October 2011 Yorimo.co.jp Interview Translation

A rush of new songs from Maaya Sakamoto, she opens her heart to us:
"I want to surprise people more. I keep thinking how greedy I am.” 

5th October 2011
Originally published on Yorimo.co.jp

Singer and voice actress Maaya Sakamoto’s (31) steady advance cannot be stopped. This month she will release two new singles, followed by her third concept album on November 9th. Since marking her fifteenth anniversary last year she has increased her activities, and has just finished this year’s tour of the country which ran from spring to summer. Despite announcing her marriage to voice actor Suzumura Kenichi in August, she has no desire to slow down. I asked her just what was going on.

“Life revolving around work hasn’t really changed at all.”

In August of this year Maaya announced her marriage herself through a message on her official website. The marriage between two popular voice actors caught many fans by surprise and immediately after the announcement Twitter and other forums were overflowing with both words of congratulations and surprise.

　── Congratulations! Has anything changed since you announced your marriage?

"Thank you! Before we announced it I was nervous as I didn’t know how everyone would react. But I was glad that I got to tell everyone in my own words [through her official website] and I was really happy as the amount of congratulations and blessings we received exceeded my expectations. I’ve been working everyday and both right before and right after the announcement I was still in the middle of recording so in terms of my daily work life nothing has really changed at all. I didn’t even move until recently and until then I just continued living alone as normal *laugh*. We’re both active as individuals so having a life that revolves around work is something that hasn’t changed at all really."

── Will there be anything different, such as the content of your lyrics, now you’re married?

"The source of energy I use as the basis for my lyrics is the feelings and experiences that make up my everyday life, but I haven’t really written them until now with the intention of making them autobiographical so…I think that by announcing my marriage there are going to be people who will read my life into the lyrics as an autobiography; but whether something you create reflects your own experiences or not, well that’s a different topic altogether. If marriage influences my values then I think that the effects of that will come through naturally but right now I can’t think that there will be much difference. I think that maybe more than me being different it might be the opinion of the person interpreting the lyrics that changes *laugh*. I would like them to be flexible in their interpretations of what I make as it’s not always going to be about me! *laugh* "


Consecutive releases of new songs including a song written by Matsutoya Yumi

Last year she held a successful solo concert at the Budokan and her most recent original album, ‘You can’t catch me’ went to number one on the Oricon chart. She then got married but it seems as if her creative urges have only increased. Both of the new songs unveiled for her two consecutive singles in October are surprising in that they feature very unique collaborations which Maaya herself put forward. For the first release ‘Buddy’ (19th October, theme song to the animation ‘Last Exile: Fam of the Silver Wings’) Maaya collaborated across Record Label boundaries with popular electric rock band School Food Punishment, a band who Maaya says, “I thought were really interesting.” It is a rare Maaya song, reverberating with a fresh, intense electronic beat.

"It’s difficult because it has a tricky melody but singing it feels amazing. Working together closely with the band during the recording I felt really good and I was able to have fun singing."

And for the second release, ‘Okaerinasai’ is a new song which has been composed by none other than Matsutoya Yumi (on sale 26th October). The compatibility between Yumin’s music and Maaya’s high tone voice has already been proven with Maaya’s previous cover of ‘Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara’. Her voice when singing ‘welcome home’ is like a gentle embrace, and I am sure that in these current times that is something which will sink into the hearts of listeners in Japan. It is featured as the opening theme song of the television anime ‘Tamayura –hitotose-‘, set in Hiroshima’s Takehara. (On air from October on AT-X, TOKYO MX)

"So much has happened this year and I think everyone has been thinking hard in their own way about it all. I also have lots of things that I want to tell people through what I create, but rather than putting out something written clearly in strong language I want to sing it in a song like this. I hope that listeners will find something if they listen through the song to the end."

"Matsutoya-san is an artist who I’ve respected and admired ever since I was a child, so I honestly never thought that the day would come when I would get to work with her. But when I plucked up my courage and asked her, she readily agreed to taking on the job and listened to my last album, praising the lyrics. I was so happy. In a meeting we had Yumi-san said, “I would like to live in a way that feels like a ‘welcome home’.” I wrote the lyrics thinking that it is nice that there are so many different kinds of ‘welcome home’, not just the kind when you arrive back at your house."

Popular Northern European DJ Participates in a ‘Winter’ Concept Album

As well as her seven original albums, Maaya has also released concept albums at several intervals in her career. It’s a project that she enjoys: “I work on the album as if I were shooting a short film, overseeing everything.” The third in this series of concept albums is ‘Driving in the silence’, to be released on November 9th. With winter as its theme, this is her first album to take a specific season as its subject matter.

