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Pop unit mimimemeMIMI is a good place to start asking questions. Its members, singer-songwriter Yuka and illustrator Chamooi, bonded in college over a shared love of anime aesthetics. The duo prefer to shy away from the media and let their art do the talking for them, but MTV 81 managed to meet Yuka face-to-face to discuss the next evolution of music videos, the secret to a successful collaboration, and the importance of staying analog in a digital world.
MTV 81: mimimemeMIMI is a bit of a mouthful. Can you break it down for us?
Yuka: The unit is a collaboration between my singing and Chamooi’s illustrations. “Mimi” is Japanese for “ear,” and “meme” is a cute way to say “eyes,” so the concept of audiovisual music is ingrained into our name.
M: Music video directors have been merging sound with sight since the 1980s. Likewise, Vocaloid producers often team up with illustrators and animators. What sets your concept of audiovisual music apart?
Y: In Japan, the word for music video is “PV” – or promotional video. The video is there to sell the music, so the visuals are more like a freebie packaged with the main product. We wanted to do something different, where the music and visuals are equally important.
M: The two components appear to fit together seamlessly.
Y: The music video isn’t half my song and half Chamooi’s art--rather, both elements are a complete whole in themselves, so when you put them together the result is twice what you started with. Thanks to our strong chemistry we can stay true to ourselves without worrying about what the other is doing.
M: As a singer-songwriter, why would you choose to hide your face?
Y: I want the focus to be completely on the music and art to help the audience get lost inside the world we’ve built. There’s recurring motifs in the video timed to the music, so when the chorus repeats, the visuals rhyme as well. Likewise, the music video’s aren’t self-contained--each one is a chapter in an ongoing story that builds upon itself.
Mimi, the black-haired heroine, is modeled after me, but the style of the video comes from Chamooi’s designs. The track came first, then Chamooi came up with a cute and poppy aesthetic to match the wistful, yet positive lyrics.
M: Chamooi is active in PixiV, a Japanese online community for artists. Do you think the Internet helped launch the group?
Y: Sites such as YouTube are wonderful tools and the Internet is indispensable. This interview wouldn’t be possible without it! But at the same time, physical media is still important - there’s something special about opening a CD case and looking through the lyric book, for example.
M: So you’re still holding onto the analog side of things.
Y: Don’t get me wrong, I love surfing the Net! But when it comes to music, being there in person is the best way to get the message of my song across.
If we do perform live, which I think we should, our shows would need to find a way to mix the real world with Chamooi’s illustrations and my music--something that engages the audience from all directions.
For the time being, the focus should stay on Mimi. Japanese Internet culture loves to create fan art of existing characters. I want to see how people abroad interpret her!
Produced by MTV 81
