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Singer-songwriter Mariya Takeuchi sat down with Billboard Japan for its Monthly Feature interview series highlighting today’s leading artists and works. The veteran artist recently released her first studio album in a decade called Precious Days.
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The 18-track set illuminates the daily lives of her listeners from different angles through a wide variety of musical styles. Billboard Japan asked Takeuchi to share her thoughts on her recent project, and also to comment on the “city pop” revival in recent years, which has launched her vintage hit song “Plastic Love” from 1984, among others, into the global limelight.
As the title Precious Days suggests, the mood that runs throughout the album as one of its themes is the value of each irreplaceable day in our lives.
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When I do tie-ins, I write songs based on the themes I’m given, and recently I’ve been getting a lot of requests for songs with themes like encouraging people or cheering them up. I guess that reflects the times to some extent. It’s a time of uncertainty, so people are feeling uneasy and want to be cheered up, you know?
So as a result, it became an album that’s in tune with the times.
That’s what happened. I’ve always wanted to sing songs that are irrelevant to age, and I think I’ve been able to achieve that.
It seems to me you’ve been delivering music to a wide range of listeners throughout your career. Why did you focus on that sentiment again this time?
I didn’t particularly think about generations write writing the songs, but I do think there are certain emotions that are commonly sought after. I want to make music that is universal, both the words and the sound, and won’t be considered old even after 20 or 30 years. That’s what Tatsuro Yamashita (co-producer of the album) is most careful about. He does the same when making his own music, and he does it when producing mine.
That aesthetic is probably connected to the revival of city pop. Regarding the rediscovery both in Japan and abroad of ‘80s and ‘90s retro Japanese pop music, have you had opportunities to personally experience that movement?
A lot recently, yes. When I was checking to see who was listening to “Plastic Love,” I saw comments written in Russian and Korean and more. I have a niece who lives in Canada, and she says that people are surprised when she tells them the singer on “Plastic Love” is her aunt. Also, I studied abroad in Illinois long ago, and apparently the grandchild of my host sister at the time went to an electrical appliance store where they kept playing songs by Tatsuro and me. When they said, “That person was at my grandma’s house for a year,” the people at the store were surprised. I’m just so grateful, because those songs are 40 years old.
Why do you think city pop music is loved by people of all ages and nationalities?
I think maybe people find it unusual, in that it’s not the uniform sound of machines and that Japanese players were doing something that sounded like Western music by hand in the analog ‘80s. I imagine people were surprised to discover that young people in Asia they didn’t know about at the time were doing something like this with an awareness of the real thing, including Tatsuro’s arranging prowess.
We were certainly aiming to make something good and to create a sound influenced by Western music, but we weren’t trying to sell it in the Western music market. It was more like, “That sounds cool, doesn’t it?” But you know, it had power. The studio musicians were highly proficient, and above all, Tatsuro’s arrangements were perfect. I think that’s why it held up over time. It proves that the players’ performances were good enough to go out into the world, so it’s a really happy phenomenon.
Did the city pop revival also lead to the universality of your latest album?
Universality has been the starting point from the very beginning. From the time I made my debut, pop music, in whatever form it takes, has always been about aiming to create something that people will listen to and sing for a long time, and that could become a standard. I’ve always kept that in mind and tried to do my best. It’s fun to listen to music while thinking about what’s popular at the moment, but there are many other artists who make that kind of music, so I’m always trying to figure out what people want from me.
Could you tell us why you named your project Precious Days?
When a few songs were ready, it occurred to me that I was singing about “irreplaceable days.” At the same time, I happened to have a number of songs with the word day in them, like “Brighten up your day!,” “Days of Love,” and “Smiling Days,” so I figured if I was going to name the album “something Day,” then it would be “Precious.”
“Have a Good Time Here” was written as the theme song for Pokémon Concierge on Netflix and must have reached a wide range of listeners.
