Symbiosis 71 – John Chantler

Hi folks,

I’m very happy to have John Chantler in the mix for episode 71. John runs Room40 with Lawrence English and they are touring the country with Tujiko Noriko this month. You can check out their Room40 release here.

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Download the mp3.

Check out the interview with Tujiko Noriko below..

Cheers,

Simon

You are currently living in Paris. How is life there compared to Japan and why did you move?

A love story brought me to Paris.

Also at that time, or maybe always, I wanted to change the mood and wanted to move to somewhere new…somewhere maybe in Europe. So that’s what I did! I didn’t move there for my music work. It didn’t need to be Paris for me to make music and it didn’t mean that i didn’t like Japan any more. In fact I always love it there and i always feel comfortable very much there.

Do you think that being in France instead of Japan affects your music?

Yes, maybe it does, .but i don’t know exactly how. There are so many elements which affect me, and in that way many elements that maybe affect my music as well…

You are just about to tour Australia as part of your trio with Lawrence English and John Chantler. How do you think the trio differs from your solo work?

It sounds more simple.

It sounds more open.

It sounds less solo.

Collaboration has formed a large part of your career so far. Why is that?

It just happened, it wasn’t something I planned on too much. Im quite a ‘yes’ person for collaborations. I like the whole experience and adventure of it. Making music alone, singing alone, making words by myself, doing concerts alone, all those alone process made me fell happy to do works with others. That’s why I’ve been so open to it over the years.

Make Me Hard is one of my favourite albums of the last decade. What would you say is your favourite release that you have put out?

My favorite is different depending on the moment. I like Make Me Hard too. I also like From Tokyo To Niagara too. But really it just depends on my mood.

Do you think becoming a mother has influenced your music?

I guess so. Well i haven’t make so much music after i became a mother so i don’t know really. I’ll make my new solo album next year finally. I like to work slowly and just see what happens, let things come naturally and when the time is right.

Tell us about a favourite live experience that you have had or a funny story from touring.

I always remember my concerts in China. I loooove asia. Yes, i’m an asian.  What was funny was when i played in Guangzhou, in this funny venue – a bar – where there was striptease before my show. As i love watching striptease, i was happy for that.

Is it true that you have been working on some experimental short movies? Would you like to make a feature film some day? Can people see your work online?

Yes, i made two movies. One is middle length, the other one is feature length. At the moment I am preparing my 3rd film. It’s taking some time, but I am looking forward to working on it! You can’t see them online, I just showed them in some screenings. Maybe someday i’ll expose them more.

What are your plans for 2011?

A solo album, writing a film to be done, so already that is quite a bit for me. There are two releases of collaboration albums which are also waiting. A collaboration movie is waiting to go forward. Also I wanna do south east Asia tour. So plenty to keep me busy.

Tujiko Noriko Tour 2010
(presented by Room40)

dec 4 – melbourne, empress hotel (Click here for tickets)
dec 5 – byron bay, Sound Crucible
dec 7 – perth, club zho at The Bakery
dec 9 – brisbane, judith wright centre (Click here for more info)
dec 10 – cairns, mono.kick at kickarts