Foreword: This past month, Palestine and its people have suffered and lost so much. Their struggle has existed for decades, yet lots of the world continues to watch quietly as it has done before. Palestine is profoundly important to me and has been in my heart ever since I was old enough to understand the ties that have forever bound me to its people and land. I relentlessly contemplated whether it was right to post about music while they suffer amidst the world’s silence, because the last thing I’d ever want to do is create any distraction from their plight. I shared this concern with Layla, and they graciously, whole-heartedly supported my wish to dedicate this foreword to Palestine. For this, and all the kindness they have shown me, I thank both Aria and Miura profusely, and will never forget their support during this time. My gratitude to them exists in my heart next to my unwavering love and support for Palestine.
If you are able, please consider donating to the following charity dedicated to providing 100% financial support directly to Palestine. It is a charity I support and endorse with all my heart:
This interview was conducted, and most of it transcribed, in the first half of 2023.
My introduction to Layla was a gentle welcome into a fiercely confident World of Sound. It began with a memorable discovery of a new song by a band name I didn’t yet recognise, which was more than enough to firmly embed this first impression into my mind: “I have never, ever heard a sound like this before.”
I cherish new discoveries across all art forms, but hearing Layla for the first time was uniquely special because of just how perfectly their music resonated with my belief in what music stands for: sincere, uncompromising, and boundlessly creative expression, striving even in the face of hardship. Whether it be soothing melodies, cataclysmic sonic crashes, or a harmony of both: the work of Aria and Miura has a legendary status in my eyes that sets them apart as truly unique artists wholly devoted to their art.
The opportunity to speak to them both was unforgettable in itself, not only due to what I was able to learn from them but also the confirmation of their sincerity through how perfectly in tune their words and philosophies were with the music they express. A true gem of a band comprised by true gems of musicians; my gratitude to Layla is immense, and I write this interview in hopes of expressing that gratitude for their world of artistry.
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An Interview with Layla
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1.
Mustafa: “Hello Layla! Congratulations on your release of WONDERLAND! I’ve been listening to it a lot since it released, and enjoyed the livestream reveals of the music videos too! To start: I’m really interested in the song ‘WONDERLAND’ and its music video. It’s really different from the rest of your discography, as lots of your songs include the theme of love, while this song leans into longing for escapism. I’m interested in what caused WONDERLAND to be so different to your previous releases?”
Aria: “For our music and videos, love is still very important to us. We’ve always had to be selective with the songs that we could have a music video for, hence love became one of the main aspects of our music videos due to the songs we’d select. However this time, we released three songs in our EP and we were able to make a music video for all of them. Since we didn’t have to be selective, we were able to make ‘WONDERLAND’ very different to our previous music videos.”
Mustafa: “I really appreciate how big a focus love has in your music! Something I also really enjoy about your music videos is how much focus they have on scenery and the people featured in them. The second music video from the EP, for the song ‘UTSUKUSHII FUKEI’ (‘Beautiful World’), has that focus on scenery, but instead of love, the lyrics focus more on a personal viewpoint on life and the world!”
Mustafa: “On the ‘WONDERLAND’ music video, I really like how there are a lot of computer effects utilised, which contrast it to your other music videos which focus so much on natural scenery. What was the reason behind utilising things like green screen for this video?”
Aria: “It’s based on the lyrics of ‘WONDERLAND’: most of the things happening in the lyrics are ‘inside’, hence we thought it was suitable to have the setting of the music video to be indoors. Towards the end of the song, we have the lyric “Can I have expectation for the world unseen?”, so we put more focus on fantasy and digital elements, such as the hamster flying, to represent the unseen world.”
Reflecting on Aria’s answer made me notice how even the video’s 1:1 aspect ratio tied into the song’s message, with the video frame being the inside home and the borders representing the ‘unseen world’, and the repeating digital glitches alluding to the confines of the video being pushed to the limit, powered by an inquisitive spirit seeking to find that world unseen for its own whimsical curiosity.
“Let’s aim for WONDERLAND!!!”
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2.