I had a lot of fun making that song, too. If I hadn’t been tapped to write it, I probably wouldn’t have thought to make a track in the style of samba. It was inspired by the Pokémon Resort. I was asked to write a song that would encourage the main character Haru and the Pokémon.
“Watching Over You” is a collaboration with singer-songwriter Anri. You both made your debut in the same year, class of ’78.
Yes, we made our debut around the same time. I talk to Anri on the phone from time to time. A long time ago, I happened to run into her in L.A. Bruce Springsteen was swimming in the hotel pool, and we were both young, so we went up to him and asked him things like, “Aren’t you coming to Japan to do shows?” and so on. [Laughs]
When artists like you continue to make new studio albums, regardless of the length of their careers, it must be reassuring and encouraging for both their fans and other artists.
I think you have to keep doing that to stay relevant. It’s possible to keep going just by singing old songs, but you have to keep creating new things. For example, I’m a huge Beatles fan and if I were to go to a Paul McCartney concert, I’d want him to do Beatles songs for sure. But I’m pretty certain he definitely wants you to listen to his new releases, too. Maybe “Yesterday” is the song that really gets you, but there’s significance in artists performing new ones, and that’s what makes the classics shine too.
It’s about how many songs I can create that make people think, “I want her to do that one.” They’ll become the density of time that I can share with everyone as we grow older, so I try not to stand still and think, “I’ll just play those songs.” Accumulating new songs while mixing in some old favorites for people to hear. I think that’s the most beautiful way to be, though it’s hard. And because that’s something I can only do if I’m in good physical condition, I hope I can stay healthy for a long time, thinking, “I want to write a song like that” and keep plugging away.
Adele is sharing her gratitude for Celine Dion, who surprised the “Rolling in the Deep” singer by attending one of her Las Vegas residency shows at Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Saturday (Oct. 26). Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Alongside an emotional photo of the duo embracing […]
Even before Charli XCX dominated the summer with her acclaimed album brat, there was internal chatter about a joint arena tour with her and Troye Sivan. “I was pretty unsure how it would work, honestly,” recalls creative director Imogene Strauss, citing how unusual it is for two artists to alternate within the set list. “I was like, ‘This is going to be a challenge’ — and I think everyone felt that way.”
Ultimately, fusing two separate tours — Charli had debuted her solo brat shows during album release week at Primavera Sound in June while Sivan had embarked on his own European/U.K. headlining tour in support of his third album, Something To Give Each Other, in May — for a fall co-headlining run proved easier than expected. The Sweat tour kicked off Sept. 14 in Detroit and quickly became one of music’s hottest tickets, with sold-out dates at Madison Square Garden and Kia Forum with surprise guests including Lorde and Kesha, respectively. The trek concluded in Seattle on Oct. 23.
“It’s been an interesting morphing, shifting thing because of the scale, but also because of the collaboration element of it,” says Strauss, who has worked with Charli since 2019. Along with Jonny Kingsbury of Cour Design, the pair leaned heavily on lighting as a unifying element for the tour. “That ultimately became the thing that could tie the two shows together,” she says. Adds Kingsbury: “Traditionally with a pop artist, you would use bright key light and lots of downstage wash, but instead we light her very strobe-y, almost as if you were watching someone walk through a club in a movie throughout the entire show.”
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Another early decision the creative team made was to enlist a Steadicam operator from the music video world and to hire a focus puller, which Strauss says is “expensive and specific, but I think it’s added this cinematic level that has been so positive.” (Plus, as Kingsbury says, the concept paired well with the brat aesthetic, “with [Charli] pushing the camera man aside, spitting on the catwalk and licking it up. All of that feels very brat.”)
Fittingly, Strauss’ favorite part of Sweat showcases that creative synergy: Midway through the show, as Sivan is wrapping up “Stud” on the main stage and Charli is gearing up for “365” from the scaffolding, the screens are turned off and Charli’s iconic “bumpin’ that” line blares from the speakers. “Musically, the worlds are so well tied together, and being able to express that visually… it’s just so cool to see the worlds collide in a way that really works,” she says. Both she and Kingsbury credit music director Mitch Schneider for “expertly” putting Charli and Sivan’s music together, ultimately laying the foundation for the entire show.
