Maaya Sakamoto has been active for many years as both a singer and a voice actress. We asked her about her approach to creating her latest single.
Interviewer: Although the song “nina” was made as a tie-up song, I felt this song had some of Sakamoto’s worldview underlying it, with feelings like “choosing” according to your own will or “taking responsibility” for one’s actions.
Maaya: This is true for all the tie-up songs I work on, but while I’m analyzing the theme or feelings of the characters in the original work, I try to find parts that I relate to and express those ideas in my own words. In this case, “Nina the Starry Bride” is a story about the main character Nina being at the mercy of her destiny. I resonated with how she always does her best no matter the circumstances and while thinking that I wanted to be more like that, I thought that readers and viewers would also see Nina in that way, so I made it a major theme.
In order to relate to Nina.
That’s right. This time, the purpose of the song was to deliver the main character’s reassuring optimism through positive messages. However, even though I say “positive,” I’m not that much of a positive person myself (laughs). I was constantly thinking about what kind of song would encourage and inspire listeners. Until now I’ve had many songs that are about fiercely encouraging yourself, or rather, summoning every last bit of motivation within you, but now my feelings are more like, “The people of this world are working plenty hard already.” I thought that asking for “more” from these people and adding pressure would probably cause lots of stress, so in that way I think I’ve also included the atmosphere of the present.
Now that you mention it, I do feel that.
So if I were to express the positivity of the song “nina,” it’s that even if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world, and if you have a change of heart, it’s okay to make changes. I want to suggest that kind of flexible way of thinking and living.
This is your first time working with Yusuke Shirato. Did you get any inspiration from his music?
Shirato’s music is bright and energetic, with melodies that naturally perk you up. That’s why I felt confident that as long as I put some words on top of his melody, the song would turn out well. Although it was our first time working together, while creating the song, Shirato dug deep into my discography. He was able to draw out an exquisite line straight through my career and added to it in a way that wouldn’t feel out of place with the rest of it, while still making sure the new song sounded fresh. That’s why it didn’t feel like it was our first time working together, but more like a new door was being opened, which was a bit of a strange feeling.
The limited edition of “nina” includes bonus footage of the concert where you performed alongside Shigeru Kishida of Quruli. On your previous album “Kioku no Toshokan,” you collaborated with musicians like Keiichi Tomita and Shintaro Sakamoto who cross multiple genres. Do you decide these collaborations yourself?
Of course I think they are all wonderful musicians, but don’t you think it’d be quite difficult for me to approach them first? Because if I was rejected, it would definitely hurt (laughs). So there are times when the director asks on my behalf or the staff will suggest collaborations, saying “Let’s try this out.”
In particular, there’s an impression that you’ve been proactively collaborating with others ever since Yoko Kanno stopped producing your music.
That’s true. Ever since my debut, I worked with Kanno for 9 years. At that point, I was still in my 20s and until then, I had been relying a lot on my production team and I don’t think I knew myself very well at all. During my activities after that point, I met a lot of different people who helped me realize various things, and these meetings became my driving force. Although I feel nervous meeting new people and also feel anxious when I mess up, these encounters help me define my own originality which in turn becomes my strength.
So you’ve been able to face new people and turn that into your strength.
It was a period where my self-confidence and self-awareness started growing when I realized that “The song can become the way I want because I’m the one singing it,” rather than “The song turned out the way I wanted because I was working with this person.” Of course, I greatly admire the artists that produce for me, but in addition to that, I feel the most joy when thinking about how to express myself through the music.
Would you say it’s a big part of your artistic direction to get inspiration from the outside, such as with tie-up songs?
There are things that change as I get older, and while sometimes things change due to working with someone, sometimes I notice that nothing changes at all, so it’s pretty interesting.