Mustafa: “Something I really like with ‘UTSUKUSHII FUKEI’ and ‘HANASHI WO SHIYOU’ (‘Let’s Talk’) is that they feature lots of beautiful scenery to complement the music, which is my favourite element of music videos! I’m interested in ‘UTSUKUSHII FUKEI’ in particular, and how it ended up being shot, because Aria stated before that it was filmed at the house of one of your friends!”
Aria: “The location was decided because we heard from our friend that the sea can be seen from their house, and it also connects to the lyrics of the song, about having the courage to step out to see and find that the world is more beautiful than you expected.”
Mustafa: “Moving on to the last song of the EP release, ‘HANASHI WO SHIYOU’: I really like this song in particular, not only because of the scenes where it shows you both performing in the dark with a single ray of light shining on you, but the story about the couple in the video is also really really sweet, where they end up getting engaged at the end. With the EP including ‘WONDERLAND’, a song about being stuck inside, and ‘UTSUKUSHII FUKEI’, a song about going out into the world, the inclusion of romantic song feels very special, so I’m interested in what that particular song’s inclusion means to the band!”
Aria: “We’ve wanted to write songs that are related to seasons: we already had songs related to Spring (‘Harukaze’) and Summer (‘Nettaiya’), but we didn’t have one related to Winter, so we wanted to write that! We also have lots of songs related to breakups, or relationships not going well, so we wanted to write a love song that warms you up in the winter, and we thought it’d be nice if it could end up at someone’s wedding!”
Mustafa: “I really appreciate the sentiment of that song and video, in particular! The photoshoot which you both did for ‘HANASHI WO SHIYOU’, with the outfits you’re both wearing, is one of my favourite artist photos! I love that photo of the band together!”
‘HANASHI WO SHIYO’ is a tribute to the ordinary, day-to-day conversations shared between a couple that brings them closer over time, highlighting the warmth of the constant amidst the cold of Winter in Tokyo. It surprised me on first listen, because of how perfectly the song matched my own outlook on love!
Aria later mentioned that Layla has yet to write a song with the themes of Autumn, but it is something they hope to do in future!
Mustafa: “With the three songs on the ‘WONDERLAND’ EP all being very different from each other, yet included on the same single release, I’m interested in how the songs ended up being made!“
Aria: “We wanted to widen the scope of what we could do with our music!”
Miura: “We also had a lot more demos made prior to this release, and these are the three songs which we decided on including!”
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3.
Mustafa: “You’ve released a lot of music videos across your time as a band so far, which I really appreciate! A lot of other artists tend to release music videos less frequently and only release one or two every now and then, so I get the feeling that music videos mean a lot to you! What is the importance of a music video to you as a band? What is it that you hope to achieve with them?”
Aria: “The purpose of a music video, to us, is so that we can amplify and widen the image of the songs. Not all of our songs have music videos, so we choose the songs that can reach out and have the most impact on listeners through being accompanied by a music video!”
Mustafa: “That very accurately describes an experience I had with your music! When I first listened to ‘SEASIDE’, I was really blown away by the emotional intensity of the song’s introduction, and then when I watched the music video that same introduction segment depicts an emotional moment shared between a couple and is later followed by really beautiful shots of their faces. I particularly wanted to express just how much I love ‘SEASIDE’ and the beauty of its music video!”
Aria: “*laughs* Thank you!”
I have particular fondness for SEASIDE’s latter half as its volume escalates and Aria’s vocalising intensifies in cathartic and conflicting emotion, embracing pain and loss with a rare and admirable strength.
Mustafa: “’SEASIDE’ features lots of close-up cinematic shots of people, while your earlier video for ‘Apāto no naka de’ (‘Inside the Apartment’) has a different style of recording where it has lots of polaroids shown in succession to represent the memories of a past relationship. I’m very interested in the inspirations you have for the different styles or videos you make, as they’re all really personal andhave particular focuses on the relationships between people, presenting them in many different ways. Another example is ‘Endroll’, where the video looks like its playing footage from an old film recording. What inspires the way your music is visually presented?”