“I think most people were expecting this tour to be like, Troye plays a set and then Charli plays a set,” says Strauss. “But Troye and Charli and all of us involved were like, ‘If we’re gonna do this, it’s gonna be intertwined musically, visually, everything.”
As a result, Kingsbury says a lot of the feedback he’s been hearing about the tour was how polished the show was. Both he and Strauss say many arena tours today rely on “gags” or “interstitial content” to help with costume or staging transitions, whereas Sweat was “very dialed in,” says Kingsbury. “Everyone is always trying to go bigger and more ridiculous — we went the opposite direction.”
“[This tour] doesn’t take itself too seriously — people dance like crazy,” adds Strauss. “Turning an arena into a club was the No. 1 challenge, and when the arena was literally shaking, I was like, ‘OK, success.’”
A version of this story appears in the Oct. 26, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Morgan Wallen’s “Love Somebody” becomes the latest country hit to top Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart in 2024, debuting at No. 1 on the Nov. 2-dated tally.
In the week ending Oct. 24, “Love Somebody” earned 31.1 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.
It’s Wallen’s first No. 1 debut as a lead act; earlier this year, he started atop the ranking as a featured act on Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” which reigned for two weeks, one in May and one in August.
He also led the chart for 19 weeks with “Last Night” in 2023, though the song did not reach No. 1 until its sixth week on the list.
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“Love Somebody” is the fourth No. 1 from the country genre on Streaming Songs in 2024. The year began with Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” reigning on the Jan. 6 list (after ruling for the final four weeks of 2023), followed by the aforementioned Malone/Wallen collaboration and then Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” for nine weeks to date beginning in July. “Love Somebody” takes over from “A Bar Song” atop the latest ranking.
In 2023, four country songs topped the list, including Lee, plus Wallen’s “Last Night,” Zach Bryan’s Kacey Musgraves-featuring “I Remember Everything” and Oliver Anthony Music’s “Rich Men North of Richmond.” The genre has not yet boasted more than four rulers in a year.
In the preceding nine years (2013-2022) of the chart, only Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” had represented the country genre at No. 1 on Streaming Songs, doing so in 2021.
On Country Streaming Songs, “Love Somebody” is Wallen’s 12th leader, twice as many as the next-closest acts, Swift and Florida Georgia Line, with six apiece.
Concurrently, as previously reported, “Love Somebody” debuts at No. 1 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, becoming Wallen’s third ruler.
10/28/2024
Tyler, The Creator’s seventh studio album ‘Chromakopia’ arrives and continues his torrid stretch as one of rap’s leading stars.
10/28/2024
Megan Thee Stallion and TWICE are teaming up for a whole lot more than just the “Mamushi” remix. The rapper unveiled a new limited edition cover of her Megan: Act II deluxe album on Monday (Oct. 28) that the K-pop girl group designed. The digital album with the alternative cover is currently available on Megan’s webstore […]
Just days before the Nov. 5 presidential elections in the United States, La Original Banda El Limón released a corrido inspired by and dedicated to Vice President Kamala Harris.
As is tradition, the corrido, titled “Señora Presidenta” (or Madame President in English), narrates the life story of Harris, who is the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. In the three-minute song, powered by banda instruments like trumpets and clarinets, the group sings about Harris’ humble background and the force she’s become as a political leader. “She comes from a humble place to fight for her people,” the song begins. “She was born in Oakland, daughter to immigrant parents. Madame President. Her name is Kamala Harris.”
Juan Barboza Lizárraga, leader of La Original Banda El Limón, explained in a statement about their decision to release a song for Harris and officially endorse a candidate for president: “Our culture, traditions and music are beautiful and powerful just like our community. We hope that in these final moments, the song inspires our community to embrace our strength and together to show up in a critical moment. This song reflects the values of our community and our vision for a future where people matter.”
