March 12 2008-Mika Nakashima Interview

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Special Interview - Mika Nakashima

Oricon: Sakura ~hanagasumi~ is about setting off to somewhere and is really a pretty sad song.

Mika: This is a song that was started over a year ago and there was something about it that really made me want to play a bigger part in the making of it. I gave my ideas about the arrangement and lyrics and they let me change quite a bit of the song. In the beginning, there were a lot of different sounds in the song and I really wanted this song to have a simple sound to it. I also suggested that the lyrics convey a sadness deep enough that you don't care to see hope again. The result ended up being that by the end of the song, you can feel some hope and I think it turned out well.

Oricon: Do you often give your opinions to help shape your songs?

Mika: I usually leave it to other people to create the songs and didn't really say to much before. Recently though, with "eien no shi" and "LIFE," especially "LIFE," was at the end of the year meaning that I had a lot of chances to perform the song. But even though I really like the song, it's genre that I don't really feel that I'm strong in. So this time I wanted to have a song that I felt confident in doing, so I made a lot of proposals.

Oricon: And I would say that the result is this ballad really compliments and shows a great use of your voice.

Mika: Thank you. I used to not care about it that much but, maybe I have started to care more since I have loved ballad for as long as I can remember and so it's great to feel good when singing one. That doesn't mean that I wanted to make it easy to sing but, because I like the song and I have come to think that this ballad really compliments me as a person, I feel good about the final version.

Oricon: To express that kind of sadness must be very difficult.

Mika: For me, it's much more difficult to express fun and happy times. I don't really know why though.


Oricon: What is the theme here?

Mika: After proposing a lot of things, at first I thought it would be about a romantic relationship but, after reading it over several times, I came to realize that it was a song about a family like a mother. I thought that worked really well.

Oricon: Do you relate these lyrics to your real life experiences?

Miki: In this business, you end up spending a lot of time away from your family and they constantly worry. For me, I was extremely sad when my plane took off, and I was leaving my mom in Kogoshima to move to Tokyo, But when I got to Tokyo, I realized that I wasn't sad enough to give up and go back. I think that was because I thought that I would get my parents to come to Tokyo to be with me soon enough. Now I live with my mom in Tokyo and although we talk a lot, I don't really talk much about my work. I think that's because, no matter where she is, I don't want to make her worry.

Oricon: What are your goals for 2008?

Mika: I have a lot of goals but I would really like to do a lot of training this year. Physical, voice and just in general because, until now I haven't really done any.

Oricon: Wow, and yet you did all of that touring. Amazing!

Mika: I've got a lot of energy! So before I didn't really think much about physical strength but I won't be able to say that for much longer. haha. So before age catches up to me I thought that I better get to it.

Oricon: In closing, what are you planning for the next album?

Mika: Right now it's still vague but, I'm thinking that I want a strong pop element to it. Recently I like simple sounding songs. Nothing that makes me feel that I'm doing something really strange or different. My pop songs before had a New Orleans or reggae taste to them but, I want to make songs that are easier to understand. Like Sakura ~hanagasumi~. I still don't really know though as we are in the middle of making it now.

Oricon: So we can expect a J-POP theme... maybe?
Mika: Maybe. haha. Because that's what I'm into now.