ーMIYAVI, what kind of clothes do you like？
MIYAVI: I like clothes that have a sense of function. I’ve worn a lot of clothes but I am definitely always pulled toward clothes that have a balance between the design and the functionality. Not something that just looks cool or something that just feels comfortable but something that puts both of those elements together.
I’m the same with my music. It needs to sound good but it also needs to have a good message. It’s great to have one or the other but making something catchy with a tough message is something challenging. It is because of that challenge that I want to make that music that way. That’s why I also like fashion that has that sense of balance to it.
ーI see。
MIYAVI： Also, because of my work as both a musician and actor, I am able to see the power that clothes themselves can have. When it comes to performing, I am putting on a different role. Showing up at the actual performance place wearing the clothes of that character enhances my immersion in the experience. I am able to take in the power that the stylist and designer want to infuse to the moment.
The power that clothes hold is different from person to person and piece of clothing to piece of clothing so we must hold that as important. Even with the Dsquared clothes I am styled in today, I had to change the way I looked at myself with my internal camera between the first and second outfits.
ーTalking of the Dsquared brand, what impression do you have of them？
MIYAVI：Luxury but medium. That is to say the brand has a normal feeling to it. There is certainly a power in being a glamorous, high brand but sometimes that gets tiresome. Dsquared is art of a quality that it can be worn on the runway, of course, but it is also perfectly suited to being every day casual wear, I think. Comfortable for the normal days and the days that only border on normal, I could be comfortable to hop on a plane in this or go around on tour and shine on stage.
ーThe line you are wearing right now is from the 2023 Spring Summer pre-collection with the theme of “LA”. Miyavi, you used to live in LA.
MIYAVI：It’s a very free plays. Openminded, I should say. Not just with the fashion but also environmental issues. There are a good meaning people with protection plans over there and many cultures advancing. You strongly can feel that entertainment is the meaning for existence there. By the way, why is the theme for this collection “LA”?
ーTwo of the designers were in LA for surfing. They would spend the day surfing and go into town at night to just draw inspiration. The collection was created to show both sides of that experience.
MIYAVI：Okay. There certainly is not a lot of distance between the town and nature in LA. You can go from swimming in the ocean to standing on a mountain watching snow fall within the span of 2-3 hours. That is to say, it’s a really dynamic place.
I treasure the beauty of something that was not perfect。
ーThis year is your 20th year performing music. Does it feel like it was long or did it go by quickly?
MIYAVI：Definitely went by too fast. So many things have happened but I definitely feel like I still have some ways to go before I’m done.
ーDo you feel like you are reaching a turning point？
MIYAVI：I do. I think about how to move forward. I’m always thinking like that. What will I be making use of next year? All of that comes together and makes up life. In order for me to live my way the want to freely, there are a lot of people that I affect to whom I am very grateful and I want to repay them, bit by bit.
ーYou are actively releasing music, touring the world, acting, as well as being a Goodwill Ambassador with the UNHCR. It gives the impression that you are constantly in motion. Is that a conscious design ？
MIYAVI：I wonder….I think it has just become part of who I am, flapping about like this. But I don’t want to stop.
ーBecause of the pandemic, a lot of artists had to put things to a stop. What was that like for you？
MIYAVI：It made me stop and actually think about what it meant to be an entertainer and just how important person to person communication can be to get a read on a situation. For us artists, distance is very important. But suddenly there was a reset. It took even the worlds top stars by surprise, I think, because it also bewildered me. How can we do this, how can we meet again?
In this society where things are just getting more and more digital, I really asked myself how to hold the essence of humanity in a physical sense.
Using the method of virtual lives, there are certainly lots of benefits there but there is also a lot that is lost there. In that, I started to treasure “the beauty of something that is imperfect”
ーWhat is “the beauty of something that is imperfect”？
MIYAVI：Us as human beings are always called to imperfect things. AI makes things that are perfect. So we slowly make simple things. We feel the value of the existence of humanity in these imperfections. That is to say that being imperfect is what gives us all a reason to exist. That’s what I thought of a lot while doing virtual lives. For example, if I mess up the lyrics of a song, that will live in the memories of someone who was watching and that has great value to them as a person. Such changes in what we value are happening very fast and I think are, in fact, being accelerated because of covid.