It’s not the first time that a regional Mexican act has released a corrido in support of a U.S. presidential candidate. In 2016, ranchera icon Vicente Fernández endorsed then Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton through song. In “El Corrido de Hillary Clinton,” Fernández sings about Latin pride and urges the Latin community to vote for Clinton. “I remind you, brother, that we have to work hand in hand, until we assure the victory for Hillary Clinton.”
Even Donald Trump, who has in the past insulted the Latin community, launching his 2016 presidential run with racist remarks toward the Mexican community calling them “rapists” and “criminals,” got his own corrido. The accordion-powered song was released over the summer after Trump’s assassination attempt in July.
And it’s not just in the States that artists have been compelled to release songs for specific presidential candidates. In Mexico, Vivir Quintana released “Compañera Presidenta,” dedicated to candidates Xóchitl Gálvez and Claudia Sheinbaum, the latter won the presidency and became the first-ever female president of the country.
Whether these songs can help swing an election or inspire undecided voters to cast a ballot, that’s unclear. But as the race for president in the U.S. — one of the most consequential elections in recent memory — comes to an end, a number of Latin acts have been using their platforms to amplify candidates.
Below, a handful of Spanish-language songs that have been released over the past few years for presidential candidates in the U.S. and beyond.
“Señora Presidenta”
GloRilla has endorsed Kamala Harris for president ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections taking place next week. The 25-year-old MC outlined four reasons why people should pick her for president in a video posted to her TikTok account Monday (Oct. 28): “A woman’s right to choose, Protect the LGBTQIA+ Community, Funding for Public Education and […]
With just over a week to go until the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election and the announcement of the 2025 Grammy nominations, Q4 is living up to its reputation as the most hectic time of the year. To ease us into what’s sure to be a tumultuous next few weeks, stars across hip-hop and R&B have stepped up to keep us entertained and engaged.
Last week, music icon Beyoncé delivered a powerful speech in support of Vice President Kamala Harris‘ bid for the presidency, alongside Kelly Rowland, Tina Knowles, Willie Nelson and Willie Jones. The Oct. 25 rally in Houston activated both the Beyhive and the K-Hive, with around 30,000 people in attendance, according to the Harris campaign.
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Megan Thee Stallion, another H-Town superstar, used last weekend to launch Act II of her Megan LP, which topped R&B/Hip-Hop Albums back in June. Her new release features the breakout hit “Bigger In Texas,” whose hometown-hailing music video features HTX legends like Scarface, Paul Wall and Slim Thug. Opting for an non-traditional Monday release (Oct. 28), Tyler, the Creator dropped off Chromakopia, his seventh studio album, which features appearance from Daniel Caesar, Childish Gambino, GloRilla, Lil Wayne, Teezo Touchdown, ScHoolboy Q, and Sexyy Red.
In more somber news, hip-hop legend DJ Clark Kent — a Brooklyn giant who worked closely with hip-hop heavyweights like Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G. — passed away last Friday (Oct. 25) after a three-year battle with colon cancer.
With Fresh Picks, Billboard aims to highlight some of the best and most interesting new sounds across R&B and hip-hop — from Jordyn Simone and Joseph Solomon’s new wedding anthem to Ms Banks’s fiery comeback track. Be sure to check out this week’s Fresh Picks in our Spotify playlist below.
Freshest Find: Melanie Fiona, “Say Yes”
For the first taste of her forthcoming EP (due next year), Grammy-winner Melanie Fiona is preaching the gospel of saying “yes.” With Thundercat on bass, SiR on backing vocals and longtime collaborator Andre Harris overseeing production, “Say Yes” finds Fiona crooning, “I lay my cards, out on the table / Showing hearts like never before / Tell me will you be ready willing and able / When I come knocking at your door.” As a veteran soul singer, Fiona expertly finds the pockets of groove in the track’s live instrumentation. Inspired by her mental health journey over the past decade and the freedom she internalized after the birth of her son in 2016, “Say Yes” is a gorgeous ode to the perseverance of the human spirit — and the beauty that comes with keeping yourself open when you most want to shut out the world.
