Interview with Kokusyoku Sumire in France

We had the opportunity to meet Kokusyoku Sumire, a musical group full of surprises, just after their first live in France. It was a meeting with two charming young women in a very warm, cordial atmosphere.


Hello, first of all, could you introduce yourselves to our readers?

Yuka & Sachi: (They say in French) Hello, we are Kokusyoku Sumire (smile).

How did you two meet? Did you immediately want to make music together?

Yuka: We first met five years ago in a café. We understood each other right away and our compatibility made us immediately want to make music together. We did that casually for a year, then we found the name of our group and for four years we've been making music professionally.

We noticed lots of Western influences in your compositions, particularly a Gypsy sound, in addition, of course, to those of your own traditional Japanese music. What are your influences?

Yuka: We have always listened to foreign music, a lot of which was classical, especially for Sachi, and we did that continually. Our influences come from the four corners of the world; we don't have any preferred artists or specific style. It's really a maelstrom of global music that interests us, rather than a single musical genre.

How can we describe your process of song composition? Do you have an idea in mind from the start, or do you create your music according to your feeling and mood?

Yuka: Basically I'm the one who writes the songs. First, we decide on a theme we want to develop, then we write the story based on that idea. Next we let our text ripen and cut out anything we consider superfluous. Then to finish it up, we create music and attach it to the story.

For your listeners who don't understand Japanese, what do your songs speak about? What themes do they address?

Yuka: Our universe is inspired by the stories of the brothers Grimm and Andersen, which we are very fond of. Having said that, in addition to these fairy tale texts, we have a particular attraction throughout which relates to fantasy, our principal influence.

We haven't been able to hear the remix album, but concerning your first three releases, each has its own universe: something somber for the first, less dark but more like dance music for the second and the third was a musical melting pot of great variety. Do you have ideas concerning your musical direction before you come up with the music?

Yuka: Yes. For the first album, our producer gave us the musical direction. We didn't have much choice, especially because it was an album of reprises. After that, we had complete freedom to compose. For our second album, our influences were primarily European, whereas on the third album we recaptured the stories of old traditional Japanese songs.

We note that despite a very somber side, in your songs you address ideas and areas close to childhood, like in Circus no Uma (Circus Horse) or Higeki no Marionette(Tragic Marionettes). What do these areas represent for you? Do you have a pessimistic vision of childhood that compels you to develop this imagery?

Yuka: We like to mix elements that seem paradoxical, especially the world of childhood that people often consider joyful, with things that are very sad and very somber at the same time. Worrying and rejoicing simultaneously, synthesizing an antagonistic and incompatible universe. But on the other hand, the universe of childhood is often cruel and that is very interesting for us.

The flavors of some of your songs recapture the stories of Perrault or of Anderson, like Le Petit Chaperon Rouge or Hansel and Gretel. What does this fairytale world and the writings they are linked with represent for you?

Yuka: Well, like we said in the question before, we reflect primarily a mix of genres. Then you asked about our major influences concerning our texts and you know that the stories of these authors are close to the themes we want to develop here. That goes along with our universe and we've been wanting to develop this idea and these writings in relation to a feeling that people will really appreciate.

Why are you interested in this Western folklore? And despite that, are some of your songs interested in Japanese stories and legends?

Yuka: We have grown up in that universe, due to the slant of our parents, who read us these stories, or by the images that we saw in books in kindergarten or elementary school. Japanese stories were much rarer. Later on, many of the songs were inspired by Japanese stories, notably in the last album, but all this European mythology is not strange for us and it seems almost natural.

The songs from your last album have been less somber than your first two CDs. Was this evolution intentional? Were you looking for a more varied feeling and less darkness?

Yuka: We effectively addressed multiple themes that were completely new on the last album, notably love. Love at first sight and the act of falling in love, kindness and generally more pleasant things. So it's natural that our music was much less somber and more varied on this disc.

Koi Wa no no Tori is an unusual song, starting with a tap dancing ballet that lasts for close to a minute. How did you get the idea of inserting this interlude before Carmen?

Yuka: We really wanted to give the impression, almost a visual sensation; you close your eyes and imagine this tap dance solo, which seemed totally suitable for the composition of this theme and the reprise of Carmen.

Who created this tap dancing piece?

Yuka: It was Sachi's cousin, who is a flamenco dancer.

When will you think about the follow-up to Kido no Kofu to Futago no Hoshi? Do you have an idea of the direction your music will take? Is there an idea or theme you would like to develop?

Yuka: We are already in the process of reflecting on that. It's possible the next album could address themes and ideas concerning China. At the moment, we've devoted ourselves completely to composing songs, but from now on we will integrate a violinist and maybe eventually see a bassist. All we know is we are only at the beginning of the thought process and there's still an enormous amount of work to do to start off the writing for our future album.

On a different note, if you had to define yourselves with one of your songs, which would you chose?

Yuka & Sachi: (laugh) It's the first time someone has asked us this question.
Yuka: (after some reflection) It's a difficult question, because really, I think we're a little of all of our songs at once.

The cover of your first album, Zenmai Shojohakoningyo, is similar to the works of Takato Yamamoto. Is he the creator of this cover?

Yuka: Yes, he is the designer of this cover.

Oh, that's really interesting! What do you think of his quasi-eroguro, ukyo-e style? How did you come to work with this renowned artist?

Yuka: We already liked his works before we started working with him, and Takato-san really appreciated our paradoxical outlook, this way of mixing universes, the happy, the somber, which he finds close to his works. So we approached each other mutually and he wanted to create the cover of our first CD.

Are the album covers important for you? What do these for the last two albums represent, where you look like porcelain dolls?

Yuka: In our eyes, our covers are extremely important. The covers for the last two albums were created by a very well-known illustrator, Shichinohe Masaru, who is one of our friends, and we are delighted to appear as dolls. That has importance for us.

Speaking of Kido no Kofu to Futago no Hoshi, why release an album of remixes? Are the songs different from their original versions? Can we expect surprises with respect to this album?

Yuka: In our entourage, we have members from the group Phnonpenh MODEL, whose musical creator, Kotobuki-san (Kotobuki Hikaru, a musician who has worked with, among others, Hirasawa Susumu in the group P-Model), proposed that we listen to all his music, then create remixes for ours. I think it was an experience we couldn't refuse and we appreciate the result.

Are you stressed out by this French tour?

Yuka: Excluding the jetlag, we are not too stressed by this tour. (laughs)

Why come to France for your first live outside of Japan? Have you been receiving feedback encouraging you to come to our country?

Yuka: We have a very close friend here who advised us to come, and we came for him (she points to the translator).

Are there other things in our country you'd like to come for? Food or wine, for example?

Yuka: Since we arrived, we have only seen Provence but we really love it, although we would really love to see the legendary blue sky of the provinces people have told us about. We had nothing but rain for three days.

Which monuments would you like to see in France during your tour?

Yuka: We'd really like to see Mont Saint Michel, the cable-car and other things like that, although of course we hold the Eiffel Tour as the principal image of France and we would like to visit it first.

Are there other countries that you want to visit?

Yuka: Yes, we would really like to visit other countries, especially the ones where we know there are fans waiting for us, like Norway or Sweden. We know about our friends in the north, so we'd also like to go there next time.

Where do you see yourselves in ten years? How do you think you'll evolve?

Yuka: (Laughs) We'll be millionaires and have a castle with our name, Sumire Castle, in the south of France!

Thank you so much for doing this interview. Do you have a message for your European fans who are coming to see you?

Yuka & Sachi: (in French) Thank you very much!
Yuka: We thank you in advance for your reception, and if you'd like, have us back to France for a new tour!