Miura: “We discuss a lot with the director of the video, and the styles you mentioned are choices of the director. We spend a lot of time sharing the image of the song and what we want to convey with the music, so we have the same level of understanding. As for the styles and how the videos are shot, we usually tend to let the director choose the styles and we trust their creative decisions!”
Mustafa: “You mentioned communicating your visual ideas for the song to the director. During the creation process of putting a song together, how do you go about processing the visual elements of the song? Do you start off with an image and create a song around it, or do you feel the sounds and then create an image after, which you then communicate to the director?”
Aria: “Most of the time we have those images come to us in the writing process of the songs. For example: if we have lyrics first, then we already have images attached to them. Even if we don’t have lyrics yet, there will still be some kind of imagery, like of seasons or places, present. Our songs tend to always have some kind of imagery associated with them!”
Miura: “We also wish that we could make music videos for every song we have!”
Mustafa: “I would really love for that to happen! My favourite Layla song is the first that I heard: ‘Nettaiya’ (‘Tropical Night’)! I know it released on ‘World’ which was 2 years ago, but if the chance to create it ever arises, I would be so interested to see the band’s visual representation of it!”
‘Nettaiya’ came to mind not only because of my connection to it, but also the palpable imagery conjured by its meticulous, delicate musical form. The song’s vulnerability is embedded in its lyrics as much as its sound: a transparent confession of dreams and prayer:
“On a midsummer tropical night, illuminated by streetlights, I hear the sounds of cars driving by, and I pray for the happiness of people I don't know”
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4.
Mustafa: “Where do you draw inspiration from when creating the songs themselves? You’ve spoken in the past about how Aria draws inspiration her own past experiences when writing songs, so I’m interested in what elements of your lives you take inspiration from when you create art!”
Miura: “We’re inspired by other artists’ songs, and all kinds of creative expressions like films, TV dramas, manga, anime!”
Aria: “We also sometimes take both our inspirations and interpretations of those stories, and write lyrics based on them.”
Mustafa: “Is there any particular media, like films, shows, and music by other bands, which are very close to you and you consider to be your favourites?”
Aria: “Right now we really enjoy a comedy series in Japan called ‘Brush Up Life’! At the moment we really enjoy TV dramas in general!”
Mustafa: “In terms of music, Aria mentioned in a previous interview that she’s really inspired by Zazen Boys and Kinkokuteikoku, which are two bands I’m also a fan of! What other musicians/bands have played significant roles in both of your lives as you were growing up, as well in the present?”
Aria: “When I was young I played the piano, and one of the reasons I began wanting to play guitar and sing was Yura Yura Teikoku. I came across their album ‘Hollow Me’, which led to me digging into their discography and I found another of their songs called ‘Almond Chocolate’, which inspired me further!”
Miura: “I listened to Bump of Chicken from early on, but the style that I play right now is mostly inspired by the band Hanuman. At one point I felt that I wanted to play guitar like Hanuman, but at the same time I wanted to avoid being seen as directly following Hanuman, as I wanted to have a style of my own, so I do think that consciously I want to play like Hanuman but at the same time I want to digest the sound of Hanuman within myself and integrate it with my own style!”
Mustafa: “From my perspective of Layla, I definitely believe that you’ve succeeded in that because, to me, Layla’s music is so unique! One of the main things that make me think that is your song ‘Nettaiya’, which starts off very slow with Aria’s singing being very vulnerable and emotional, and then the song also brings in a louder rock sound later on whilst still maintaining that emotional vulnerability. I feel that the song has a unique, perfect balance of vulnerability and loudness, which is also present within your entire discography. How do you feel about this particular balance, and how do you manage it?”
Aria: “The variety of sounds and layers comes about because we have a lot of things we want to do with our music, which also stems from the diversity of our music inspirations! For ‘Nettaiya’, the vulnerability came about because of the music I was listening to at the time the song was made! The inspirations we have during the writing process diversify the sounds even further!”
Miura: “The style of the songs during the song writing process and the style we have for playing them live end up being quite different. We will have demos written by ourselves in-house, and we’ll have multiple back-and-forths during this time before they’re finalised, and this process ends up creating multiple layers within the songs.”
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5.
