, but to have to be on so much of the time? Exercise doesn’t come naturally to me at all - I’ve always hated it - so it’s been a real reckoning in terms of being fit all the time. I love being onstage and don’t feel too tired from that, it’s more the traveling and constantly battling jet lag, and always having to be camera-ready and stage-ready. I think it must be really crazy to have been in this industry from a young age because so many things that are very not-normal are very normal in the music industry! And I guess the negative aspect is that I did not realize how physically taxing this job would be. Positive aspects: I feel like I have perspective. What do you think was positive and negative about that relatively late start? I think I first wrote my first song when I was maybe 17, but it wasn’t until I was around 26 that I was able to actually do this as a full-time thing. None of my family are musicians, but they’re all very good singers: We’d sing in the car and at karaoke, which for Japanese people is like going to church! So I’ve been singing since I was young, but I wasn’t taking it really seriously, and my family didn’t know how to turn this into a career. Is there any history of musical talent in your family? She talked with Variety about her music, career and more over the course of a lively Zoom call. Yet Sawayama, 32, does not like to stay in one place for long, and her new album, “Hold the Girl,” has a different vibe: It’s more musically upbeat and pop-oriented, less intense and angsty while still being emotionally diverse and resonant - and the video for “This Hell” shows a sexy, partying side of her that she hadn’t shown previously (one viewing will make the world wonder why).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |