Interview with Mitsune
World music ensemble Mitsune discuss their second album, a release event they held for it, and more.
In February 2022, Mitsune, a band led by three female shamisen players, released their second album Hazama. The three fronting ladies Shiomi Kawaguchi, Tina Kopp,
and Youka Snell kindly took some time to answer a few questions about their recently released second album, a release event they held for it, and a few other topics.
Hello everyone. Since this is your first interview with JaME, please introduce yourselves to our readers!
Youka: Hi JaME readers! We are Mitsune, a female-led shamisen band from Berlin with members from Japan, Germany, Australia, and Greece. Today, you are talking with the bandleaders from the shamisen trio, Shiomi,
Tina, and Youka.
Mitsune was formed in 2018. How did you all meet and how did Mitsune come to be?
Tina: The three of us - Shiomi, Youka, and Tina - met in Berlin because we were looking for other shamisen enthusiasts. Our first gig was an exhibition opening in Bremen and we
enjoyed playing together so much that we decided to form a permanent trio. We quickly began to write our own music, moving away from the traditional shamisen repertoire. We are all musicians who play other instruments besides shamisen (Youka plays
violin, Shiomi plays flute and clarinet and Tina plays guitar), and we have been exposed to a variety of musical styles in our careers. As Mitsune, we have spent the last few years developing music
that both honors and challenges traditional shamisen styles, taking influences from Middle Eastern music, jazz, metal, bluegrass, classical and cinematic music, to name a few. Over the last few years, the band has expanded to include a rhythm section
of percussion and double bass. This gives us so many more possibilities and complements the shamisen trio wonderfully.
Almost all of you come from different countries. How does the cooperation and the communication between you work?
Youka: Our common language is English, although we also communicate in a mix of languages from time to time, including Japanese and German. But we always find a common space in music, and much of our non-verbal communication takes
place through music and laughter.
Your second album Hazama is now released. Does this album follow a certain concept - and if so, what does it look like? And what is the meaning behind the word "hazama"?
Tina: The word "hazama" translates roughly from Japanese as "in between" and describes the feeling of being in limbo - caught between worlds. This album is an exploration of Mitsune's experiences as a cross-cultural
group living in a kind of ‘cultural limbo’. This constant feeling of being in-between is both challenging and beautiful. The band wanted to capture the essence of this feeling, draw on the beauty it can produce, and have fun with it.
Listening to the song Maru, we got the feeling of being at a summer street festival in Japan. What thoughts did you have when writing the song?
Shiomi: When I wrote this song - during the first lockdown in Berlin - I missed connecting with people so much. I felt lonely, there was less reality and it felt like a bad dream. I was worried about my family and friends, who
at the time had little information about how everyone was doing. My hope was to be able to hold hands again, to sing and dance together again. I wanted to combine together the energy of our trio singing, and a blend of Japanese and Latin American
rhythms with the percussion and double bass. Mitsune's music is the connection of people, cultures, and the world.
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