Mustafa: “Aria mentioned before that the way in which you create songs is sometimes she will write a song and present it to Miura, and then you have that back-and-forth. I feel like Layla has a very specific vision for music, that shines through the direct emotional vulnerability at the core of your sound. When did you end up developing that vision for the band? What sort of element of teamwork is there in achieving this?”
Miura: “Most of the time we share what we like in music, so that core of the music likely originates from our own overlaps. As for the vulnerability, we’ve had that vision since the beginning. More specifically: it’s the style we started off with, and the rock sound was developed into it later on as our discography progressed.”
Mustafa: “I’m interested in how that vulnerability is rooted throughout the history of Layla. Aria mentioned in another interview that when ‘World’ was being made, it was impacted by the pandemic I’m interested in whether that shift was very sudden as a result of the pandemic, or was it a very natural change over time?”
Aria: ”‘Futari no Sekai’ was the first song we wrote after the pandemic happened, and we wanted to write something that conveyed the feeling of having a ray of light in a dark world, which is one of the reasons why that change can be perceived!”
Miura: “We see a lot of sad and dark news nowadays, so we try to write more about the positive things in life!”
Mustafa: “That reminds me of the song ‘Tsumaranai’, which is a very fast, short song; Aria mentioned in the past that ‘Tsumaranai’ is a song that reflects how she felt about herself at the time she wrote it, about not becoming the person she wanted to be when she was younger, yet the song is really upbeat! I really like how the song takes that sad topic into an energetic reflection!”
Miura: “For that song, we’d written it prior to the pandemic, and we were stuck on the arrangement of the song. We previously had a mentor figure, and he said that this song should be a ballad, but we were unsure about that direction for the song. During the pandemic, our mentor figure sadly split from us, so we decided to make this song more upbeat despite the advice we’d received from them; we went with what we initially wanted to do with the song!”
Mustafa: “I appreciate the decision to go through with your vision for that song! Do you ever find it difficult sticking to your vision of a song due to other factors, or do you find it easy to identify what you wish to do with a song?”
Aria: “For now, we use digital audio works to create songs on our computer and we have the arrangements completed in the demo stage. However previously, like for ‘Tsumaranai’, I would write them with an acoustic guitar and record a demo with just that and my voice. So for ‘Tsumaranai’, when I showed this demo to our former mentor his perspective was that it would be better as a ballad. Previously we wrote demos with just an acoustic guitar, so there would be different perspectives on how to arrange it, but nowadays we tend to have that decided by ourselves!”
The sound of ‘Tsumaranai’ is so different to what I’d expect from a song initially written with just a guitar, which I feel is testament to Layla’s creative process and vision!
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6.
Mustafa: “On the mentioning of using acoustic guitar: last week Layla did an acoustic one-man live performance, so I’m interested in what about the acoustic sound appeals to both of you, and how important is it to you as a band.”
Aria: “For the one-man live, we had all the songs rearranged specifically for that live, and the purpose of the live was to put more focus on the melody and singing of the songs, which we really enjoyed doing!”
Miura: “That live became an opportunity for the audience to focus more deeply on the songs. We know that Aria can sing softly in a gentle way, but we felt that the audience may not get that impression in our usual live performances, so this one-man was an important opportunity to showcase that style and that side of Layla!”
Mustafa: “I really like how you feel the acoustic sound conveys that side of Layla to the audience! One song from the WONDERLAND EP, ‘UTSUKUSHI FUKEI’, is naturally a very acoustic song which is unique compared to the rest of Layla’s discography. Do you anticipate making more songs like it in the future?”
Aria: “We may not be focusing an entire album around it, but within future projects we would like to include some songs that will be more acoustic-driven, or have that acoustic sound!”
Mustafa: “With the way you say there will be certain songs that will be acoustic, would it be accurate to say that the way in which you construct albums is done by a song by song basis, instead of creating all songs with a particular album theme or idea in mind?”
Aria: “Yes, we construct projects by a song-by-song basis. We write lots of songs for projects, and we pick from our demos/recordings after consider the variety of them, thus constructing an album in this way.”
