Miki Saito Interview - The Final on Vinyl Podcast

Had a great conversation with Miki Saito discussing her release, Tales of Shinobue, and how it all began.

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

Transcript

Speaker 0:14

Hello everyone, this is Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck with The K Podcast, and today we are with Mickey Siento, who released Tales of Shinobu. I don't think I said that right. I'm trying, but she released this album back in May, and um it's the Shinobu flute. Shinobu. And that's a traditional Japanese flute. And um I am very intrigued by your music and your story because uh you released your first single at 60 years old. And I'd be very interested to know um more about your life and and your travels and how you got to this point and um what happened to make all this this happen, you know, create all this music and how long were you playing the flute before you decided you were ready and things of that nature. Love to hear more.

Speaker 1 1:13

Well, thank you so much. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me uh on this podcast. I've been listening to the podcast, it's a wonderful podcast, so I'm really honored to be here today. Thank you. Um thank you. So um well I started, I was born and raised in Yokohama, Japan, and I started uh playing the piano when I was four. And of course, being in Japan, I was surrounded by traditional Japanese music as um like it was a way of life, like festivals, like a summer of festivals or New Year's. Around the New Year's time they would play Japanese uh traditional music on TV or um things of not nature and a lot of lullabies and Japanese l uh people love to sing. Um so it was grained ingrained to me uh growing up in Japan. And I also listened to a lot of Japanese pop music when I was uh kid. And then when I was twelve, I actually got accepted to uh Japanese music school studying uh as a pianist. So I studied classical pianist, uh piano literatures, um, like Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, that type of thing for six years, junior high and high school. And during that time I also did a lot of ear training or music theory, all that whole nine yards. And then when I was like um high school, I started really listening to American and British bands, like pop or rock, New Wave, whatever. You know, I I loved the police and the pretenders, American band from Akron, Ohio. I lived in Ohio for yes as well. I loved Chrissy Hind as a high schooler. Also loved jazz. Um so I was listening to all kinds of music. I was always listening to music. I loved it, uh or music videos. MTV was getting so popular when I was in high school. I watched that for uh hours every day. And then um I moved to the United States when I was nineteen to study music in American college. Uh and I studied piano and voice and I actually ended up getting a master's degree in opera performance in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I know you're in Boston, Massachusetts. Oh wow. But yeah, yes, I lived in I lived in South Weymouth, Massachusetts for three years. And so I got my master's degree in the Boston area. And then at that time I was composing. Well, I wasn't composing actively because I just thought like, you know well, I always compose. I actually started composed improvise when I was a kid on the piano. Like I didn't want to practice, so so I was just like make up some stuff and my mom thought I was practicing but I wasn't. So that was that's how I just play around on the piano and that's how I started composing, I guess improvising. And but I I was I started composing like a little bit seriously when I was a little older, actually. Um I got my master's degree in opera, so I was singing in Clevel with Cleveland Opera. I I lived in Ohio for 20 years or so. So um but at the same time I was I started composing and one of the compositions that I started like in 2020 or something. It got premiered in Bolchoy Theater of Theater of Belarus of all the places. Um so I was doing that, but it was a little classical music that that I was doing composing. And then I know this is such a long story. Sorry. But so during the pandemic, 2020, uh, even prior to pandemic, um, because I was Jap I I am Japanese and I'm a musician, so people started asking me, Well, can you play Japanese music? So I was like, Well, I guess I can sing Japanese music. I you know, I I of course I can sing Japanese music and and I was making some like Japanese traditional uh sound with a synthesizer and stuff like that, and just like doing Japanese music, the the older songs that I knew. But I always thought I I wish I could bring the real live traditional Japanese instrument. That'd be so awesome. So when the pandemic happened and I I wasn't teaching in person and uh I had more time, I decided that I'm going to play uh learn Shinobue, the Japanese bamboo flute. And I actually got one online and I found uh I found wonderful teachers uh online. So that's when I actually started playing Japanese bamboo flute. But I so it's not that it's pretty recent, but during pandemic, I did not leave the house. So I practiced a lot. So I just like I was like back back to being the Japanese or the music students in like music conservatory or something. I was just like, you know, uh lock myself in in the house literally, and just practice and practice for hours and you know, research and research and you know. So I just did that. And my teacher is awesome, his name is Mr. Bunta Sato. He actually is a well-known uh Sunobe player, and he actually played in Carnegie Hall, uh representing Japan, um before the pandemic, I believe that was. And so I'm really fortunate to have a really great teacher. Um so everything I learned, I learned from him uh online through Zoom lessons. Oh, I did see uh I I've s I've met him. I've had in-person lessons before. Maybe maybe not not many though, like two or three times maybe. So we still meet pretty much every week and do the Zoom lessons. Um so that was when I was fifty-four years old, I first touched the Shinabue. Oh yes. So and then I created that uh single and released it on my birth month, uh uh uh 60 years old birth month, uh November of last year. And then now I have a album. So I really want to kinda uh tell everybody that it's never too late to start something and go for it, you know?

