Lisa Furukawa is a Japanese-American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Utilizing her talents in contemporary and classical music, Lisa’s performances and recordings display a fusion of folk, alternative chamber pop, and electronica. Her 4th album, Signal, has just been released on Ferocidi records.
Lisa has performed at many cultural festivals, anime and sci-fi conventions, and toured various venues around the world. Lisa’s soulful ballads vary in style from delicate and intricate piano arrangements to celtic jigs. Often inspired by myth and spiritual themes, an array of characters make their way into the songs. Jizus (stone buddhas) narrating a tale as a greek chorus, the Dragon king tending to his garden in the sea, Apsu and Tiamat framing the story of sunlight and ancestory..
“I am constantly inspired and curious about myth-the stories that have shaped our cultures from ancient times. I think its vastly interesting how the majority of people in Japan believed that the emperor was divine until WWII. But what’s more interesting is how the myths have continually shaped modern life and spirituality. I think much heartache and divison in the world would be alleviated by people reaching out to understand each other’s cultures and stories. To see that no matter how different we may seem, we are all human-full of dignity, and worthy of equal respect. Sometimes I just want to write a simple love song; music can be personal therapy, or an abstract piece of art depending on how you’re feeling in the moment. But as a performing songwriter, I have an opportunity to not just express the music of my imagination, but to tell stories. I love that.”
Lisa received BAs in Music and Asian Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill, and is also an educator and translator.
Lisa released her first album, “This Moment is the Show” (in 2001) on her independent label, Yume Records. From 2003-2006, Lisa directed charity music events such as the the Tori Amos Tribute Show and Asian American Music Festival in NC. In 2004, Lisa contributed an electronic release to the Lulu Tech Circus CD and performed Korg demonstrations for Red Hat Productions. Following these events was the chamber pop folk album, “Pearl Diver” (2005). This album was recorded with cellist Deborah Shields and drummer John Metcalf. Lisa composed and performed collaborative electronic dance pieces with the multimedia troupe, “The Wandering Star Project” in 2005, and began touring at many anime conventions from 2005-2008 in support of a self-produced electronic pop album, “Reaching the Dragon” (2006). She has translated the Aqua Teen Hunger Force theme song and over 20 state songs and folks songs from around the world into Japanese. Her song, “Border City” was used for the main theme on the DVD comic/project Border City in 2006. She worked on vocal production with Funimation in 2008.
About her current release, “Signal” (2009), Lisa says, “I knew the album would be called Signal, and it was going to be an electronic album with all of the bells and whistles. I was going to delve into more beats and sounds and samples and explore a whole new atmosphere. I’d been reading Kurzweill’s books on how technology was shaping our world at an exponential rate. I felt inspired and ready to go. While I was in the midst of recording ideas for this album, my Korg had a meltdown. Every time I would play or try to record, little ghosty feedback noises would begin. Every trip to the shop was a mystery as the tech sent me on my way “I can’t find anything wrong with it.” After getting advice from every techie I knew, power conditioners, and toting the keyboard to various places only to discover it just didn’t want to work anywhere in the town I was in, I went back to my acoustic piano and started playing again. The little river mill town where I was recording has a deep history of industry, trade, and Native American communities. I started to feel very humbled-enjoying the farmer’s markets and bluegrass jams every Saturday. Little resonances from my celtic ancestry filtering through hearing acoustic instruments and appreciating the simplicity of it all. I started to think of the word signal in a different context. The wrong signals coming through my keyboard may have been just the right ones to inspire me to appreciate what I had and enjoy the simplicity of playing and singing again, to appreciate where we come from, and to realize that ultimately the people that have been in our lives and have paved the way for us to be where we are now deserve immense respect for everything they have offered to our present. Don’t get me wrong-I love all of the modern conveniences, and am especially grateful to my sound engineer for knowing how to bring magic into the electronic space. There are songs like Haiku that are more of an abstract electronic art piece, and other songs like Emily that are really simple folk songs that didn’t want to be over arranged. I hope people will enjoy it. “
Signal is currently available from www.lisafurukawa.com