Mirua: “Most of the time we continue writing songs until we have one that we feel is impactful and could reach out to lots of people. Once we have that, we write songs around the idea of having that song as the core/centre of the album!”
Mustafa: “That motivation really resonates with me, and I really feel it shine through on World! Aria stated before that she hopes ‘World’ can create a special world within all of its listeners, and World is really special to me for that reason as it created an entire special world within me that I perceive whenever I listen to the album!”
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7.
Mustafa: “What has the reception been like to your live performances throughout your time as a band? How do fans respond to them, and what are your live shows like in general?”
Aria: “One comment we get often is that they’re quite different from the album recordings! We love the loud volume of live music so we like to have our live performances take advantage of that loudness and intensity!”
Miura: “Most of the fans come to listen closely to the music, so there aren’t moshpits or much excessive dancing. The crowd tend to be there solely to listen!”
‘Emma’ is the first song that comes to mind when Aria mentions the volume of performing live, as the live version’s vigorous yelling elevates the chorus’ laments of a past relationship, letting loose the controlled chaos of the song’s studio recording.
Mustafa: “‘Happy end’ is one of the first songs you included a piano for, and I especially love the piano improvisation in the live performance of ‘Happy end’, making it very different to the studio version of the song. How do you feel the studio and live versions of your music compare to each other? I mostly experience your music through the studio versions, so how do you value both the study and live versions?”
Miura: “For ‘Happy end’, when we perform it live, we usually don’t have the piano present and have to perform without it, but that performance uploaded to YouTube is from a one-man-live we did; for those occasions which are special to us, we have a piano present. I composed the piano segment on the studio version, but for the live performance we think it’s more interesting and fun for the piano player to play the way they wish to, which leads to their improvisations!”
Mustafa: “Is the piano player someone you collaborate with regularly, or were they just hired to play that performance?”
Miura: “Yes, we frequently ask them to play piano for us, except for studio recordings! He actually isn’t originally a pianist, but a drummer! He is from a band that we play with frequently, called Jureniwa!”
This particular live performance video starts with their song ‘Nettaiya’ and then seamlessly transitions into ‘Happy end’, which I have been in awe of since first witnessing it. Uniting the softness of ‘Nettaiya’ with the carefree spirit of‘Happy end’ in this manner is, to me, nothing other than genius!
Mustafa: “A little while ago, you did a special set of collaborative ‘Kenka’ (‘Fight’) live shows. I’m very interested in these performances, because the first band you performed with for the first ‘Fight’ show was Tertora! What inspired you to do this concept of ‘fighting’ another band with these live shows?”
Aria: “Around that time, two of the members of Layla left the band, so with two members we’re considered more of a duo as opposed to a band, so we try to have the energy of a band and convey that by doing something challenging for us as a band, which is how we came up with the ‘Kenka’ live shows!”
Mustafa: “What is it like sharing the stage with them? Have connections been made with other bands through the Kenka shows, or is it done more through label contracts?”
Aria: “At the start we don’t really have much of a connection with them, but we want to become close with them so we ask them specifically if they’d like to perform together with us, or maybe we’ve already played with them in the past and would like to become even closer with them!”
Mustafa: “I’m really curious about which bands currently active in Japan that you’d like to form connections with through live performances?”
Miura: “We’re actually planning on doing another set of Kenka live shows in the summer for three consecutive months! We’ve announced the dates, but we haven’t officially announced the bands we’ll be performing with!”
Aria: “For the July Kenka we will be performing with Tricot! ”
Mustafa: ”……REALLY????!!” *Everyone laughs*
Aria: “We’ve wanted to play with them for a long time, and finally we’ll be able to play together! And for August, we’ll be playing with FINLANDS! We haven’t yet decided who we’ll be performing with in June! Aside from these artists, if we could, we’d love to play with Zazen Boys!”
Layla and FINLANDS
It was eventually announced that Suzuki Mikiko Zu would be the artist featured at the June Kenka!
“Given how big Tricot are, I think it’s definitely likely that one day Layla could perform with Zazen Boys!” I excitedly exclaim, having been caught completely off-guard by such an unexpected reveal. Tricot was one of the first Japanese bands I ever listened to, so this particular performance was really special to learn of!
