How should musicians work with AI? It’s a question facing artists everywhere, and Japanese musician Yui Neats has found an answer of her own: by using it to push her imagination further.
In September 2025, Neats played her first show outside Japan, Is Your Phonic, in Copenhagen. Her only previous connection to Denmark was that her sister had once studied there, and the show itself presented another challenge. Rather than a conventional concert, Neats performs an immersive live experience using wireless headphones, which meant getting a local team to understand an unusual concept from scratch. One of the tools that helped her make it happen was ChatGPT.
While the use of AI in creative work remains a subject of debate, Neats approached it almost as another version of herself, bouncing ideas back and forth and using it to expand on her own imagination. Those conversations ultimately helped turn the idea of performing in Denmark into reality.
ChatGPT also played a part in connecting her with Danish musician Markus Artved, who joined Is Your Phonic as a guest and later co-wrote the new song “In Your Wind” with Neats. In June 2026, the two performed together in Japan for the first time at 360° Sound Playground “GOKKO” at ADRIFT in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. NiEW sat down with Neats and Artved to hear the unlikely story of how AI helped bring them together — and what unfolded over the year that followed.
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Why Denmark? Taking Her Live Show Overseas for the First Time
In September 2025, you played your first show outside Japan, Is Your Phonic, in Copenhagen. What made you decide to perform in Denmark?
Yui Neats：Last May, I realized I was only three months away from turning 40. It felt like one of those milestones when, for better or worse, you start settling into your own rules and ways of doing things.
I’d been listening to different podcasts and talking to friends around my age, and I kept hearing that once you reach your 40s, you have more things to protect and it becomes harder to take on something new. But I’m the kind of person who wants to challenge those assumptions. So I thought, if anything, turning 40 was exactly when I should try something I’d never done before.
Neats：When I started thinking about what that could be, I realized I’d never sung overseas before. My younger sister had studied in Denmark, and that September we happened to have an opportunity to go there together. So I thought, “Why make it just a trip? Why not turn it into a live show?”
Denmark has always felt surprisingly close to my family. There’s my sister’s connection to the country, and my father is a designer, so I grew up sitting on classic Danish chairs that we had at home.
Singer-songwriter, artist, and lecturer at Showa University of Music. She made her major-label debut in 2003 as part of the singer-songwriter duo RYTHEM, which went on to create theme songs for a number of anime series and television programs. After pursuing solo work under the name Neat’s, she now performs as Yui Neats in Japan and abroad, with a focus on conceptual and immersive forms of expression.
Her signature “wireless headphone live” performances invite audiences to move freely through a space with no clear boundary between stage and audience, creating an installation-like experience where light and sound intersect. At the heart of her work is “Neatsphonic,” an imaginary musical language inspired by both her name, Neats, and NASA’s NEAT asteroid-tracking project. Through these “words beyond words,” she seeks to speak directly to something within the listener.
You’ve also said that you chose Denmark because you felt that Japan and Denmark “share a similar sense of aesthetics when it comes to music, design and society.”
Neats：I think you can see that sensibility in Danish interiors, this idea of using design to make everyday life richer. And once I actually went there, I discovered so much more.
Meeting Markus and getting to know him, for example, I felt like we had a very similar emotional wavelength.
I’ve traveled to a number of countries, and I think every culture has a slightly different emotional temperature. Some cultures are very open, while others, like Japan, tend to put a slight filter on their feelings out of consideration for the other person. Denmark actually felt quite similar to Japan in that sense.
At first, Markus and I only communicated by email, but even through his messages, he was incredibly kind. I could tell that we were both really trying to communicate how we felt. It was almost like finding a pen pal. I remember being really moved by the realization that I could have a friend on the other side of the world who felt so emotionally close.
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How ChatGPT Led to a Collaboration Across Borders
How did you first find Markus?
Neats： I’d decided to put on a show in Denmark, but I only had four months until September, so I had to figure out pretty quickly how I was actually going to make it happen. ChatGPT became the one I turned to for advice.
I’d seen a lot of artists say they avoid ChatGPT because they feel it can get in the way of creativity or place limits on it. For me, it was the opposite. It became a partner that helped my creativity explode. I basically trained the AI as if I were transplanting my own brain into it, until it felt like there was another version of me in there. I’d ask what it thought about an idea I wanted to make a reality, and it would engage with it and help me figure out how to make it happen.
I actually gave my ChatGPT a name: Sora. So Sora and I started gathering information together. I told it I wanted to collaborate with a local artist and asked what kind of musicians were out there. After going back and forth for a while, it suggested a jazz guitarist named Jakob Artved, who happens to be Markus’s younger brother.
So you actually found his brother first.
Neats：Exactly. Jakob had performed in Japan before, so I imagine that may have been why his name came up. I listened to his music on streaming platforms and thought collaborating with a jazz musician could be interesting. Then I came across “I’ve Never Been To Japan,” a track he made with Markus.
The moment I heard it, I knew Markus was the person I wanted to work with. His instrumental music immediately brought images to mind. I could sense stories in it, as well as an emotional sensitivity that felt very close to my own. I had this instinct that we would understand each other, so I emailed him.
Markus, what did you think when you suddenly received an email from a Japanese musician?
Markus Artved：I’d never received a message from someone in Japan before, so at first I thought it might be spam. [Laughs] But then I found Yui’s music on Spotify and decided to reply. When she wrote back again, I finally realized it wasn’t a bot and that she was a real person.
Neats：And I wasn’t even sure whether Markus was a real artist either! But when I went back through his Instagram, I found a post about Ryuichi Sakamoto, so I thought he might have an interest in Japanese culture.
At first, we were both feeling things out, opening one door at a time to see whether this was someone we could actually work with. But the more doors we opened, the more I found myself wondering how often you meet someone you connect with this well. I think that had less to do with Denmark itself and more to do with how naturally Markus and I clicked.
Copenhagen-based musician, producer, composer, songwriter, and mixing and mastering engineer. Born into a family of classical musicians, his father was an oboist with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and Artved grew up surrounded by a wide range of instruments. He earned a degree in sound design from the Danish National School of Performing Arts and has developed a distinctive approach to sound that places emotion above technical perfection, embracing deliberate space and a sense of human imperfection.
His work spans pop and performance art, from producing internationally successful artists including Lukas Graham to creating music for major theatrical productions at the Royal Danish Theatre and Malmö City Theatre. He is also active as a solo artist, releasing the album Season 25 in 2025, with his latest album, In My Own Time, set for release in fall 2026.
Markus, were you already interested in Japan and Japanese music before Yui reached out to you?
Markus：Very much so. Even before Yui reached out, visiting Japan had been one of my dreams, so the timing really felt like fate. Ryuichi Sakamoto has been a huge influence on me, and my wife has been an anime fan for a long time, so she was already interested in Japanese culture as well. When we made “I’ve Never Been To Japan,” my brother was actually in Japan, and my own interest in the country was growing more and more around that time.
Neats：When I was looking into Markus’s work, I found out that he had worked on the music for The Little Mermaid at the Royal Danish Theatre. I was really excited to learn that he had a background in theater music.
At the same time, he’s produced Lukas Graham, one of Denmark’s best-known bands. He moves between music for a historic institution like the Royal Danish Theatre and contemporary pop songs, and I liked that he could look at music from such a broad range of perspectives. That made me think we might share a similar sensibility.