Ms Banks, “Boss B—h”
After a two-year break, Nigerian-British MC Ms Banks is back with a fiery new single titled “Boss B—h.” “They tryna rub me out, but I don’t see a b—h fit/ Running up ya lips, but in school you was a prick/ Looking for some shit on me that could get me eclipsed/ But like an Air Force with no tick, it don’t exist,” she spits over a bass-heavy A Class beat that takes a few sonic cues from Detroit rap. Fresh off serving as the opener for the European leg of Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Summer tour, Ms Banks is poised for a stellar run in 2025 — and “Boss B—h” is a very promising preview.
Dc the Don & Ambré, “Knock Me Off My Feet”
Milwaukee rapper DC the Don’s latest album is finally here, and this Ambré duet is one of the best tracks. Rebirth continues his melding of hip-hop, rock and trap, with “Knock Me Off My Feet” offering an Afrobeats-inflected, romance-minded feel to his musical mosaic. “You was runnin’ ’round the city off no sleep when you met me/ Knock me off my feet when you met me/ That put me on defense/ Back against the curb, now I’m OD, OD,” he croons in the refrain, flaunting an unexpected affinity for slick pop melodies. Ambré’s ethereal tone provides a smart complement to DC’s more grounded delivery that’s filled out by a slightly raspy edge. This link-up arrived in just in time for cuffing season.
Mereba, “Counterfeit”
Buzzy R&B star Mereba has a new project due next year called The Breeze Grew a Fire, and “Counterfeit” is her first offering. Over twinkling, barely-there synths and neo-soul percussion, Mereba’s airy tone soars: “You’re the original/ You never do what they do/ You’re the original/ Don’t let ’em counterfeit you,” she sings in the chorus. For its cinematic outro, the song loses its beat and opts for acoustic guitars wrapped in a swelling string arrangement. “We’re all high, whole function flying/ Look up high, wild sky,” she repeatedly coos, each recitation broadening the expanse that the “original” can claim dominion over.
Jordyn Simone & Joseph Solomon, “I Do”
There’s been some talk about a lack of traditional love songs in modern R&B, but Jordyn Simone and Jospeh Solomon have something to say. A formidable contender for the best wedding anthem released in 2024, “I Do” finds the two vocalists redefining chemistry. “I never thought a love like this would find me/ All on my own, oh, I was just fine when/ You pulled me close, and then I couldn’t fight it/ Deep inside, I knew I couldn’t let go,” they harmonize in the pre-chorus, with Jordyn’s lovestruck timbre blending beautifully with both Joseph’s gentle falsetto and the production’s soulful strings. Love songs about the little things — with a little modulation, to boot! — will never go out of style.
Leo Waters & Kaash Paige, “Smoke + Mirrors (Remix)”
Ever the dependable R&B collaborator, Kaash Paige brings new life to Leo Waters’ “Smoke + Mirrors” with her sultry new remix. Waters dropped the original version of the song last Decemeber, and its plucky piano-inflected groove proved the perfect soundscape for Paige. “Baby, pull up on me/ I’m just tryna feel ya, hear ya/ I’ve been loving you better/ Touching you better than he ever could, ever would/ Now I see smoke and mirrors,” she haughtily promises, blurring the dual metaphors of steamy post-sex mirrors and the lightweight “smoke and mirrors” excuses we lean on to avoid giving into the things we want and fear the most.
As a born aesthete, Tyler, The Creator’s always thought in shapes and colors rather than hard numbers. He leaves that stuff to folks like Silent House president Alex Reardon, a creative director he’s worked with since Igor.
