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MONIKA BIELSKYTE / COULD YOU TELL ME HOW MUSIC ENTERED YOUR LIFE?

JUN MIYAKE / MY FAMILY ENVIRONMENT WAS ALWAYS EXTREME: MY MOTHER WAS A BIG MUSIC FAN. HER LULLABY WAS MY FIRST MUSICAL EXPERIENCE. MY FATHER HATED SOUNDS IN GENERAL, INCLUDING MUSIC— NO SOUNDS OR CONVERSATIONS WERE ALLOWED AT OUR DINNER TABLE. HE WAS A CHEMIST RESEARCHER WHO WENT AWAY TO GERMANY FOR SOME YEARS WHEN I WAS 6. THAT WAS WHEN MY MOTHER BOUGHT A PIANO. I HATED PIANO LESSONS OR READING MUSIC BUT LOVED THE FEELING OF A MELODY STICKING INTO MY BRAIN THAT YOU CAN NEVER GET RID OF. I WAS SO OBSESSED BY IT. JAZZ STRUCK ME HARD WHEN I WAS 12, THE SOUND OF THE MUSIC, OF COURSE, BUT ALSO THE FACT THAT THE MUSIC IS IMPROVISED! I IMMEDIATELY FELL IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET & DECIDED TO BECOME A JAZZ MUSICIAN. HOW COULD I HAVE ONE OF THE LOUDEST INSTRUMENTS IN THE HOUSE WITH MY FATHER? IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. IF HE HEARD ME PRACTICE WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM WORK, HE WOULD YELL AT ME (WHICH WAS THE LOUDEST NOISE A HUMAN CAN EVER MAKE – WHICH WENT AGAINST HIS POLICY) & PUNCH ME IN THE FACE.

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MB / CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR YEARS AS A JAZZ TRUMPETER? WHAT WERE THE REASONS FOR YOUR DECISION TO GO TO NEW YORK & THEN, 5 YEARS LATER, TO LEAVE IT?

JM / FROM THE AGE OF 14, I ISOLATED MYSELF FROM ALL MUSIC BUT JAZZ. THAT LASTED FOR 7 YEARS. AS MY ENVIRONMENT WAS NOT MUSICAL, I DECIDED TO MEET TERUMASA HINO, THE TOP JAZZ TRUMPETER IN JAPAN WHO WAS ABOUT TO MOVE TO NY AT THAT TIME, TO ASK FOR HIS ADVICE. I WAS 17 THEN, & HE TESTED ME & SUGGESTED THAT I GO TO THE US WITH HIM, WHERE JAZZ WAS BORN & STILL LIVING. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, I ENDED UP GOING TO BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC, THOUGH IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE MY PARENTS. I KEPT GOING BACK & FORTH BETWEEN HINO’S (NY) & SCHOOL (BOSTON) FOR 4 YEARS & MOVED TO NY AFTER SCHOOL. MY ENTIRE TIME WAS USED FOR PRACTICE & PLAY WHILE I WAS THERE, TRYING HARD TO BECOME A PRO. JAZZ WAS STILL EXPERIMENTAL, AN ON-GOING MUSIC IN THE 70’S. I WAS SO THRILLED BY THE EVOLUTION THAT WAS BEING MADE DAY BY DAY & THE CHANCES TO COMBINE IT WITH OTHER MUSIC.
BY THE TIME I MOVED TO NY, I WAS WORKING CONSISTENTLY IN JAZZ CLUBS & RADIO STATIONS BUT WITHOUT A UNION CARD. IT WAS WHEN ‘FUSION’ MUSIC BECAME POPULAR & ALL OF MY JAPANESE MUSICIAN FRIENDS WERE BECOMING STARS, WHICH CONCERNED ME, WHETHER I SHOULD TAKE A CHANCE TO GO BACK TO JAPAN & GET MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO PLAY. BEFORE I CAME TO A CONCLUSION, I GOT FUNDING FOR MY COMPOSITIONS IN A COMPETITION BY THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, & THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE TO BUY A RETURN FLIGHT TICKET TO TOKYO WHERE I HADN’T BEEN BACK FOR 5 YEARS.
JUST BEFORE I LEFT FOR TOKYO, THERE WAS A MILES DAVIS COMEBACK CONCERT. I WAS SO EXCITED TO LISTEN TO HIS NEW INNOVATIONS AFTER A LONG BREAK BUT HE DIDN’T SHOW ME ANYTHING NEW AT ALL. I WAS QUITE SHOCKED THAT EVEN A SUPER GENIUS LIKE HIM COULDN’T SHOW US A NEW DIRECTION, & REALIZED JAZZ WAS OVER……….OR, SATURATED I SHOULD SAY. ACTUALLY THIS WAS WHEN MY EAR OPENED UP FOR OTHER MUSIC. & YET I WENT HOME WITH A BROKEN HEART. I LOVED JAZZ BECAUSE IT WAS AN ON-GOING MUSIC THAT EVOLVED DAY BY DAY… & THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE I COULD DO… I STARTED TO WORK AS A JAZZ TRUMPETER IN TOKYO. IMMEDIATELY, I WAS GIVEN A CHANCE TO RECORD MY OWN ALBUM WITH TOP MUSICIANS LIKE RON CARTER, AL FOSTER, ROLAND HANNA, MICHAEL BREAKER, DAVID SANBORN. THOUGH THE CHANCES WERE BIG, I WAS STILL VERY CONCERNED ABOUT PLAYING MUSIC THAT WAS FINISHED FOR ME.

