Kaya
Interview by Shattered Tranquility
December 25, 2009
In 2002, Kaya made his vocal debut in the Mana produced two-man unit, Schwarz Stein. In 2004, Schwarz Stein disbanded, and departing from the label the band was signed to, Kaya became a free singer.
Using “aesthetics” as his main theme, Kaya conducts his activities with the goals of “the revolution of the aesthetic senses” and the “liberation of sexuality” in mind, and manages his own lyrics, CD jacket designs, make-up and costume designs as well as the organization and production of his live shows.
In 2006, Kaya’s solo career took off and from 2006 until April 2008, he released a total of seven pieces of work. His major debut occurred on April 23rd, 2008 with the release of his single, 「チョコラ」 (Chocolat). Since then, he has released two more singles, one mini-album, one full album and a DVD.
S-T.net: What is ‘music’ to you?
Kaya: That’s a really big question! It’s an element that you need to live, just like air and water. It’s also my weapon.
S-T.net: Where do you get your inspiration?
Kaya: From everything I that see and every sound that I hear. And also from love, because I have over 100 darlings (Laughs).
S-T.net: Aww. (Laughs)
S-T.net: When did you decide that you wanted to be a professional singer?
Kaya: When I was three years old. I performed at a festival in my hometown, and sang under the spotlight for the first time. From that day on, I wanted to be in the spotlight. That was the day I decided I wanted to become a professional singer.
S-T.net: Did your parents’ taste in music have an influence on you?
Kaya: Definitely. Mainly from my mother.
S-T.net: How do you describe your live shows?
Kaya: Like in a phrase?
S-T.net: Yes.
Kaya: Kaleidoscope.
S-T.net: When you’re on stage, what do you pay the most attention to?
Kaya: The actual space and atmosphere. For example, if I go to the right hand side of the stage, I want to make sure I spread my arms to the left side, because I think of the stage as a painting or a picture, and I try to keep the balance. Perspective wise, I look at each and everybody’s smiles. It might be impossible, but I try to see everyone’s face.
S-T.net: What’s your favourite song to perform live?
Kaya: There are a lot of songs that I love performing, but because I can become one with everyone, 「Glitter Arch」is one of the main ones and personally, I like playing「傀儡」(Kugutsu) as well.
S-T.net: How did you find your back-up dancers?
Kaya: It’s a very strange relationship… for many of them, they were friends of friends, and it just expanded.
S-T.net: Who comes up with the dance moves?
Kaya: The choreography is done by the head dancer, Yui. But I do the directing. So, the producing is done by me, but the detailed choreography is done by Yui.
S-T.net: Where would you most like to perform?
Kaya: Instead of a specific place, I want to be able to perform all over the world.
S-T.net: Would you like to do a world tour someday?
Kaya: I do! I definitely would love to do that.
S-T.net: What is your most memorable encounter with a fan?
Kaya: There are too many things… pretty much everything! Each and every live is memorable.
S-T.net: We always have Kaya on our iPods, we want to know what’s on yours!
Kaya: I have a lot of different types of music on it, but chanson, classical music and a lot of different club music is on it.
S-T.net: You mentioned before that you wanted to sing songs from musicals… do you think you will make an album for that? Especially for the Meikyoku series?
Kaya: I definitely do want to make something like that, because I love musicals. For example, I love 「The Sound of Music」 and I love the songs from 「My Fair Lady」. So, that would be something that I would love to do some day.
S-T.net: Since you worked with Hora in the past, do you have any plans to collaborate with him in the future?
Kaya: Hora is actually focusing on being a composer now, so I’m interested in doing something together, but it’s more about what Hora would say. But if I got a chance, I’d love to do it.
S-T.net: Are there any other artists that you haven’t worked with that you’d like to work with?
Kaya: There are a lot, but if possible, I would like to work with 「Dead or Alive」.
S-T.net: You change your style from release to release. How do you decide on your look?
Kaya: Usually, what happens is that there’s the piece… so, for example, for Ophelia, I put it together with what I thought would fit to be Ophelia’s outfit, with makeup and everything. Then there’s Glitter Arch, which is going to have a totally different feel. There’s always the piece, and then from there everything gets put into the look.
S-T.net: Who makes your costumes?
Kaya: I’ve actually had a lot of different people make costumes for me, but lately I’ve been using just one person. The designer, Miyake Chikako. She has made costumes for Matenrou Opera, DELUHI, Sugar, RENTRER EN SOI and earlier, Dir en grey.
S-T.net: What is your favourite personal style?
Kaya: I like Baby the Stars Shine Bright has a line called Alice and the Pirates, and what I’m wearing right now is from Alice. When I’m at home, I like to have a ‘rough’ outfit, because it’s not too forming to the body. On stage, I’m always tied up in a corset, so when I’m at home…
S-T.net: Do you ever see yourself designing clothes or jewelry for other artists?
Kaya: Right now, I can’t imagine myself doing something like that. But maybe ten years from now, I could be doing such thing.
S-T.net: Do you have any plans of making a new PV?
Kaya: Unfortunately, as of right now we don’t have any plans of doing a new one. But I would love to make one.
S-T.net: What do you do on your days off?
Kaya: Recently, I haven’t really had any off days. But before, I used to go to clubs, and Disney Land.
S-T.net: Do you have any bad habits? Could you name three of them?
Kaya: I’m sure I have a lot, but I can’t really think of any… If there’s a beautiful person, I just want to touch them. But the other two… I can’t really think of.
S-T.net: If you could be another famous person for one day, who would you be?
Kaya: There isn’t a specific person I’d want to be, I want to stay Kaya.
S-T.net: That’s the best. (Laughs)
Kaya: (Laughs)
S-T.net: What’s next for you?
Kaya: Since this summer, I’ve been creating a Prince Kaya and a Princess Kaya. You actually got a bit of a preview of Prince Kaya last night. I want to start making a love story between the two of them, so that’s something that I’ll focus on for a while.
S-T.net: Could you please give a message to your fans!
Kaya: Hi, I’m Kaya! Thank you so much for always cheering me on. From here on in, I’ll be performing in different shapes and forms, so please keep looking after me! I would love to come to America again, so if you get a chance please come see my performance. Thank you so much! I love you all!
・ Kaya’s Official Site
・ Kaya’s Offcial Blog, Photo & Movie
・ Kaya on Twitter
Originally published by Shattered Tranquility. Reprinted with permission.
