COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THE NEW MUSIC PROJECT YOU’RE INVOLVED IN? WHAT IS NAQT VANE AND WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
NAQT VANE is the new project formed by me, Harukaze as a vocalist, and Hiroyuki SAWANO as a total producer. NAQT VANE began activities with the intention of breathing a new wind into each story and finding a place of our own.
I BELIEVE YOU BUILT A FOLLOWING ON TIKTOK AND YOUTUBE AS A VOCALIST. WHAT’S YOUR STORY WITH MUSIC AND WHAT MADE YOU USE THESE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO BOOST YOUR CAREER?
Since I was about three years old I always dreamt of being a singer. Through friends, I began to know about majoring in Music Business in college, and they also inspired me to put myself out more on social media. Posting on TikTok made me gain confidence in my singing skills that have taken me to the point I’m in now when more people are showing interest in what I do.
PRODUCER HIROYUKI SAWANO JOINS YOU IN THIS PROJECT. HOW DID YOU TWO MEET AND WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO START THIS PROJECT TOGETHER?
Upon my return to Japan, I decided not to chase my dream and I was actually working for a record label mainly looking for new potential artists who sought to go globally. While working for a company, I still uploaded videos of me singing on Instagram. Meanwhile, Mr. SAWANO was looking for a vocalist for the new project, which led Avex – the record label for NAQT VANE – to find me on Instagram and proceeded to contact me. That happened about a year ago, and we’ve been meeting up various times to prepare.
YOU’VE RECENTLY RELEASED YOUR DEBUT DIGITAL SINGLE ‘BREAK FREE’ WHICH IS QUITE POWERFUL. WHAT STORY DOES IT TELL? HOW WAS THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF THIS SONG?
Break Free is based on the themes of liberation and a new self. When I was drafting the lyrics I never wanted the song to be about love because I feel like every song out there right now is about love –not that I dislike them, in fact, I love them– but I wanted this song to be somewhat meaningful to myself. The fact I resume to chase my dream and started to challenge myself is reflected a lot in the lyrics of this song.
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE ARTWORK CREATED BY THE ART GROUP CLASSIC 6?
Classic 6 is the art collective team formed with many talented artists. They understood how important the wind and air concept was to us and mirrored that in the artworks and music videos. The process of making the cover art where my hair is flowing around was so interesting as we worked hard to make that hair flow naturally. I’m glad that classic 6 is involved in all the creative works.
YOU ALSO RELEASED SOME SINGLES AND AN EP PRIOR TO BEING PART OF THIS NEW MUSIC PROJECT. WHAT DID YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT DOING ALL THOSE PROJECTS SOLO AND HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THIS NEW PROJECT?
I have released some songs and an EP as a graduation project with people from college. I loved how all my thoughts and emotions were fully reflected in the songs. I found it a bit difficult to do everything on my own though, and I find myself being able to focus on the creations and singing as I have reliable people who I can trust in this project.
I’M SURE YOU’RE ALREADY WORKING ON THE NEXT SONGS YOU’LL PUT OUT WITH NAQT VANE. COULD YOU TEASE ANYTHING ABOUT THEM OR ANY FUTURE PROJECTS?
I’m excited to announce I’m going to be opening for Calum Scott’s Japan performance in his world tour. I’m also going to be singing Break Free and VANE for the first time. Our next single VANE will be released on November 2nd, and it is a theme song for Eastern Japan women’s marathon competition. It has more of a rock sound to it and it has a message for people not to listen to negative words and believe in themselves. We also have TOUCH as a third song and this is the ending theme song for the drama Koi to Dangan [Love and Bullet]. We are also working on new songs for future releases!
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THIS NEW FACET OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER? HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF NAQT VANE?
I want this project to be the new challenging chapter of my life and I’m sure this will change my life. The fact that I’m standing at the startline of my dream path is such an exciting event. As for NAQT VANE’s future, we want to go on a world tour and pack stadiums. I don’t just want to play at big venues, I want to see stadiums packed with people who create NAQT VANE together with us. You gotta manifest, and dream big, right?
MORE IMPORTANTLY, HOW HAVE YOUR FANS REACTED TO YOUR NEW MUSICAL PROJECT? ARE YOU RECEIVING GOOD FEEDBACK?
I have received so many compliments and good feedback from people all around Japan. In my hometown, Sapporo, it was #2 in the top 100 ranking, having #1 as Rina Sawayama. Seeing the most streamed countries on Spotify seems that people from all over the world are listening to us too so I’m super happy to see that.
TO CONCLUDE, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT NEXT FROM YOU AND NAQT VANE? WHAT WILL YOU RELEASE NEXT AND WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT?
I want everyone who is involved in this project to be TEAM NAQT VANE. Of course, if you are reading this, you are already NAQT VANE too! We want our team to evolve as we all keep challenging ourselves and trying to be better. Check out NAQT VANE’s social media for updates, I hope you like our new songs VANE and TOUCH soon to be released in the future!