"Winter is my favourite season but I could never get used to the idea of just putting one Christmas song into an album, so I've never sung one until now. But this time I was thinking it would be nice if I could make an album that people could listen to just in winter. My personality is more suited to spending Christmas quietly at home, being thankful for what I have rather than getting excited and being busy. I try to imagine who Santa Claus might long for, what his first love might have been like when he was young."

One thing that stands out in this album is the participation of the globally popular Swedish Producer/Composer/Club DJ Rasmus Faber. Upon his arrival in Japan, Maaya approached him and requested him to write a song for her.

Rasmus is well known by animation fans in Japan and is known for his jazz arrangement album of anime songs. Maaya also encountered him thanks to his jazz arrangement cover of her song ‘Yakusoku ha iranai’.

After agreeing to compose, Rasmus passed on three tracks which had been written together with his friend Frida, saying “You can use any of these you like.” But “I liked all of them” and so Maaya ended up recording all three tracks. Those three new songs, including ‘Sayonara Santa’, are somehow filled with the scent of Northern Europe, with mysterious, lyrical melodies, the beauty of which when combined with Maaya’s bitter-sweet lyrics are sure to knock out any Western music fan.

"I think it was a good collaboration, the melody develops in an interesting way which is somehow different to something a Japanese composer might have come up with."

Why she held concerts after the March 11th Earthquake

In December Maaya will hold an almost daily series of concerts over five days at Tokyo’s Tennozu Isle to present her concept albums. While she has admitted in the past that “I can’t do concerts!”, she is an unbelievable performer.

── Have you ever had a year with so many concerts?

"No, never. I guess I started to like concerts…It’s fun and being up on stage has become really natural to me. I’ve become able to stand on stage while staying true to myself. I feel like I have been able to reduce the space between myself and the audience as much as possible."

The Great Tohoku Earthquake occurred right in the middle of her last tour. March 11th was the day of her concert in Fukuoka. Following unaffected performances in Aichi and Osaka, Maaya wrestled with whether to put the Tokyo Nakano Sun Plaza performances scheduled for the 30th and 31st on hold in the atmosphere of self-restraint [in Japan following the earthquake] but then decided to take action.

This writer was fortunate enough to take part in the concert on the 31st. The large-scale set was cut, and between songs on a simple stage lit with minimum lighting and powered by a mobile electricity generator, Maaya explained why she decided to go ahead with the concert: “On my radio show I received an email from a young listener in Sendai asking me not to talk about sad things, but about happy things instead.” Even if it was only a little, she wanted to help cheer those whose hearts were in pain. Isn’t that what music is for?

Maaya also wrote on her official site: “Like a cook making food, or a florist selling flowers, going on as normal. I think that that will lead us to long term support. Those who can live their lives as normal should continue to do so. My daily life and my work is singing, acting, creating and bringing that to you.” Maaya Sakamoto was probably the first Japanese artist to hold a large concert in Tokyo in the days following March 11.

── You certainly made a big decision.

"Everday the situation was changing from one minute to the next; there were problems with power the power supply and it was a difficult decision as we didn’t know when a big aftershock would come. But the staff really understood that and we shared the responsibility together. We also had the understanding of the people who came to see the concert and had a full house. I really thought there would be more cancellations but in each venue we were met with warm applause. This was a tour that was created from everyone putting their ideas together. We announced that we would put the tour on in this way and that we would return the money of people who could no longer come, and then left it in the hands of those who could still make it to decide for themselves. It must have seemed harsh to request each person to take responsibility for themselves like that. But because each of them asked themselves what they really wanted and found either “I want to listen” or “I can’t right now” and decided upon that I think that it was right move at that time."


　── By coincidence the last stop on the tour was Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture on June 15th.

"I received flowers saying, “Thank you for coming – from all the fans in Senday.” There were lots of messages that were actually encouraging us. I really think that I was really cheered up by that."


“I married him because he doesn’t say that.”

　── It seems like since getting married you’re accelerating your activities more and more.

"I want to challenge myself, even in concerts there is so much I want to try out or haven’t had the chance to do yet. Last year I tried to put my energy into trying out lots of different things because it was my fifteenth anniversary, but since then I don’t really feel like I want to slow down at all. I want to surprise people even more in my sixteenth year, I want to entertain them. I wanted to be busier in my sixteenth year [than my fifteenth]. And that really happened *laugh* I’ve been able to have fun with different ways of presenting myself that people didn’t expect. Though I have a schedule of plays and concerts for this year and for new year I’ve already started thinking about next year. I keep thinking how greedy I am *laugh* I feel like I don’t want to be someone who says “I’ve really calmed down after getting married in my thirties” *laugh* It never runs out, this feeling of wanting to try things I haven’t done before as Maaya Sakamoto, there's still so much…"

　── Does your husband never say, “It would be nice if we could spend a bit more time together?”

"I married him because he doesn’t say that. *laugh*"

（Original Article Research and Text by Yorimo Editorial Desk – Yamato Taro）