Layla and Tricot
Mustafa: “In the time that you’ve been playing as Layla, have you met or heard any other bands that you feel a similarity or connection to? Are there any artists that you feel approach music in a similar way to you?”
Aria: “The band we mentioned before, Jureniwa, the band our pianist is from! We feel similarities in how they approach music and operate as a band!”
Jureniwa recently announced they would sadly be disbanding, which makes their collaborations with Layla that much more special in how it signifies the bond they shared during this time.
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9.
Mustafa: “You stated before that the origin of the band name was Miura wanting to have a band with female-led vocals, thus you decided on the name ‘Layla’ as a result. What specifically inspired that name? It stood out to me a lot as it’s a non-Japanese name! ”
Miura: “The name ‘Layla’ just popped into my head when thinking about names associated with female vocals. As for the meaning: it doesn’t have much of a deep meaning!”
Mustafa: “You were both in different bands prior to Layla starting. I don’t know much about how you two met, so I’d love to know about the first time you spoke to each other, and how your connection has developed over time as you’ve worked together!”
Miura: “Yes, we were in different bands at that point, and my band ended up splitting, so I was looking to start a band of my own. At that time, I came across the band Aria was in at the time, and I decided to attend their live show, which actually turned out to be the band’s last live performance! I then asked her to join the band I was planning, and we then found a drummer and bass player, which is how the band started!”
Mustafa: “At the time when Layla started, what were your hopes for the band? Did you anticipate it might just be a small part-time commitment? Did you ever anticipate Layla would become so well-known?”
Miura: “I was really eager and passionate for the band from the start!”
Aria: “I was in my last year of high school at the time, so I had to be doing my entrance examinations for university. I initially declined Miura’s offer due to my academic commitments, but Miura asked me really passionately, so I then decided to join the band to see what it was like. It was when I realised I loved performing live, and reaching out to the audience with our songs, that I wanted to get bigger as a band!”
Mustafa: “Aria mentioned doing entrance exams at that time, so I’m interested in how the band is important to you in relation to your personal lives. Miura, you were very invested in it from the start, so even now is it still the main focus or has it increased in importance over time? Same goes for Aria: you wanted to try it out at first, but over time has it become more and more important?”
Miura: “It’s the same as it’s been since the start: I’m always, and only, thinking of the band. As a band there are a lot of things we can do, such as running social media, writing songs, working on live performances, so I’m always constantly thinking of these things related to Layla!”
Aria: “I was actually a pharmacy student, and I was really busy going to university whilst doing the band at the same time, so I had to devote so much time and effort to both of them. I once had to go to Osaka to perform a live, and then come back to school in Yokohama without getting a moment to return home. This is an example of how busy I was at the time, so I wasn’t able to take the time to think about what was truly important to me. However when the pandemic hit, the band had to slow down and the university became less busy with remote learning, so I had a lot more time compared to before. At this time, two years ago, I really thought about what is important to me, so I decided to quit university and be fully devoted to my music. This is now the only thing I focus on all the time!”
Mustafa: “It can’t have been easy to quit university, but the sentiment and love which you have for the band really shines through, and it really makes me appreciate Layla’s music so much! I want to express thanks to you both for putting so much effort and time into Layla!”
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10.
Mustafa: “The band started with four members, but sadly two recently left. What was it like adjusting after the band members left? What were the feelings you had at the time, and what is it like operating now with just you two?”
Miura: “Ever since the beginning as a band, we were operating in a manner where whoever recognised a task would get ‘hands on’ with it, but most of the time it would be myself doing work such as replying to emails: I was the driving force behind the operation of the band. When the two members left, it didn’t really change much in how we operate, and actually made my own responsibilities clearer to me in terms of operating the band. So overall, the workload of operating the band didn’t really change! For our live performances, we were lucky we had someone to help us as a support member, so we were able to continue performing live!”
I voiced my gratitude to Mirua and Aria or their effort, especially given how hard it must have been when band members left, which was met by gracious smiles and laughter.
