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A Desire to Know More: The Driving Force Behind xiangyu’s Curiosity
Your music seems to reflect a pure curiosity, like asking “Why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west?” Where does that curiosity come from?
xiangyu： Honestly, I don’t know. But I feel like it’s impossible to know everything about the world before you die, right? So I just want to learn as much as I can before it’s all over. For example, did you know there are so many types of mushrooms that aren’t even in field guides? I met this guy who’s basically a “Mushroom Master” and takes photos for mushroom books, and he told me there are still mushrooms out there that even he doesn’t know. That blew my mind.
xiangyu： It’s the same with people. No matter how close you are to someone, today’s them might not be the same as tomorrow’s. That’s why I always have this desire to understand and learn, and I think that’s probably the biggest driving force within me.
I don’t really have this urge to vent frustrations about society or anything. Instead, I’m more driven by the curiosity of “What’s this all about?” I’d rather take a moment to think it through myself, really understand why I find something interesting, before putting it out as a piece of work. I feel like that approach is the foundation of my music-making.
You didn’t originally aim to be a musician, right? You shifted from the fashion field to music after being scouted. Do you think your past experiences have influenced your music?
xiangyu： Yeah, I’ve always had this feeling that I didn’t want to be in the spotlight—I just wanted my work to stand on its own in the world. That’s why I was making clothes since I was a teenager, but I reached a point where I realized I could only do so much alone. I also worked as an assistant costume designer, and it really bothered me that things I made were credited under someone else’s name. It was hard—“I made this, but it’s not mine in the world.” With that kind of dilemma, I started thinking, “I need to change this somehow.” Then, I remembered that someone who would later become my current chief manager (Yasutomo Fukunaga) had scouted me years ago. He told me, “What you want to do—music—can reach people faster than clothes ever will.” Those words stuck with me, and I thought, “Maybe I should just go for music.” That’s how it all started.
Mitsuoka-san’s comment at the start, “It’s incredible that you’re using music, which reaches the world more easily than visual art, to express yourself,” seems like it could be the perfect reflection of your musical path. Do you think so?
xiangyu： Yeah, that’s true. The way I express myself has evolved since I was scouted, but the core of what I’ve wanted to do has stayed the same for the past 12 or 13 years. It’s a realization I’ve come to again now.
