May"n "Dots and Lines" Singapore pre-concert interview: "Sheryl Nome will always be a part of me" [SGCafe exclusive]

Just a few more hours to go before May’n is set to take center stage at TAB Singapore for her solo concert here!

Before May’n goes backstage to do her final preparations for tonight, SGCafe caught up with the accomplished Anisong singer — who is currently on a world tour, performing not only in all 47 prefectures of Japan, but as well as Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the United States — for an exclusive interview.

In this exclusive interview, May’n tells us about her favourite foods in Japan, Indonesia and Singapore, the meaning behind the tour’s name “Dots and Lines”, and her thoughts on Sheryl Nome now that a new Macross series is currently in the works.

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— Hi May’n! Welcome back to Singapore! You just came over from your Saturday concert in Jakarta. How did your performance go?

May’n: It was my first time holding a solo concert in Jakarta. And I was just really overwhelmed by everyone’s enthusiasm at the concert.

The setlist for this concert is different from that at the AFA concerts. As this time the setlist isn’t as short, we were able to include more anime songs.

This time we wanted to package all it (the Jakarta and Singapore concerts) to pretty much be the same as my concerts in Japan, with the setlist including songs from the [latest] album, singles and even coupling tracks.

So I hope I was able to convey to everyone who came down on Saturday night that “this is what May’n’s concert is like (in Japan).”

— In a 2012 interview, you said that one of your dreams is to go to all of the prefectures in Japan on tour.

That dream is coming true for you this year, as with the Dots and Lines World Tour on top of solo concerts in Singapore, Indonesia and the US, you are also performing in all 47 prefectures. How do you feel about that?

May’n: I’m truly elated that we were able to fulfil this dream. Although I’ve performed at many places in Japan, when I get to perform in a new prefecture, even if the prefecture is near some other place I’ve performed at, what happens is that most of the people who come down to the concert are doing so for the very first time.

And so I was very happy about being able to meet all these people for the first time. From here on out, even for the overseas countries we’d like to try and do more performances in different cities within a country, rather than doing it at just one city.

— Is there anything that is a must-do for you when you go on tour at every location? Like, for instance, maybe you make it a point to try the Taiyaki at each prefecture in Japan you’ve been?

May’n: Trying out all kinds of delicious foods, that’s certainly something I make a point to do at each location. As for Taiyaki places… *chuckles* I haven’t been to all of the best ones, but I’ve been to a lot of Taiyaki places.

— For this tour so far, are there any new food discoveries for you?

May’n: In Japan?

— Well, in Japan, and anywhere else.

May’n: Lemme think… Hmmm… Well let’s start with Japan first. There is this place in Yamagata prefecture where they have something called Imoni, that’s really good. It’s sweet potato made into a soup, and it’s something you can’t really find on the streets in Tokyo, or other prefectures. So if you’re ever in Yamagata prefecture, please give it a try! It’s really nice.

Other than that… in Indonesia I tried Soto. It’s sort of like Ramen, and it’s really good. I tried it for the first time on this tour!

As for Singapore, so far I have yet to try something new, but when I got here I had Chilli Crab. :D

— It certainly sounds like you’ve already got your favourites when it comes to Singapore food!

The next question has two parts to it:

In 2012, your tour was entitled “Rock Your Beats”, which we are guessing has something to do with you learning from Yoko Kanno sensei that your voice sounds better with rock music? During that year you had done a lot of songs with a Rock vibe too. Was that the reason why?

As for the second part to this question: This year, your tour is entitled the “Dots and Lines” tour. What’s the meaning behind it?

May’n: For the “Rock Your Beats” tour, the meaning behind it really was to have everybody break the things (boundaries/preconceptions) that they have. Like, “let’s bring out the rock in everyone”. And it was a tour where we wanted to get everyone to sweat it out, to thrash it out.

So the naming convention actually didn’t have anything to do with the “Rock” music genre. Rather, it’s more like, in this moment we’re rocking out here. And so the title embodies the meaning of getting everyone to find together, what it means to be rocking out.

As for “Dots and Lines”, what the phrase means is essentially a compilation of all the dots and lines of everything that’s happened in my close-to-10-years career thus far. It’s a tour that connects all the dots, into one complete picture. The name embodies that.

Also, in Japan there is this saying “ten wo tsunagete hitotsu no sen ni suru” (let’s connect all the dots, into one big line). And the meaning with the phrase is, by connecting all the dots together, you’ll see that it gets to a goal.

So part of what “Dots and Lines” embodies is also that, there isn’t a particular goal, but it’s more like, from here on out let’s keep on going, and create numerous lines (goals) together.

— You’re also known as the singing voice of Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier. It’s been about 6 years since the series, and recently it was announced that a new Macross is in the works.

Do you feel if, with the new Macross coming, it’s like saying goodbye to Sheryl Nome?

May’n: Hmmm… well with every new Macross series, even though usually the characters from the older series do not actually appear in the new one, I do deeply feel that they’re all (all the Macross series) connected.

So even though there’s going to be a new Macross, to me, Sheryl Nome will forever be an important part of me. And I feel that it’s important for me to continue singing Sheryl Nome songs, regardless of affiliation to the the new Macross series.

— Finally, we’re going to be working hard to put this interview up before your performance at TAB Singapore tonight. A message for your fans who are coming down for tonight’s performance, please!

May’n: In short, I’d love for everyone to enjoy the performance freely (without worrying about rules or usual practices).

Everytime I’ve performed in Singapore I do get the impression that the audience here are already having a good time without worrying about such things, but really, there aren’t any rules (or usual practices/traditions) to observe. So please just let your hair down and enjoy the concert, the way you want to.

— Thanks for taking the time to do this interview!

Our thanks also to SOZO, the Singapore and Indonesia promoter for May’n’s concert, as well as the upcoming Radwimps and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Singapore concerts that will be happening as part of the Japan Music Festival.

May"n "Dots and Lines" Singapore pre-concert interview: "Sheryl Nome will always be a part of me" [SGCafe exclusive]