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On Sunday night (Oct. 27), fans in L.A.’s Intuit Dome saw the pair’s synergy unfold for Tyler’s listening event for Chromakopia, his eighth studio album that dropped this morning. With flashes of Kelly Green lights beaming down on a cross-like stage and emanating from square pockets between the seats, it was simultaneously trippy and restrained — as much about functionality as aesthetic.
“We are creating a semi-static lighting and scenic look so that the hearing is the sense that is most activated by the experience,” he explains to Billboard, referring to a lighting arrangement that avoids dramatic fluctuations. “You walk in, you see the thing that looks cool, you take a picture of it and it anchors the experience, but after that, it doesn’t start with massive color change and scenic changes and costume changes and drama and pyros and all the stuff that we would add to his performance because there is no performance underpinning that. And therefore to do that will be visually distracting and therefore detract from the audio or the auditory sense.”
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The set for the project, which began about six weeks ago, is set to be a fixture of his upcoming Chromakopia Tour featuring Lil Yachty and Paris Texas. It’s just the latest entry into a 30-some-odd-year career that’s seen Reardon work alongside everyone from Tyler to Tears for Fears and The Weeknd. Threading all of his creations together is a methodological philosophy his architect father taught him years ago. “A designer has to be as creative as an artist,” Reardon explains. “Except to a specification.”
In a discussion with Billboard, Reardon talks about some of those specifications, his working relationship with Tyler and more.
How would you describe Tyler’s thought process when it comes to merging the aesthetics with the sound of his music?
Each album cycle, he creates a unique aesthetic that goes along with it. Now, if we just look back to Call Me If You Get Lost, when we were at this stage of that album cycle, we started the conversation about the tour and he was like, “Okay, I want video screens, I want rises and I want this sort of stuff.” And I said, “Let’s pause on that for a second and take a slightly higher level look at the album as a whole. What does the album mean to you? What are the underpinning motifs that you think are relevant and don’t think about the stage set? Just talk to me about the album.” And he was referring to travel, global travel, broadening your horizons, getting out of where you’re from, just looking at the world in wonder — but always in luxury.
Wherever he turned up at an event, he always had luggage with him. So I said, “Okay, if I’m hearing you correctly, this sounds like the photography of Slim Aarons. It sounds like a mansion on the banks of Lake Como. It sounds like Riva Powerboats, that kind of vibe. And he went, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s it.” That made my job much easier — because for that tour, we literally built him a mansion on the banks of Lake Como with a Riva powerboat that took him out to a B stage. It made sense, because I asked him what the album was about, not, “What do you want on your stage?”
So with this album, we’ve had those conversations about what’s the central visual iconography that Tyler wants to associate with this album. So we’ve had those conversations and those are the conversations that have spawned the design direction that we’re going in. It’s so refreshing to be able to talk to an artist about the highest level intent of the album rather than, “I want lasers, I want pyro.”
What were some of the logistical challenges that went into putting this whole thing together?
There are three metrics for a successful design in a live production: There’s the aesthetics, logistics and finance. The aesthetics, obviously we’ve been discussing now the logistics are, “Is it going to fit in the venue? Is it going to fit in the trucks to get from A to B, to C to D, and is it going to come in within budget?” And I think that because we Silent House have been doing this for so long, we’re quite good at gut check estimations about, “Okay, this is going to come in around the right amount of budget. This is going to fit in.”
But then what we do is we’ve also been doing this for long enough. We know which questions to ask, and I think if it’s with a new venue, our first questions were, “Okay, we’ve got to A, go down there, B, meet with all the relevant in-house tech people, and then C, come up with a design, a creative that will fit bearing in mind what they tell us we can and cannot do.” I think it would’ve been entirely the wrong way to go by selling this concept, doing this amazing thing, and getting to the venue and realizing he couldn’t do it.
So I think we as designers have to really work out, “Where is this event happening? What can we do [in] there?” We then apply his input, we then apply our input, we mix that up in a big cauldron and then comes the idea which we then refine with his input. So logistically, we have to work very closely with the production management team, with the venue, with the vendors, with everyone. And it creates a huge amount of work.
