Yukimi Nagano is a delightfully complex individual. Ethnically part Japanese and hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, she grew up listening to the folk lyrics of her mother’s albums, while gaining an ear for R’n'B through her love of soulful vocals. By the time she reached her late teens, Nagano’s guest vocals had become the highlight of some of the most notable dance hits in Sweden due mainly to her soulfully ethereal style. Yearning to make a career through her own writing, she teamed with former high school pals, and fellow soul-smiths Erik Bodin, Frederik Kalgren-Wallin and Hakan Wirenstrand, to form the funk-electronic unit Little Dragon.
As the band embarked on a tour through the U.S., in support of their sophomore album Machine Dreams, Nagano graciously took time out of her schedule to speak with us. Traveling via van to San Francisco, battling horrible cell phone reception and dropped calls, she took a moment to discuss Little Dragon’s past, present and future.
What was your mindset when you went into the studio to record Machine Dreams?
Well, there were so many songs with the first album. So, we sort of had time to change. And, because we were playing so much live, we found we never really felt like playing the slow songs when we played live. It was too much. We wanted to make more music for people to dance to. That would be more…upbeat. We sort of, got into a zone. That was something that we all kind of put together. It wasn’t so much a conscious decision. It sort of just went that direction.
When you play live, do you tend to prefer to get your audience dancing rather than swaying softly while listening to the slower songs?
It’s both. But generally I like to get people dancing more. It’s always nice to have equal songs to have a variation; to have a build up. Yeah, there’s nothing better than having a crowd of people that are really dancing. It makes us feel one with the crowd.
The first time I attended one of your shows, we all began singing along to “After The Rain” so loudly, we nearly drowned you out.
Right! (laughs)
How do you feel when your audience sings along with your lyrics so enthusiastically?
It feels amazing. It really is a euphoric feeling to be up on stage and feel that. To feel love from an audience… you know, that’s really sincere. We have everything from people really singing along to people who’ve haven’t heard us before, don’t have a clue about us and think it’s the weirdest thing ever. We have the contrast , but we really appreciate those moments… where you can tell they’ve heard the music before and that’s a big deal for us.
You had a song (“Twice”) featured in a season five episode of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
That’s right.
Have you noticed an increase in U.S. Fans after your inclusion on the show and the soundtrack album?
In Sweden that’s a big show and they did some reruns of that episode. I had family calling me and saying “You’re on TV!” None of us really follow “Grey’s Anatomy,” so honestly I wasn’t really sure what it was when we were chosen to be on there. So, I never really understood the submission of it or why it was such a big deal. Then I saw it in the States too and I realized it was big… it had a huge following. To reach out, I mean, with something like that… it helps your music reach more people.
I’ve been a huge fan of your voice for quite some time. Especially the stuff you’ve done individually with Koop, Hird and Shuya Okino. Your voice is indicative of so many different styles. Who’d you grow up listening to?
A lot of different people. Prince was a big deal… Kate Bush. Joni Mitchell.
Any R’n'B, jazz or other style artists?
(long pause) Well, I also like (giggles) Brandy. I like Faith Evans too.
Nothing wrong with Brandy. I have a couple of Brandy albums myself. She’s a great singer.
Yea, she’s great. Definitely.
Do you do most of the songwriting on the albums?
Yeah, I write the lyrics.
How does that work? Do you come up with lyrics first and then the guys create their sound around it? Or do you listen to the sound they create first and come up with lyrics for that?
I never really come up with the lyrics first.It’s usually them that have some kind of a beginning of a song, like an idea or chord or a beat or something. Usually it’ll appeal to me and I’ll love it and listen to it over and over for a couple of hours; write a melody and some lyrics to it. Then, we’ll basically record it on the spot. We wait a little bit to see if it’s something we want to keep or not. Then, time will tell if it’s something we should keep working on or not. We do that all the time. They write things all the time. I’ll write lyrics and melody from all their stuff. So, we have a lot of material, but we don’t necessarily use it all.
Really? From what you create, how much would you say makes it to an album?
Um. Maybe 30 percent.
Wow. That’s amazing.
Yeah.
Well, that just means more albums, which we’d love.
(laughs) Aww, great.
As the only girl in the band, what’s it like traveling with so many boys?
It’s pretty easy actually. We’ve known each other so long and we’re such good friends, I don’t even think about the fact that I’m a girl and that they’re guys (laughs). Kinda weird, I know. I never really think about it. A lot of people wonder if it’s weird or not. I’m so comfortable with them. We’re friends first of all and then, I don’t know, there’s not so many things that make me realize I’m “the girl” in the band.
Do they treat you like their little sister?
Yeah. Sometimes. Sometimes I’m the big sister. Sometimes I’m the little sister (laughs). It depends on who you ask in the band. We all have different perceptions of that.
You guys have known each other a long time… since high school?
Yeah, I met Erik and Fredrick when I was 14. Hakan I met when I was around 18.
Segue to the “Runabout” video. It’s so different; so beautiful in a really simple way. What’s going on there? Who filmed that.
We were doing a show in Hong Kong. Basically, we were on this tram and I was just filming the whole tram ride. It was a half an hour of just sitting on the tram and Erik made a video out of it. It just fits the song somehow because the people look like little robots messing around in the city.
It really works. It goes perfectly with the song.
Aw, cool, thanks.
I won’t take up too much more of your time, but I’ve seen so many great photos of you guys and I have to ask, are you all just naturally photogenic?
No, but we practice! (laughing)
Do you get in the mirror and practice different angles and looks like the models do?
I have to say that we’ve gotten a lot better at it. (laughs) In the beginning we’d be blinking a lot, but you do it more and you just start to feel really comfortable. Yea. It gets easier and easier I guess.
by KayJay