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MB / CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH ROBERT WILSON?

JM / IN 2002, BOB WAS ASKED TO CREATE A PIECE ABOUT THE LIFE OF ARCHITECT ARNE JACOBSEN & I WAS ASKED TO BE MUSIC DIRECTOR. THE PRODUCTION WAS HELD IN COPENHAGEN & THE PIECE PLAYED AT THE BEAUTIFUL THEATER WHICH ARNE DESIGNED. BOB WORKS QUITE INTENSIVELY. I WAS ESPECIALLY IMPRESSED BY HIS OBSESSION FOR LIGHTING. AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE HIS SENSE OF BEAUTY & SIMPLICITY. IT WAS THE FIRST THEATER PIECE I WORKED ON & I BECAME A BIG FAN OF THEATER PRODUCTION. IT WAS SOMETHING I NEVER EXPERIENCED IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, TO SEE HOW MANY TALENTED ARTISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD GET TOGETHER & FOCUS ON ONE PROJECT, WORKING TOWARD A SPECIFIC GOAL.
I LOVE BOB’S WOYZECK AMONG THE PIECES I’VE SEEN. THE WHOLE VISUAL IS INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL & MATCHES PERFECTLY WITH THE STORY. AND THE MUSIC. TOM WAITS’S AND KATHLEEN BRENNAN’S WRITING OF COURSE, BUT THE BAND WHO PLAYS THEIR MUSIC IS ALSO EXTRAORDINARY, THEY USE VERY REMARKABLE INSTRUMENTS AND CARE SO MUCH ABOUT THE SONIC QUALITY IN PRESENTING THE RETRO-FUTURISTIC DECADENT SOUNDS. I LIKE WATCHING BOB’S PRODUCTION IN THE DARK THEATER. HE LIMITS ALL PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS WHEN HE IS FIXING THE LIGHTS. FOR HOURS AND DAYS, THE MUSICIANS HAVE TO SIT THERE WITHOUT MAKING ANY SOUNDS. THOUGH IT ISN’T A PLEASURE FOR THE REST OF US DURING THOSE MOMENTS, IT’S DEFINITELY WORTH SUFFERING THROUGH WHEN YOU SEE HOW BEAUTIFULLY IT COMES OUT.

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MB / & YOUR COLLABORATION WITH PINA BAUSCH. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM HER?

JM / IT WAS A HAPPY SURPRISE WHEN I GOT AN INTERNATIONAL CALL FROM WUPPERTAL SAYING ‘COULD YOU VERIFY IF THIS MUSIC IS YOURS? & WHAT’S THE TITLE OF IT?’ THAT WAS ONE OF PINA’S MUSIC DIRECTORS, ANDREAS. SINCE THEN, WE SHARE VALUABLE TIME WHENEVER THEY COME TO TOKYO OR PARIS. I FEEL LIKE A SMALL PART OF THEIR COMPANY.
I’M STILL IN PAIN, SUCH A BIG LOSS. PINA IS SO SPECIAL TO ME. SO MUCH EMOTIONAL INFORMATION IN HER PIECES. THROUGH SIMPLE MOVEMENTS, SHE MAKES ME CRY, EVEN HOURS AFTER SEEING THE SHOW. ALL OF HER WORK IS FANTASTIC. ESPECIALLY WHEN I SAW HER DANCE ‘CAFE MULLER’, SHE MADE ME CRY. I WAS ALSO DEEPLY MOVED BY TWO SCENES IN A DOCUMENTARY CALLED ‘COFFEE WITH PINA’ BY LEE YANOR. ONE IS WHEN PINA DANCES ALONE IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR. ANOTHER IS WHEN SHE PLAYS AND DANCES WITH BARTABAS’S WHITE HORSE. SO BEAUTIFUL. BEAUTY, FEELINGS, EXPRESSIONS, BODY, LIFE, MUSIC, LOVE. I LEARNED EVERYTHING FROM PINA. I REMEMBER A PHONE CONVERSATION WITH PINA WHILE I WAS COMPILING THE ‘VOLLMOND’ SOUND TRACK, WHICH IS THE VERY FIRST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM OF PINA’S PIECE EVER PRODUCED. SHE ASKED ME ‘JUN, IS THIS FOR SALE? I NEVER UNDERSTAND THAT TERM.’





THE ENTIRE ARTICLE ON JUN MIYAKE WITH VISUALS BY JEAN-PAUL GOUDE & AN EXCLUSIVE 2 PAGES INTERVIEW (EXTRACT ABOVE) BETWEEN JUN & MONIKA BIELSKYTE ONLY IN THE PRINTED EDITION OF SOME/THINGS MAGAZINE ISSUE002 / THE BLACK BOOK