There seems to be a lot of “dream”-related stories in your songs. What’s the reason behind it?
I think everyone deserves to have a dream and realize it by themselves. Therefore, I hope that my songs can reach others to get up and follow their dreams instead of sitting around doing nothing, because that won’t make any of your dreams come true.
Anyway, do you have a fan club as of now?
Well, I’ve just established a nickname for my fans, it’s called Yuminity. Sounds kinda weird, doesn’t it? Haha. Some of my fans actually recommended that name, so why not?
Aside from your Osaka show, do you have any other concert experience in Japan?
Actually, I haven’t been doing anything during 2014-2015 after releasing my first single. At that time, I was focused on promoting my single. I’ve also held a live tour from Tokyo to Nagoya back then.
Any interesting experiences during the live tour?
Oh yes, I had to perform “Kagayaku Tsuki no Youni” in every one of my shows. It’s a pretty difficult song, since it has different lyrics at the end, plus it’s fairly long and keep in mind that I’m not really fluent in Japanese. It’s a huge chore for me to sing that song. I had to understand the meaning of each part in order to memorize that part.
I’ve managed to pull it off without any problems during my Tokyo show, but not in Nagoya.
Are there any particular difficulties during your concert at Nagoya?
Let’s just say I didn’t perform “Kagayaku Tsuki no Youni” as smoothly as my performance in Tokyo. There’s a lot of ikemen (handsome boys) watching me perform on stage, so I got struck with a stage fright.
The difference between performing in Tokyo and Nagoya is pretty huge. In Tokyo, most of my audiences are the general public, so I can perform without any issues. While in Nagoya, most of my audiences are mostly young, handsome males. I even reacted a little “whoa am I really going to perform in front of these guys?”. Having a sudden stage fright like that while performing a song with a relatively long lyrics kind of messed up my performance there.
Have you performed in other places as well?
After that live tour, I participated in Enoshima Bali Sunset Festival. I’ve also performed in Indonesia-Japan Friendship Festival in Yoyogi Park, that’s where I met Keisuke Ito and planned a mini album to release in Ennichisai 2016.
How did you feel as an Indonesian singer who has went through a recording process in Japan?
It’s very exciting, but challenging as well. One major difficulty while recording is the language barrier, which makes it very difficult for me to communicate with the sound engineer.
You’ve released a mini album for this year’s Ennichisai. Can you tell more about it?
It’s a collaboration between me and a couple of musicians playing a Japanese traditional music instrument. All of the production process is made in Indonesia. The idea came during my performance in Yoyogi Park. I met Ito Keisuke and Sako-san there, had a talk between each other to plan this Indonesia-Japan collaboration album.
Isn’t it difficult to combine traditional music with pop music?
Most teenagers would think that “traditional music” cannot blend with “modern vibes”. During my Japan trip, I watched a traditional music performance there and it was amazing. Another inspiration behind this album comes from collaboration performances between angklung musicians with Japanese musicians. While those performances offers Indonesia’s traditional music for Japanese singers, this album offers the exact opposite; Japanese traditional music for an Indonesian singer.
I personally believe traditional music blends perfectly with today’s music. This mini album also proves that Shamisen can be used together with modern music, resulting in something “new”.
Any interesting experiences during the creation of the mini album?
Writing the lyrics for this album is pretty interesting overall. I wrote the lyrics together with Kohei Sako, Sako-san handles the Japanese lyrics, while I handle the Indonesian lyrics. Somehow I always forgot my own lyrics and ended up familiarizing myself more with the Japanese lyrics!
For Sako-san, what’s your impression on Yumi, having worked together on this mini album?
I’m impressed in Yumi’s strong and powerful voice. Her voice pitching is also top-notch.
Another question for Sako-san, are there any interesting experiences during the creation of the mini album?
I was currently on China while this album went on production process. Even though I’m not in Indonesia or Japan, we managed to brainstorm and search for ideas for the album together via Facebook. I gave the ideas from China while Ito-san is still in Japan, and then Yumi sent her voice recording from Indonesia. It’s a mini album created internationally.
Back to Yumi, any hopes and dreams for this album?
I hope with this album Indonesia gets more recognized in Japan, not just for Jakarta and Bali, but that we also have talent that is worthy of recognition in Japan.
Where can your fans buy your mini album?
Currently, the mini album is only available via direct selling whenever Yumi performs in some events, but you can also buy it online, and for every online purchases I’ll make sure to deliver it myself!
Short Biography
- Name: Yumi
- Real name: Intan Kusuma Dewi
- Hobbies: Singing, dancing, songwriting
- Favorite foods: Gyudon, Karage, Semur Jengkol (She made sure to not eat this before any of her performances)
KAORI Newsline | Original text and photo by Rafly N
Translation by Videtra Reynaldi
