Zy 38: miyavi

miyavi released his new single, hi no hikari sae todoka nai kono basho de, on January 16th 2008. With a more main stream style, this release is quite different from his previous singles. What did he put into this song? With a new album being released this spring, and concerts planned around the same time, we can expect to see a lot of him.


You've released hi no hikari sae todoka nai kono basho de on January 16th. I feel it has a different mood from your previous work.

miyavi: ...so what do you want to ask me? (laugh)

(laugh) Well, it seems a little bit heavier than it was before.

miyavi: Ah, quite seriously, I haven't put my heart into performing like this in a long time. I was very aware of my sound. It's like "That's visual kei." However, I could put something new into it, I think. And with the lyrics and the sound, it's kind of an homage to X JAPAN, LUNA SEA and Gaku-nii (Gackt). You can hear it if you'll listen to it carefully. The composition, and the way things start, reflects them quite a lot, I think.

Now I understand! Honestly speaking, I thought that the approach was like Gackt. (laugh) I was right!

miyavi: Haha. Of course, there are various parts where I refer to him. I just take the good parts. (laugh) But I don't sing everything like him. I am very much aware of my own style and my own way, and this song is like an homage for me. That's why I asked SUGIZO to play guitar.

The real thing, so to speak? (laugh)

miyavi: Therefore, I wanted to express other parts with newer sounds, but I couldn't achieve it completely by myself. It ended up being rock so I think that I still have a challenge for next time. It's like the melody lines are visual kei, but the bottom sounds are like urban music. But the melodies are very easy to listen to. Well, I suppose that I need more experience anyway.

Oh, no. It's very new I think. To mix visual kei and urban music, so to speak, is, in itself, quite alien to the industry.

miyavi: However, it's still very much like a mix between a TV star and visual kei. (laugh)

You use the words "TV star" and I think it suits you, but you often joke in your lyrics and sound. You say or do something that is really cool and then get a little embarrassed about it.

miyavi: Well, it is not really embarrassment. I like to strike a pose on stage, but these days it is not so cool, especially as I work with people who are from a different genre. So when I see visual kei or idol kei from their view point, it does not feel so cool. However, I found that with "NEO VISUALIZM", if the musician has good skills and a well conceived idea, the result can be quite good. I found that this balance is important. That's why I made the coupling song, My name iz oresama.com.

It's like a rap song. But I rarely see this kind of rap. (laugh)

miyavi: I was going to make a different song to be the coupling song at first, but I changed it.

You hardly ever see a rap song with that kind of guitar playing.

miyavi: Well, I'm not black. (laugh) I'm yellow [sic.]. I made this song to play impromptu in the streets or on radio stations.

It seems fun to play impromptu in full swing, but wasn't it difficult to play when you recorded it?

miyavi: It was very hard. You know, the power you get from on-the-spot performances is quite different from the power you get when you record in a studio.

Yeah it's a big difference between ad lib and playing the composition the way it is written in a studio. I was surprised you could sing so fast. I don't see many who can speak as fast as you can. (laugh)

miyavi: I'll tell you, TYKO (Human Beat Box and member of KAVKI BOIZ) was surprised too. He said it was too fine. (laugh) It's different from the common way of rhyming. In this way, it's not main stream.

It's not main stream, but it's original, right?

miyavi: Yes, I feel so. As I told you before, I feel I could digest things properly this time. I think it's different from just taking something in and using an idea or sound, which is commonly seen. (laugh) Well, in a way I can play freely because I work with TYKO. I can be in visual kei, and that is important. I could also write Hi no hikari sae- because KAVKI BOIZ stayed with me. They stayed with me, so it wasn't strange that I was kind of like a matinée idol. That's why I could write a song just like this.


For the rest of the interview, please refer to Zy 38.

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