Mayumi is a Japanese girl who lives in London and who delights in writing noise pop songs, playing all the instruments by herself. There are two debut singles that confirm the compositional talents of this artist who loves to take the sounds of her guitars to extremes. Those who are fond of the MBV and Loveliescrushing will not waste time in tracking her down.

Could you tell us who Mayumi is? How was your musical project born?
Well, I'm a solo artist and originally from Japan, but am now London-based. I played in a couple of bands - first as a singer, then became a singer-guitarist and formed a band. When I was looking for new players after the last band split, I made some recordings by myself which, I quite liked. So I sort of carried on from there.

Could you tell us something about "Platinum", your first CDS? How have you developed your musical ideas?
The main bit of the title track was written in something like five minutes, when I thought I was warming up for rehersal in a studio. I guess at that time I had a desire to strum the guitar hard (I still do) -. Then I added the lyrics. It was summer 1996 and I was wondering if I still had the right to dream....anyway, that is what the lyrics are about.
"Tomorrow and More", it was the first song I wrote when I'd just bought an effect box, so it was like, 'Let's use all the effects I've got!'. It somehow turned to have a day-dream feel.......

All the songs are about how I live and feel everyday, things I think I should leave a mark for......The CD was my first try as a solo, and I just did what I felt was right - that was all I could do, there wasn't a concept as such....

What kind of instruments do you play currently? Do you think you will use a drummer in the future?
I basically regard myself as a singer-guitarist and would like to remain so. I'm a great fan of Fender Jaguar - a brilliant guitar with a life of its own -. And the bass guitar which always disables my fingers. I used to play classical piano, so I might do something with keyboards some day.

Also I might use a drummer for some of the songs in the future, it will add a different feel to the songs. I'm quite happy with this guitar-bass-drum machine line-up though. I like to keep it simple for the time being.

What have been some of the influences for your songs? Are there any musicians that you would say have been influences for your work?
Definitely My Bloody Valentine - they changed my life! They totall changed my idea about music.....They are the band that made me want to play guitar. And Dinasour Jr. When I first started I was shocked to hear people mention Cocteau Twins, Lush, even Bjork...It seemed so different from what I though I was doing. I admit I have been shoe-gazing a little bit with my guitars, but now I feel I'm reaching a stage where I could come up with something whch is really my own.

How would you define your musical style?
.....I have a fantasy that one day I'll play a really cool spacerock - not in the same way as the obvious spacerockers such as Can did, but in a fresh way - something that really takes you somewhere for the moment.