ーDo you think that physical is better than digital？
MIYAVI：I don’t think I can definitively say
one over the other. For example, there aren’t a lot of people in their
teens who see a value in a physical album. There are fewer and fewer
people who can say “I remember when that’s how all music was listened to” about
physical records. The value of “good sounding music” may be changed to
something else being valued in say ten years time, we don’t know. Right
now, a lot of people would not say the way they listen to music, be it digital
or physical copies, matters that much to them. This isn’t limited to just
music but the way that we communicate. We obviously have a lot of face to
face communication as people and we tend to think of that as being good.
But in ten or twenty years, that might turn into the opposite. The merits
to not meeting in person may one day outweigh the merits to meeting face to
face. We are currently in a transitional period with our values.
ーCurrently, you are working as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. That seems like a job that would influence you to valuing the in person, being able to physically be there and interact with the people you are helping, is that not so？
MIYAVI：Of course it is definitely better to hold someone’s hand as they share the enws, it is impossible to do that through the internet. But I don’t know the future. I don’t know if it will or will not change. For example, if things were moved to being online for meetings, information and materials would be shared through the screen immediately, it would certainly shorten how long it would go on. And you can still be doing research constantly, that is extremely efficient. Compared to before covid, I am having more of a give and take with people from overseas.
But for people like refugees who are in the transitional period from having their life in constant danger to not, they are much more worried about how they are going to live in such a cruel world. This limits our ability to understand the reality of their situation. You can’t feel the temperature, tension, and many more important variables without physically visiting a place so we have to visit.
The things that we as humans place value in, the truly essential ones, will not change ever but I do think that the superficial ones may start to change more and more from now on. That’s why I’m sure it’s going to be polarized.
ーHearing you talk about this, I get the feeling you are very good with change.
MIYAVI：Yes, that’s true. Instead of having “booksmarts” I value having “streetsmarts” instead. I think this is something lacking in Japanese education. Whether you can respond accordingly in whatever situation you find yourself in.
ーJapanese people tend to hold a lot of pride in not changing to the situation.
MIYAVI：And that in and of itself is definitely a good thing, I think. But every day the whole world is changing. This may just sound like a contradiction but within that ability to not change, one must also be looking for the things that need to change.
ーAre there unexpected ways in which your work as a musician and your work with UNHCR overlap？
MIYAVI：There definitely are. The first time I went to a refugee camp, I’ll be honest and say that I was scared being in a place so permeated with fear. The camp where children were living was on the other side of a mountain where a big conflict was happening. But when I started to play the guitar, I could feel their life force exploding. “Ah, music can achieve something” is what I felt. We were able to overcome the language barrier and convey the message of the music well.
ーIt’s all about how you put together the catchiness and message, like you mentioned before.
MIYAVI：There certainly are people who will only listen to a speech. But they might be surprised to hear how much people get from listening to music. My mission for the refugees in these camps as a goodwill ambassador is to call out the bright parts, the strong parts, the parts that make us the same as them as humans, their radiance and dignity. The issues that refugees face certainly have a heavy and dark image to them. But they aren’t the only ones who have those. In every single person who calls themselves human, there are adversities that we are fighting against in our lives. That is part of why not just music but films, fashion, culture in general, can do so much.
ーLastly, please tell us some activities you would like to do in the future.
MIYAVI：There is only diligence. Every single one of us has to keep moving forward on our own path, that’s the only way. I do a lot between music, acting, and social reform work, I want to tackle each of these, one by one, and level up all of my efforts. I am blessed in the fact that I am able to learn, and I think that is a privilege given to humanity. I want to always keep learning.
The Fender Telecaster guitar that Miyavi uses to achieve his sound has had many customizations added to it and, according to him, “it’s a telecaster but it’s wrong”. Fender themselves have acknowledged his modifications and approved the new model, leading to the Miyavi Telecaster ® coming into use. “the great guitarists of the past have destroyed existing values and created new ones” they said.
Zdroj:https://comiyaviww.blogspot.com/2022/11/english-translation-miyavi-x-houyhnhnm.html
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