Miura: “After the members left, the number of songs that Aria would write actually doubled! So it didn’t put much burden on us, it was more that it helped us change our mindsets!”
Mustafa: “In terms of ‘changing mindsets’, would you say that it could have inspired you in some ways? With Aria’s song output increasing, was that inspired partly by these two people leaving the band, or was there something else that led to this increase?”
Aria: “It’s not like something particularly inspired us, it’s more like we got into a mindset of wanting to put more into the band, because we’re the only ones who can have that responsibility!”
Mustafa: “Those two members left after ‘World’ was released in 2021. In the music video for ‘WONDERLAND’, it features both of you alongside two ‘ghost’ figures. Were these figures meant to represent those two band members who had left?”
Aria: “We didn’t intend for that to be the case, but after the music video was completed, the director asked us “wouldn’t the audience interpret these two ghosts as relating to the former members?”, and we realised how it could be seen that way! However, we haven’t had any anyone make that specific comment to us until now when you mentioned it! *laughs*”
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11.
Mustafa: “I saw that ‘World’ won the recommendation award from Tower Records! I know that ‘World’ is a retailer-exclusive CD to Tower Records outside of your merch site, so I’m curious about what led to this happening?”
Miura: “How that came about is we had released three singles in a row, prior to World’s release. The first song, ‘Futari no Sekai’, was released in February and a distributor got in touch with us and asked really passionately about wanting to be a part of the release. There wasn’t a lot of time between this and the release of ‘World’ in May, so in those few months they helped push things forward with a lot of speed, and we received the Tower Recommendation with the help of them, too! We’re really grateful to them!”
Mustafa: “I’m glad there was such a supportive relationship, with how they helped increase the speed of the project! Have there ever been any other instances of collaborating with others who have helped with your music releases?”
Miura: “It’s not really related to music releases, but we are really grateful for the support of Majima from the live house F.A.D Yokohama! We play a lot there, and it’s like a home for us! Majima really inspired us and helped us a lot by booking us with other bands as opening acts. Someone else who supported us a lot is Otsuka from Shinjuku Loft, another venue in Tokyo which you might have seen in Bocchi the Rock! He was really supportive of Layla! When the two members left, we had to perform in Nagoya the very next day; we thought we’d have to go travel there on our own, but Otsuka stepped up to go with us. His support and kindness has helped us a lot!”
Mustafa: “Your earlier works were all released independently, but ‘WONDERLAND’ was released under the Office Augusta label. How did Layla end up getting signed to Office Augusta, and what have your experiences with them been like?”
Aria: “Someone from Office Augusta heard our music and reached out to us! We then performed at a show that Office Augusta hosted. It was here that they spoke to us and asked if we could do some releases together. Something that came about through signing to them is they provided us with a sound producer for the songs ‘HANASHI WO SHIYOU’ and ‘WONDERLAND’, which was really comforting and made us feel supported!
Mustafa: “With the way in which you work with Office Augusta now, are there any differences with before in regards to how Layla operates and releases music, or is the experience mostly the same?”
Miura: “Office Augusta lets us work freely in our decisions! Things didn’t really change, but one of the main differences is that we now have clear due dates for song writing or deciding on what songs to be on releases. Office Augusta may need song or album demos for their negotiations with other people, so now we have to have demos submitted prior to releases. Another difference compared to before would be that the people from Office Augusta are really nice people, so we are motivated by their support!”
Mustafa: “In regard to these deadlines, have they been different to what you’re used to, or have you found it to not be much of a constraint?”
Aria: “For the end product I don’t think there’s much of a difference, but for the process there are some differences, one of them being that we now have to have demos be somewhat decent, as we have to share those with Office Augusta and have a clear vision present with those demos. Another thing would be that before, we’d often stop working on demos and wait for ideas to come, but now we have to more actively try things out when working on projects to move them forward.”
Mustafa: “On the distribution of your music: I saw that Layla recently visited the radio station in Yokohama and featured on the show ‘Kanegawa Music Land’. How have you gone about reaching out to audiences with your music through distribution? In regard to radio shows: how important are they in getting Layla’s music to reach people? Given how most people are much more active on social media, I’m interested in the decision to use radio!”
