Following the critical acclaim of his debut album Holly back in 2007, Justin Nozuka has toured around the world full circle, and now finds himself touring yet again – except this time in support of his equally solid sophomore effort You I Wind Land and Sea.
asapmusicblog.ca was fortunate enough to chat with Justin prior to the first date of his Canadian tour last week at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, and we found ourselves enlightened by his views on his songwriting, and life in general.
For you Justin Nozuka fans, we were lucky enough to score an autographed copy of YIWLAS, and a few autographed pictures that we want to share. Check back next week for more information. Enjoy the interview!
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asapmusicblog.ca: So you’ve been touring a lot, obviously you’ve been touring around the world – how does it feel to come back to where your home is, and doing the eight-date tour across Canada?
Justin Nozuka: Well, it just started, and already I can feel the difference. Every city is different, every single city is different, and I think it’s great because it all makes sense then you know, everything is different, every moment is different, every place is different. So being in Vancouver is beautiful, very nice.
a: Your approach to music is very with-the-flow, very natural – something that translates well with your songwriting. Between the first album Holly and your current album You I Wind Land and Sea, how would you describe the growth you’ve had as a songwriter?
JN: I would describe it as a growth with life, and art is everything that I do, that is an expression of life. So my relationship with life has changed a lot, and it’s affected my music a lot too, you know? I would just say [that] I’m really starting to work on myself… yeah, I guess trying to deal with all of these things that I’ve been living with that I wasn’t really ever questioning, that I was kind of just going with it… and I don’t know, I’m sorry, I’ve lost myself already.
a: Kind of going back to the songwriting question, with your last album, you’ve had a lot of storytelling – something you’re really good at with your music, in telling stories from other people’s perspectives [on] things you might not have necessarily have gone through. With the new album, it feels like you have a lot more personal emotions that come into play. Was it a conscious effort in putting more personal emotions, as opposed to being just a storyteller for somebody else?
JN: The storytelling is still very personal, because it’s all an expression of my life, and who I am. I would say the songs on the new album, ‘cause there are older songs, all types of different songs on this album. Songs from years ago, songs that are more present, and songs from different places – every song is different. But what I’m trying to do with my songs, with my music is to express music from a place from my soul, you know, and when I live with my soul, and I breathe from my soul, and I just sing from my soul – I shake, I shake because… I don’t know, maybe I’m just getting used to living with my soul, but that’s what I was saying before. I live so much of my life being this person, and when I drop all of that, and when I surrender, then all I have left is my soul. And you know, it’s really positive. So when I write music from that place, or do anything from that place, it just feels so much more – it just feels so much more powerful, it feels positive, it feels right.
a: I think that positivity really comes across in your music, actually.
JN: Cool.
a: In your past interviews, you’ve talked a lot about influences. Are there any particular artists that inspire you?
JN: Very many artists, a lot of people actually inspire me. But at this moment, I go back home and watch my brothers play a show – and it moves me, it moves me – that brings you right back down to the ground. And it brings you right back to that place of soul, that place of surrender, and I love going back there, and I love when music can do that to me. There’s only so much ignoring I can do, until it smacks me in the face, and I love when music smacks me in the face. And The Luyas – I saw this band play in Toronto, opening for an artist, and they really touched me. They touched me beautifully, it was really special experience.
a: You mentioned slightly about your brothers, obviously you come from a very musical family, and I noticed that Henry collaborated with you on one of your songs on the new album.
JN: Christian. Do you know him, do you know Christian?
a: I do, I might have gotten it mixed up – you have a lot of brothers!
JN: That’s okay! I do actually, and Christian has a different last name than us, so I think a lot of people may not know that he’s my brother. And regardless of that fact, he’s still such a beautiful artist, all of them are, all of my brothers are really special.
a: How about your band? Do you want to talk about how you met them?
JN: I met my band in Toronto, for the most part. I was looking for a band, but I didn’t know I was actually going to have a band. When the opportunity came up for that to kind of go down, for it to happen, I knew a drummer and I called up Alex [Tanas], and he knew a friend who knew a friend, and we met with Anthony [Lavdanski], we had a session, and he brought his friend, who was Mark [Pellizzer]. My band is an extension of me, and what I’m trying to do with music, so we share something very, very deep.
a: Your band was more involved with the process of making of the second album, is that something that will be continuous in the future?
JN: I think so. 100%, sorry. You know what though? Our relationships are always changing, I really hope that I can continue to be in a place of – I would just say good, be in a place of good. I just want to be in a really good place, and then make good decisions, but I think I will. And in doing that, I think we will always be together.
a: So being a Canada-based artist, you obviously have had a lot of support in making your music, such as from the Canada Music Fund. How do you feel about the current state of Canadian music?
JN: I don’t really know what’s going on in Canada right now, for the music industry. But I would imagine it’s kind of similar to the U.S., I guess it’s kind of major label run, in many ways. I don’t know what it’s like, honestly, I don’t know if I can actually give my opinion about it because I don’t actually know the situation. I haven’t been in Canada in such a long time.
a: Well hopefully this tour will let you rediscover the music around you, in Canada.
JN: Yeah, I really hope it does that.
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Thanks again to Justin Nozuka and Warner Music for the interview!
