INDEX
High School Days: Becoming Enthralled with the Joy of Performing with Others
-Have you ever thought that it might be a little tough after being immersed in music all through elementary, junior high, and high school?
Umei: No. I’m basically bored out of my mind when it comes to anything other than music, and I can’t keep doing anything, but when it comes to music, I’ve never wanted to quit. Ever since I was in junior high school, I knew that I would probably make a living doing music, so I never had any doubts about my career path, and that feeling hasn’t changed at all.
-I think it is also significant that you have been able to work freely and not be limited to a certain genre.
Umei: I think it is very significant. If I had decided, “I want to be a classical pianist,” I might have suddenly decided somewhere along the line that I was done with that. In fact, I had a friend like that. She won the national championship every year, but one day she suddenly quit, saying, “I’m satisfied. I thought at the time that “satisfied” was a scary thing. I really liked her performance, and I wanted to hear more of it, but I realized that everyone has their own timing for being satisfied.
-Your activities have been expanding steadily. Especially since high school, you’ve been actively involved in extracurricular activities, such as performing at Blue Note during “BLUE GIANT NIGHTS,” participating in Berklee’s summer program, and starting various new endeavors all at once. Could you share something particularly memorable from your high school days?
Umei: We had a grand piano in our classroom. I remember the time we all played together and sang “Sing a song for my lips” in chorus with the class of 40 students, just like in “Tenshi ni Love Song 2” (1993), right in front of us [laughs]. It was an amazing experience.
-So you were able to experience the joy of sharing music after entering high school.
Umei: It was a big turning point for me, as I began to share with others what I had previously completed by myself, and I learned the joy of playing with others. I started going to sessions and started playing in ensembles at school.
-So that’s how you started playing in sessions, and that led to “BLUE GIANT NIGHTS” in 2018.
Umei: When I participated in “BLUE GIANT NIGHTS,” it had been less than a year since I started playing in sessions, so I was very surprised to be suddenly invited to the big stage, and I was like, “I’ll give it a try even though I don’t know what to do! I was so surprised, and I was like, “Let’s try it! I was so surprised, and I was like, “Let’s give it a try, even though I don’t know what I’m doing!” To be honest, I don’t remember much about it.
-I think it is typical of you to have both elements in your music.
Umei: I decided to make a piano trio album, but I wrote the songs with the hope that they could also be performed by a big band or orchestra. I think this is what led to the “genre cannot be limited” part of the album.
-The song titled “hannah,” released under my solo name last year featuring Fuki Kitamura, is named after a roommate from my Berklee days.
Umei: My English was not fluent, so my roommate was very kind and helped me in many ways. We kept in touch often after I finished my study abroad, but one day I suddenly lost touch with her. She wasn’t on any social networking sites, so I didn’t really know what had happened. That was hard for me, and it motivated me to create.
-Do you often use your personal feelings as inspiration for your solo songs?
Umei: I think so. That’s why I had a strong desire to complete everything on my own. “hannah” was the first track I properly produced myself, and I got into a weird zone and finished it all in about two weeks. After that, I started enjoying making tracks. Recently, collaborating with Kayoko Yoshizawa and Daisuke Tanaka on the song “24A/W Collection” was also a lot of fun. It’s a completely different mindset from writing sheet music, and it made me want to do more of it.