Speaker 8:42

Yeah, I love that. And you know, that's quite a history, it's a lifelong history of of music and training that's behind you that I was totally unaware of, and it's good to know this. Now, is this your actual your first recording that you've put out there? Or is there more backlog of different things that you've been a part of that you could uh talk about?

Speaker 1 9:06

No, this is my first album. I I think I had I had an EP, but literally that EP, I just wanted to try how I just wanted to learn how to put stuff on Spotify and stuff like that. So I didn't even use my n my name. So this is my real first project ever. Wow. Uh that's re that's recording. I mean I was always recording because I started a YouTube channel for Shinobue. Um so I was always recording, uh but recording for you like YouTube, not distributing through uh Spotify that the all those outlets. I did I did not do that.

Speaker 9:47

I see. So what do you listen to? Do you ever listen to any Kataro or anything like that? Did people like that inspire you?

Speaker 1 9:56

Katero, I'm sure I I'm sorry, I don't know.

Speaker 9:59

Well you'll have to check out Kataro. Make sure you do that. I mean, there's gotta be some artists that you've heard over the years that really inspired you, or any in particular you'd like to mention?

Speaker 1 10:10

Oh, I mean, I listen to everything. Uh uh like a lot not Katar, I guess. But um I started out listening to Japanese music and then Japanese I love Japanese folk songs. In terms of uh uh pop, I love all kinds of pop music. Um you know, like just a lot of even like R and B to uh rap to everything. You know, and that's correct. Yes. I listen to a lot of stuff.

Speaker 10:46

So the the album you made is far removed from that type of music, which I find interesting that that's uh you'd have such an eclectic range of interest and enlisted experiences and the way you approached your album. So w when you were thinking about actually recording, uh what was your process? How long did it take and then you know did you think about you know what else you wanted to add um you know to the flu? Obviously there's piano synths and uh things of that nature, but um what was your process going into this and and how long did it take you?

Speaker 1 11:27

Um everything in on this album started out with uh improvisation, actually. I for this one um I did not sit down and compose, compose. Um so yeah, so everything is improvisational and it's like my creative process is like going to fishing. So I pick it up and then say, okay, I'm gonna make music. They have no idea what will come out. Like if you go to just fishing, you don't know if you're gonna get anything, like catch anything. Or you catch a big one or you catch a small one or you have like you don't you can't plan anything. And it's like that with my music. I feel like it's a gift that just comes and then it's there outside of myself. It it does not come from my head. If it does if it comes from my head, yeah. If it comes from my head, it's just I don't know, it's not it's not it's not that good. I it's just like it's not very authentic.

Speaker 12:41

It doesn't feel natural coming from the head, it's gotta come from the soul and just flow, right?