Aria: “SNS is quite limited for reaching out to new listeners, unless you go viral. Most of the time, what’s put on SNS mainly reaches the people who are already fans of the music. With radio, you have the chance to reach out to a new audience, even people who don’t even listen to band music or is even aware of our band. We’re listeners of radio ourselves, so we look forward to opportunities to be guests on radio shows!”
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12.
Mustafa: “Looking back on Layla’s discography: you started the band in 2016. Since then, how do you feel about the different EPs you’ve released in the time since the band started in 2016? How do you feel the different releases represent your growth as a band?”
Miura: “Our first EP release was the first opportunity we had to reach people outside Yokohama. This was around the time we first began performing in Tokyo, too. Prior to then, we’d only performed in Yokohama and we were struggling to spread our music further outside, so our first EP and our first music video both provided us with that valuable opportunity to reach a wider audience.”
Aria: “When we released the first single after our first EP, we were contacted by someone from an office which has since closed down. They assisted us with the recording of our second EP ‘Emma’! This is another example of support we’ve received from others, and it’s from this moment that we began to get the feeling that we were being listened to by audiences, so we started to consciously reach out more and became more aware of our listeners!”
Mustafa: “Which are the most significant songs to each of you, when you reflect on all the music you’ve released?”
Aria: “For me it would be ‘Futari no Sekai’ as it was one of the first songs that I felt I was able to fully achieve what I wanted to do with the song, and it also became one of the songs that could reach out the most to new audiences! It was also the first love song I wrote which wasn’t related to breakups! I also think ‘UTSUKUSHII FUKEI’ is significant, because its arrangement was inspired by music I’ve been listening to in my 20’s, so it’s full of newer inspirations, and I’m really satisfied with how the song turned out! ”
Miura: “For me it would be ‘SEASIDE’ and ‘Flyaway!’! For ‘SEASIDE’, it was made when Layla’s four members were aligned and were united in our vision for the songs we wanted to make, and we were able to fulfil that vision during this time, which was a turning point for Layla. For ‘Flyaway!’, it’s a personal turning-point for me in regards to arrangement, as it was one of the first songs with which I approached arrangement from the perspective of both the addition and also subtraction of sounds, which I hadn’t done before!”
Mustafa: “What is the direction for Layla’s future, moving forward? Is it clear to you what music you hope to make in future, or is that something you are still considering?”
Aria: “We hope to explore the more acoustic side of the band, and we’re currently making demos in that style!”
Miura: “I want to make music that goes beyond the expectations of our listeners, and also subverts those expectations too! ”
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Miura’s answer of subverting expectations makes me look forward with great anticipation to the band’s future, confident in their dream to continue making music true to themselves, the way they wish to make it. Even after having accomplished so much, the skies above Layla look shimmeringly clear with the promise of ever-renewing proclamations of truth.
Every writing endeavour always feels like a completely new experience: all notable for diverse reasons yet all equally special to me. This interview is unforgettable to me because it not only helped to build a connection that will last all my life, but also served as a stalwart reminder of the genuine kindness that can exist within the hearts of humanity. It was a World of Sound that greeted me when I discovered Layla, and speaking to them highlighted that this world is built from the boundless warm compassion of Aria and Miura.
-Mustafa
Since this interview took place, Layla released a new song which features lyrics of hope and reassurance, sung by Aria to her younger self. It’s supportive and comforting to listen to, given the kindness in both Aria and Miura’s voices as they sing, and represents Layla as perfectly as the rest of their discography does.
Another new song is due to be released on November 10th!
Layla’s music is available on all streaming services.
This interview is dedicated to the unyielding spirit of Palestine, and the justice its people rightfully deserve.
Really nice interview! I haven't heard of Layla before but I'm digging their music (love "Happy end" in particular) and they seem like a great duo. Definitely putting the rest of the World album on my backlog and thanks for the fun post :)
Really nice interview! I haven't heard of Layla before but I'm digging their music (love "Happy end" in particular) and they seem like a great duo. Definitely putting the rest of the World album on my backlog and thanks for the fun post :)