But because we have been working with all these people for decades, it becomes a kind of shorthand. There’s a hell of a lot that goes into this. Will this element that we are designing fit into the loading dock? Can we get it on a truck? How do we get it onto the floor? How do we do this? We’ve had a lot of meetings on site, a lot of meetings with very helpful people, and I want to give a little shout out to Intuit in the middle of their first Clippers game. They got another gig loading in, and they’re still responding to emails. They’re still engaging with us, they’re still being wonderful and collaborative, and I know they’re under the hammer at the moment.
What is it like to work with Tyler?
He is such a phenomenally pleasant human being. We’ve all got notes from people that employ us. The artist has got notes, and normally that’s received with a slightly sharp intake of breath and “Oh, here we go” — but with him, he’s like, “Cool.” I wonder what he’s going to say. We walk into an award show and he shakes everyone’s hand and says hello to the cable pager and the guy who brought him a coffee. He’s just extraordinary.
He’s very good at storyboard sketches. Sometimes, he’ll actually storyboard loose ideas. “I feel it should do this, then this, then this and like this.” And then we who work behind the curtain, the production team, creative team, video content, everyone, we shuffle off and spin up some different concepts. And he goes, “I like that. I don’t like that. Let’s do a bit more of this and this looks cool.” And then the process continues. But sometimes he’s very specific, sometimes he’s not. Sometimes, he’s like, I feel it should be kind of like this. There’s no real prescribed path per se. It’s just either a sketch or a conversation or however he feels in the moment.
It’s cool Tyler values two-way communication. A lot of artists just have a lot of “yes men” around them, and it shows. They put out some of the most contrived stuff with their visuals.
There is something [to] a lot of great artists where nothing is contrived when they literally open their soul to the people who are listening, watching, absorbing. And we, too, as humans instinctively respond positively to that honesty. Tyler is a man entirely without artifice. I think that that transcends genre of music. I think it works with painting, poetry, music, any form of artist expression. That genuine revelation of the soul is something that the people who are absorbing that music will empathize with and love. And I think that he has always had that being completely without artifice. That’s one of the many reasons he’s so successful.
I’d imagine you’re a “form follows function” kind of guy, being a designer. The lasers and explosions aren’t as important as the big idea.
No, and I think there are a lot of design firms or designers in live event production design that come from the technological background. So they tend to emphasize the new technology or look at this lighting rig. It’s got so many quantities of lights in it, or they look at the physics of it. And that works for some acts. But I think if you have an artist who doesn’t think that way, why force them into getting excited about some technology. Technology needs to serve a higher purpose and the higher purpose should be what the goal of the artist is in making that album.
If you had to compare Tyler’s instincts for aesthetics to anyone in history, who would it be?
That’s a really good question that I may take a lifetime to answer. And I don’t want to sound facetious. I’m not at all because my references to artists would be so different. It is such a subjective answer that I don’t want to set the internet a light with people saying, “Are you kidding? How can you? This guy?” But one of the things, and this is entirely subjective, and just my personal thing, is that obviously having grown up in the U.K., I think Tyler is, to me only, kind of a David Bowie of his generation.
Wow.
He’s an artist of his generation. I don’t think comparisons to anyone else that’s around are really relevant, because they would be derivative and he isn’t. But if I explain why I, from my own humble opinion, think that there’s a David Bowie-ishness to him, it’s because he exists as a musician also with equal amount of strength in visual medium as he does in the auditory medium. He has an ability to reinvent while not losing himself, which I think Bowie and he both have both share. I think neither of them really followed a particular zeitgeist. They just thought, this is what I think is great. And the whole world went, “Yep, I’m on board.”
And I think as a result, I think his career will be as long as David’s, I think there’s absolutely no reason why it wouldn’t. I mean, he will continue to be his honest self for as long as he chooses to do this. And I think whatever form of creativity he chooses to get into, if he will bring those attributes to and be wildly successful in.
