To read part 1, click here.
Cendrine Marrouat: How have Canadian audiences reacted to your work? Have you noticed a difference with Japanese audiences?
Laurier Tiernan: Nature Airliner haven't played any Canadian concerts so far, although we'd like to come do some touring over there a.s.a.p. In terms of listeners, I guess we get more responses to the "feel" of what we do from Japanese listeners, and Canadian fans seem to be more enthusiastic about the lyrics, as well as Eiko's voice.
Eiko Hosaka Tiernan: It's like Laurier said.
CM: When I listen to your music, I feel that there is a lot of chemistry between the two of you. How do you usually work together?
LT: Well, I write the bulk of the lyrics and music, because Eiko doesn't seem to have much interest in that at this point, although we did co-write "Merry Christmas (to Our Loved Ones)" equally. Once a song is written, I play it for Eiko or send her a demo, and then if she'd like to sing it, we go from there. The next step is letting her find herself in the song. I only choose to work with artists whom I would trust with my child (a song), and so I like them to define their own relationship to that song. So, Eiko finds her own delivery and sometimes changes a melody or suggests a lyric change here or there. We haven't had any creative differences so far, on songs she's freely chosen to sing. I think she's a genius, and so generally more than 99% of what she delivers is gold.
EHT: Since I'm not interested in composing music or writing lyrics, I only sing what I like from what he writes. I choose the songs I want to sing from the bulk of what he writes and I say "no" to the songs I don't want to do.
CM: What do you wish to achieve with your music?
LT: Ideally, I'd like to be someone like Cole Porter, Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, someone who writes material that is so good that people all over the world want to cover it for decades after it's written. Short of that, I'd also be happy for my music to simply afford me my last two big dreams: a villa on a stretch of private beach, and a constant income for myself and my loved ones.
EHT: Since music is not my first priority, I just accomplish the things that I can, one by one.
CM: As an independent band, what are the main challenges that you encounter?
LT: Well, in Japan the entertainment media are largely controlled by the major labels who lobby them with their advertising dollars. Since radio and television are the main springboards to success, that's a challenge we have to work on. We're doing well though, with interest from abroad, oddly enough though. Eiko did a one-hour interview with a Norwegian TV show a few weeks ago, and just this week a handful of directors from around the globe sent us emails offering to make music videos for us.
EHT: How we deliver music to people is the biggest challenge so far. We really don't need a major label contact, with today's technology, but since we have so many choices in terms of distribution online, it makes independent distribution less effective. Since there are so many methods to choose from, it may weaken the effect. We are still figuring out how we should send our music out to the world.
CM: What is next for you?
LT: The full album is definitely in our sights. We have a tentative album cover and title, but they're confidential for now. Apart from that, releasing music videos as they get completed, getting more airplay abroad and more touring abroad. I think those are the plans for the foreseeable future.
EHT: I delegate that type of things to Laurier.
CM: Where can people find more information on you and your work?
LT: Our two main web pages are ReverbNation and Facebook. We also have a Myspace page but we basically never use it.
EHT: All of our recordings are also available through iTunes and all the other major online retailers.
CM: Any last words?
LT: I'd like to thank you, Cendrine for this interview, and I'd also like to thank anyone who is reading this. May you all have your best year so far, in 2011.
EHT: Thanks for this interview.
End of the interview.
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Cendrine Marrouat is a freelance writer/reviewer, blogger, published author and translator living in Canada. Official Website: http://www.cendrinemarrouat.com
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