A circle of friends connected by goo touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On January 24, artist Aisho Nakajima was introduced by Ryoko Kuwahara, editor-in-chief of the culture web magazine “NeoL”. We asked him about how he started his music career, the source of his inspiration, and his reasons for expressing himself and communicating as a queer artist.
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The path to becoming an artist opened up through speaking out
Takano (MC): You two are friends, right?
Celeina (MC): The last time we met was about 4 or 5 years ago, right?
Aisho: Yes! But you haven’t changed a bit. You are still beautiful!
Celeina: Not at all! Let me introduce to your profile: You moved to Australia at the age of 19, nurtured your sensibility in an open and diverse culture, and started your music career in Tokyo in 2020 after returning to Japan. In addition to your overwhelming singing ability, you have exceptional talent in makeup and fashion, and have been featured in “Vogue Japan,” “NYLON JAPAN,” and various other media, and have released a song in collaboration with Thelma Aoyama. As a singer, songwriter, performer, and model, you are a queer icon who expresses your worldview.
Takano: You are very active.
Aisho: Not at all, I am just getting started.
Celeina: Now I would like to ask you about Aisho’s activities. You started your music career in 2020, right?
Aisho: I think it was right around the time I met Celeina.
Celeina: When did you realize you wanted to do music?
Aisho: Honestly, since I was little, but I couldn’t say. I didn’t have confidence, and I really didn’t want to say it out loud, but I sang at home, and I’ve always loved music for a long, long time.
Takano: What triggered you to step out?
Aisho: The trigger was around the summer of 2019, when a friend saw me posting song covers on social media. That friend was an event organizer and asked me, “Would you like to perform at an event?” I hadn’t released any original songs yet, but I said, “If song covers are okay, I’d love to.” So, I got the chance to perform. It was the first time I sang properly in front of an audience, and it was such a new experience. That’s when I thought, ‘I want to make my own songs too”.
From there, I kept telling everyone that I was looking for a producer. A few months later, I got a message saying, “I have someone I’d like to introduce to you.” and from there we decided to “write songs together!”.
Celeina: It’s important to say it out loud.
Takano: It’s been just in the last 3 or 4 years, right? That’s amazing. The music videos are really cool, and you produce everything, including the visuals, right, Aisho?
Aisho: Yes, that’s right.