It’s a Good Day at Beyond Senpai as we are joined by J-pop artist MIKUROMIKA. With her catchy dance fusion vibes ready to take over your playlist, Mika gives us the low down on her rise to J-pop stardom.

Beyond Senpai~ Welcome to Beyond Senpai, please introduce yourself.

Mika~Hi! My name is MIKUROMIKA. I’m a Japanese pop singer-songwriter
based in Canada and Japan. My signature concept is Japanese FASHION×MUSIC with energetic, feel-good music, inspirational lyrics and colourful performance.

BS~ Congratulations on joining the Setsuzoku Records roster! How did this partnership come about?

M~ I’m a singer-songwriter and I’m an overseas manager at the Japan Artist Association so I’m supporting Japanese artists who want to share their art and music to outside of Japan. I met Setsuzoku Records through online conference meetings.

I’m really happy that they love my music and believe in my potential!

BS~ What inspired you to become a J-pop artist? And does your sense of fashion play a part in your overall musical style?

M~ I wanted to be a J-pop singer in Japan because I want to help and cheer up people with my music and performance. But since I had cancer, my passion for music became stronger. I want to inspire people to chase their dreams.

Also my fashion style is very connected to my music.
I’m trying to express a more artistic sense through music and fashion and not just music.

BS~ You recently released a new single, Good Day, and the B side Baby, can you tell us the inspiration for these tracks?

M~ My song Good Day was inspired by a picture of the Japanese photopgrapher/artist Yoshitaka Goto and it’s a song about a princess who wants to escape from her castle to learn what real life is.

For the song Baby I was inspired by tropical house music which is a style I love and I wanted to combine it with the sounds of Japanese instruments. The story came from a real relationship experience.

BS~ You have a unique sound to your music, what is your creative process and what is it like working alongside international producers?

M~ Thank you so much! I’m working with international sound producers and I like that because even though I make J-pop, it is never going to be only mainstream J-pop. My sound producers are like spice in cooking food so my music is like “Japanese fusion.”

Our native languages are different so then sometimes I feel it is difficult to explain small details, but we have music as a language. So somehow we can communicate well 🙂

BS~ How do you feel about breaking into the international scene?

M~ I’m just soooo excited. Music is a communication tool and I’m sure that when I’m singing in Japanese you guys can feel my emotions.

I really want to perform as much as possible outside of Japan. Taking my music to the world is my dream!

BS~ Are there any venues or countries you would perform live in? Is there an artist you would like to collaborate with?

M~ Now is difficult to perform in venues because of COVID, but I would love to perform in the UK which is my dream.

Also I would love to collaborate with Rina Sawayama. I love her music and I respect her a lot.

BS~ You love using social media to connect with your fans, especially Instagram live, what do you enjoy most about this?

M~ I’ve been doing livestreams on Instagram for two years and I’m really enjoying it because I can communicate directly with my fans.

Every time I learn something new about who is listening to my music. I talk about my culture, music, experiences and more deep topics too sometimes. I feel loneliness easily, but chatting with my fans makes me happy and relaxed.

BS~ When you are not being a Jpop artist, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

M~ When I have time, I like to draw since I also make visual art. I also love watching bulldog videos. LOL!

I really really want to have bulldog one day!

BS~ Can your fans look forward to more new music from you in the future?

M~ Of course!! I’m making a bunch of songs now. With Setsuzoku Records I hope to release an EP later this year.

Please look forward to it. We hope it will be the soundtrack for your summer!

BS~ Do you have a message for your fanbase?

M~ Thank you so much for finding me! I think this is destiny⭐︎

I will make you happy with my music so please follow me!
And as you guys know I love to communicate with my fans♡

Come to chat on my livestream and ask me anything!

And I hope I can see you guys at my performance one day soon !!!

Good Day and Baby are available now on iTunes and Spotify.

To support MIKUROMIKA

https://twitter.com/3cro_mika https://instagram.com/mikuromika http://Mikuromika.com https://www.facebook.com/Mikuromika https://www.patreon.com/mikamikuro https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMerNygfH/

https://www.setsuzokurecords.com

All photos and artwork courtesy of MIKUROMIKA.

Interview by: Beyond Senpai
Edited by: Just Panda