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Interview Preview >> Monday Michiru: Episodes in Color
Preview into conversations with Monday Michiru on her new album coming
out next month. Some excerpts:
*The new album follows in the footsteps of "4 Seasons" on the organic
and
jazzy tip. Simpler sound production, consistency and flow of sound as I
use
the same musicians, production/arrangement team (myself and my husband,
Alex), engineer and studios. It is more mellow than in my earlier
releases,
and I believe it has matured somewhat in content and writing (dare I say
such a thing. Up until recently, I flirted with different styles and
sounds because it was fun, I was curious, I was still searching, and I
was
open. I am still curious, still searching and open, but I've slowly
honed
in on what I truly like, what I want to stand for, and am less inclined
to
work with underground club-oriented soundmakers as I had in the past
just
because I've moved away from club music and don't DJ anymore, and it's
not
as important to me as it was then. I suppose in the past I was
conscious of
coming out "new" each time, from a different perspective than from the
last
work. Part of me didn't like to be pegged or pigeon-holed into a
certain
style and I liked to be a chameleon with the styles of music. To me,
the
true music lied in the songwriting, singing and lyrics, and the styles
that
I chose to play around with is just the exterior. It's like the
songwriting
and the singing were the naked me, and the arrangements and styles were
just
the outer clothing and makeup. Take off the clothing and makeup and the
naked self always remains.
*My parents (all three of them) are jazz musicians and I grew up
listening to, loving, and respecting jazz. I don't consider myself a
jazz
musician but without doubt I have it in the roots and it comes through
in
the music, more and more nowadays. The move away from dance music
doesn't
have much to do with Shin not being a part of the music any more than it
does Alex being a part of it. It has to do with where I felt myself
moving
naturally. When I first started living in Japan, I embraced the club
scene
and the music, especially that from London, because it was completely
foreign to me and I found solace in the rhythms, saw potential of
something
new being born out of hybrids of different musical, generational and
cultural styles, and was excited by the alternative movement away from
commercialism that it represented to me. But more and more, as I got
deeper
into my musical exploration, that original feeling of solace became
instead
a sort of prison.
*I chose not to work with Shin for many reasons. To be honest, they're
too deep and some of it too personal to really share with people. He
knows
and I know the truth, and that's all that matters. In the end, I
respect
his music, love what he's helped to do and continues to do in the
Japanese
music industry, support his endeavors, and adore him as a person.
*Then 9/11 happened. By the time I started writing for my album, Nikita
was
older and already starting to learn to "dance" so my need to make
lullabies
was gone. And in all reality, 9/11 just put things into focus -- man,
we
don't know when we're going to disappear from the face of this earth.
Let's
get real.
* I had a problem with Polydor towards the end because they were
definitely looking for another "You Make Me" which was a big success for
them in sales but I wasn't interest in duplicating the same ol' tired
shit.
Let someone else do that. I also had a huge fight with my A&R guy in
the
Spring portion of "4 Seasons" and had him fired from my project, which
didn't sit too well with the Polydor gang -- he lied to me big time and
pretended it was a mistake. And because I wasn't willing to play the
game,
they decided to play games with me, which in the long run was stupid on
their part because they sabotaged sales on an album they put up money on
(hello). Whatever.
-- ECLECTIC Japan [Sound*Lounge] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLoungeKindaMuzik - http://www.KindaMuzik.com Metropolis - http://www.Metropolis.co.jp/
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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <b>Interview Preview >> Monday Michiru: Episodes in Color</b> <p>Preview into conversations with Monday Michiru on her new album coming out next month. Some excerpts: <p>*The new album follows in the footsteps of "4 Seasons" on the organic and <br>jazzy tip. Simpler sound production, consistency and flow of sound as I use <br>the same musicians, production/arrangement team (myself and my husband, <br>Alex), engineer and studios. It is more mellow than in my earlier releases, <br>and I believe it has matured somewhat in content and writing (dare I say <br>such a thing. Up until recently, I flirted with different styles and <br>sounds because it was fun, I was curious, I was still searching, and I was <br>open. I am still curious, still searching and open, but I've slowly honed <br>in on what I truly like, what I want to stand for, and am less inclined to <br>work with underground club-oriented soundmakers as I had in the past just <br>because I've moved away from club music and don't DJ anymore, and it's not <br>as important to me as it was then. I suppose in the past I was conscious of <br>coming out "new" each time, from a different perspective than from the last <br>work. Part of me didn't like to be pegged or pigeon-holed into a certain <br>style and I liked to be a chameleon with the styles of music. To me, the <br>true music lied in the songwriting, singing and lyrics, and the styles that <br>I chose to play around with is just the exterior. It's like the songwriting <br>and the singing were the naked me, and the arrangements and styles were just <br>the outer clothing and makeup. Take off the clothing and makeup and the <br>naked self always remains. <p>*My parents (all three of them) are jazz musicians and I grew up <br>listening to, loving, and respecting jazz. I don't consider myself a jazz <br>musician but without doubt I have it in the roots and it comes through in <br>the music, more and more nowadays. The move away from dance music doesn't <br>have much to do with Shin not being a part of the music any more than it <br>does Alex being a part of it. It has to do with where I felt myself moving <br>naturally. When I first started living in Japan, I embraced the club scene <br>and the music, especially that from London, because it was completely <br>foreign to me and I found solace in the rhythms, saw potential of something <br>new being born out of hybrids of different musical, generational and <br>cultural styles, and was excited by the alternative movement away from <br>commercialism that it represented to me. But more and more, as I got deeper <br>into my musical exploration, that original feeling of solace became instead <br>a sort of prison. <p>*I chose not to work with Shin for many reasons. To be honest, they're <br>too deep and some of it too personal to really share with people. He knows <br>and I know the truth, and that's all that matters. In the end, I respect <br>his music, love what he's helped to do and continues to do in the Japanese <br>music industry, support his endeavors, and adore him as a person. <p>*Then 9/11 happened. By the time I started writing for my album, Nikita was <br>older and already starting to learn to "dance" so my need to make lullabies <br>was gone. And in all reality, 9/11 just put things into focus -- man, we <br>don't know when we're going to disappear from the face of this earth. Let's <br>get real. <p>* I had a problem with Polydor towards the end because they were <br>definitely looking for another "You Make Me" which was a big success for <br>them in sales but I wasn't interest in duplicating the same ol' tired shit. <br>Let someone else do that. I also had a huge fight with my A&R guy in the <br>Spring portion of "4 Seasons" and had him fired from my project, which <br>didn't sit too well with the Polydor gang -- he lied to me big time and <br>pretended it was a mistake. And because I wasn't willing to play the game, <br>they decided to play games with me, which in the long run was stupid on <br>their part because they sabotaged sales on an album they put up money on <br>(hello). Whatever. <br> <p>-- <br>ECLECTIC Japan <br>[Sound*Lounge] <A HREF="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoundLounge> <p>KindaMuzik - <A HREF="http://www.KindaMuzik.com">http://www.KindaMuzik.com> <br>Metropolis - <A HREF="http://www.Metropolis.co.jp/">http://www.Metropolis.co.jp/></html>
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