Speaker 1 12:45

Exactly. If only it comes from my head, it just feels forced is what it is. It just feels forced. And so it's like I pick up my snow and then it just what comes out and then I would record that. And then then I might like do a like a patchwork quilt type thing later. You know, just oh I like this part, and then I put this part over here, blah blah blah. That that kind of stuff I I do. A lot of stuff that I did for this album, it's like one t shot through. And it was sometimes difficult because at that moment the mic's mic uh position was not that good and then the audio quality was not that good or something. And I oh I wanna I wanna um re-record this. And it's improvisation, so it's really hard to r recreate. So actually like I I l you know uh one of those tracks, I listened to what I played and I wrote it down on a sheet sheet of music, you know, uh uh cheap music. I wrote it down and well, I'm gonna play it just like it, and it's gonna be fine. And I played it and then the original sounded mystical, and then the this new one sounded refreshing. So I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, like it's improv it's not that moment I created the and it it's very hard to recreate recreate. So in that way it was kind of hard. Um especially because it was my first album and I was still com experimenting with the sound acoustic, like which microphone should I use and which environment should I be when I might you know, recording all that. So it um it was kind of hard in that way, but yeah, every but everything pretty much was like a original take. I I try to use as much as possible. Um so it did not take that long. However, the what was really difficult or it what took long is the mixing. And then I actually mastered everything by myself, but I ended up asking master master and engineer later, um Andre Andres Mayo. Um so I did I did the mastering to see what kind of thing I could do and then I uh ended up asking but so that part the mixing and mastering fit the m uh the longest. So I think altogether maybe five months or so maybe. I wanna say not that much.

Speaker 15:38

Put together all my music if you think about it. You know?

Speaker 1 15:42

Yes. Yeah, and I wasn't working on it. Yeah, I wasn't working on it the whole time either, so off and off, yeah. Yes, on off yeah, on and off because I still teach and stuff.

Speaker 15:56

Oh you oh you teach as well. Oh, okay. I didn't know.

Speaker 1 15:59

I teach, yes.

Speaker 16:01

Yes, I love teaching.

Speaker 1 16:04

I I do Shinobue. Oh, okay. Yes. Wow. I oh yes. Um teaching is very, very important to me. Um I want to share this instrument with the whole world. It just sounds kind of ridiculous. But um I feel that this is a very good instrument for even people outside Japan to experience. Because I think a lot of people are interested in it. Yes, a lot of people are interested in in Japanese culture and Japanese music, but people most people are listening. And then even some some of the music that called Japanese, it's not really authentic Japanese music. But this is uh mus uh instrument that's been around for generations in Japan and different traditions and ceremonies, religious ceremonies, the festivals uh in different regions have different types of this flutes. And and it's easy to purchase it because it's small, it's portable, and it's not that expensive. Um so it's a very good way to actually not just listen but participate and create Japanese music. And even it can be anime, you know, a lot of young kids love Japanese anime, the animation, and the theme songs and things like that. You know, you can play that type of thing with this too. It's very versatile, extremely versatile. So I'm really a big uh uh I'm really big on you know, sharing this uh instrument with the world. And so when I start uh I started it uh playing in 2020 and in 2022 I started a YouTube channel dedicated to this obscure instrument. And then it's actually surviving, and I have over 4,000 subscribers right now. And I uh yes, I upload every week at least, once a week, if sometimes every day, and I do a lot of like different things from Japanese folks tune to anime theme song to video game theme song to a lot of like and and tutorials of course. So I'm really working hard to spread the making bringing more awareness to this wonderful instrument. And I uh submitted my album for global music, I mean for the Grammys, and uh in the category of global music uh album and for for consideration. And that another reason well, really a big reason why I did this is to bring more awareness to Shinobue. And that is another reason why I put this word, Shinobue, to the title. So if somebody sees the title, Tales of Shinobue, I want people to think, what's Shinobue? And so that they might look it up. And I have a website dedicated to Shinobue, um, pages that talk about Shinobue, how you can purchase it, how you can learn it. Here are the videos I created. So it's all free, the YouTube, of course. So I would love everybody to, you know, if they're you know interested in Japanese culture, please, you know, try this instrument. Many people who've never even played any instrument are learning this and really doing well. I I'm surprised myself that how how good they're doing.

Speaker 20:06

Well, Mickey, it's uh been a pleasure speaking with you so much for this process and getting the word out there. And um, you know, if you decide to record again, I hope to hear from you and we can do this again sometime.

Speaker 1 20:21

Thank you so much, Keith. It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 20:24

You take care now. Okay.

Speaker 1 20:26

Okay, thank you. Bye bye.

Speaker 20:27

Bye bye.