YU-KA Exclusive Interview: Talking about “Sunshade” EP

Singer and composer YU-KA was born in Okinawa, Japan, in 2000, and spent his early years in the United States and Switzerland. He started learning acoustic guitar at the age of 15 and started composing his own songs at the age of 17. “Hoshizukiyo”, which she released in February 2023, ranked No. 1 on Billboard JAPAN’s “Download Songs” chart, becoming her most popular song.

The title song of her latest EP, sunshadeproduced by Toru of ONE OK ROCK and is the theme song of the TV series Smiling Russian doll. The 24-year-old musician is equally focused on her musical activities in Japan and overseas, bringing a different mindset to each. Billboard Japan recently had a chance to chat with her about her latest album, which sums up where she’s at right now.

What is the idea behind sunshade EP?

YU-KA: When I write my first album, brightera lot of the lyrics I write are on a grand scale. The most popular song on the album, “Starry Moon Night,” is a soaring love song. On the new album, I wanted to do something more personal. I wanted to write lyrics about love on a one-on-one level – the “me and you” level. The artwork reflects this as well. I wasn’t wearing anything fancy, just a T-shirt. It consists of photos of nature taken in everyday settings, cut and pasted together like a patchwork. I wanted to give it a handmade, simple feel.

I just followed my heart and wrote Forget Me Not, which I think brought me back to my natural roots. The lyrics of “Clouds” are all in English, and I feel like the song is related to my independent days. At the time, I was doing a lot of live shows and trying a lot of new things, like using a looper and matching English lyrics to simple chord progressions. I think the sound of the song relates to that moment in my life. On the other hand, when I wrote “Sunshade,” “Tsuraikurai,” and “One more time,” I was revisiting Japanese pop music. I like both Western music and J-pop music, and I wanted to write music that was somewhere in between, but I also took on new challenges by writing in a J-pop style.

Are your goals different when singing in English versus Japanese?

YU-KA: I rely heavily on melodies and whatever words the music brings me. Especially when I’m co-writing overseas, I tend to write lyrics using words that interest me, or words that I want to sing because of how they sound. For English, I found this very easy. In “Clouds” I wanted to use a lot of words, like writing a diary. English can accommodate more words than Japanese, so since I wanted to include lyrics, English was the best choice. Also, I think writing a song like this is connected to my own roots and really expresses aspects of myself. The song’s lyrics include “Tokyo” and “fight for the crossover,” so even though the song is in English, I think I’ve included elements that really describe my life in Japan.

“Sunshade” has four lines that begin with “Ne” (a Japanese expression similar to a softer version of “Hey”). I find the use of repetition particularly effective in Japanese.

YU-KA: In the past, many of my songs were a mix of English and Japanese, but lately I think it sounds cool to just do it in Japanese. The “Ne” part of “Sunshade” would have been easier to write if the lyrics were in English, but I focused on writing in Japanese and I think that’s why I was able to come up with these lyrics. I particularly like that part of the song. Deciding which Japanese to use when working with a small number of notes is an interesting process. It’s like writing waka or tanka (Japanese poetry). I love figuring out how to express myself within those constraints. I think that through this process I’ve been able to express things that I couldn’t before when mixing Japanese and English lyrics.

You wrote the lyrics for “Tsuraikurai” and “Sunshade”, and the music was written by Toru from ONE OK ROCK, right? I understand that you have written to Toru several times in the past. What have you learned from your recent collaboration?

YU-KA: When I made my major label debut (“Lullaby,” produced by Toru), I worked like crazy. I don’t know which ending is like this. But working with Toru, I always have a great experience. For example, I will think I haven’t changed but it will show me how much I have changed, or I will think I have gotten used to something and then I will find myself leaning against the wall with conflict.

How was the writing process going?

YU-KA: “Sunshade” is a collaboration song for the TV series. The process of writing a collaborative song involves creating something that is beyond your individual abilities, so I feel like it brings out a lot in you. I wanted the lyrics to be a little mysterious, but then I thought they needed to convey where I was, what I was doing, what I wanted to do. So as I wrote the song, the lyrics became more and more specific. The rewriting process was also fun.

You travel between Japan and other countries. You grew up in the United States and Switzerland, and also went to Sweden when you made the album. What do you like about Japan and other countries in terms of the environment for making music?

YU-KA: When I was in Sweden, I worked very fast, making one or two songs a day. It increases my explosiveness—my ability to get off the ground. In Japan, on the other hand, I feel like I spend a lot of time on each song, trying to think about how to improve it and keep improving. When I co-write with non-Japanese people, I worry that I will get overwhelmed, allow myself to be swept away, and fall by the wayside, but the opposite is true—the core parts of me remain the same, and the things that make me who I am Some will remain. I write the music before I talk to the people I’m going to work with, so the melodic lines and interactions we have while making the music feel like an introduction to myself to me. The way I needed to introduce myself through music immediately was really eye-opening and helped me grow.

You have performed at SXSW two years in a row, and you are an active musician overseas. What kind of music activities would you like to do in Japan and other countries?

YU-KA: As an artist, the way I am in Japan and the way I am overseas are like mirror images. When I was in Japan, the fact that I lived overseas and the way those experiences influenced my music was like a part of my personality. Overseas, the fact that I am Japanese and listen to Japanese pop music sets me apart. I think going back and forth between these two environments allows for a clearer sense of my own music.

Traveling between Japan and other countries, I sometimes ask myself what it means to be true to myself, but I think the real me is when I express myself naturally. That’s why when I’m overseas, when I write and perform my music, I consider myself a Japanese artist. I want to reach a position where I am uniquely suited and create work that truly conveys my intentions to audiences in Japan and overseas.

—An interview with Reina Murakami appeared first on Billboard Japan