224 JUN MIYAKE / STOLEN FROM STRANGERS

/../

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.

/../

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.

/../

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