The Muse: Meet singer, model and all round digi-dream girl Rina Sawayama

[R]ina Sawayama gets it: the online world is tough. You only need to press play on her catchy track ‘Cyber Stockholm Syndrome’ to hear her battling lyrics of digitally-induced struggles, from URL to IRL. But Rina hasn’t let Instagram icons or the Twitter trolls get the better of her, instead she uses them to her advantage: “create not consume”, she recounts from the wise words of her friend and collaborator Arvida Bystrom. And create she has, with her debut EP coming out next month and a selection of killer singles already out there including yesterday’s release ‘Alterlife’, Rina is set to take the world by storm.

Her “twinkle heavy R&B” takes noughties influences into the social media age, and as a model/singer/producer/creative polymath its obvious Sawayama has had her fair share of experiences. Niigata-born and London-bred, she studied at Cambridge University before deciding to do something meaningful after she graduated, having dealt with racism, bullying and marginalisation. Translating her intelligence and creativity into music and fashion, Rina Sawayama’s work has a clear empowering message: embracing the positivity of online living, seeking refuge, support and self-preservation one click or share at a time. We caught up with Rina to find out just how this can be done, and what’s going on in her polymathic digi-loving world…

As we called you in our recent piece, you’re somewhat of a creative polymath, which career path came most naturally?

I wanna say music but I’m pretty sure my Asian shutter-happy parents were training the inner model in me since birth!

How did you get into the fashion and modelling industries?

I got scouted when I was 15 but nothing really happened… But then, three years ago, a friend of a friend was setting up a street-cast agency and asked me to be on it – I was just really fortunate to be in the right URL at the right time (laughs).

You studied politics, psychology and sociology at Cambridge – talk me through that experience? Was it a positive one? How have your studies affected your music career, if at all…

To be honest with you I didn’t really enjoy uni. It was the first time I’d lived outside of the diversity bubble of a capital city and I felt othered pretty much all the time. I got cast out in a big way in second year and had to live with the people who cast me out in third year, and the bullying got so bad I had to move halls and nearly dropped out. Right at the end of my degree I found a group of friends who’d also gone through the same experience, and they are my best friends still. Academically Cambridge is obviously the best, I just don’t think I was ready for it in so many ways. Being marginalised in that way did make me question a lot of things I took for granted before, and it definitely made me determined that whatever I did after I graduated had to be meaningful.

How do you think your style has evolved in London?

Seeing as I’ve always lived here (except for three years in Cambridge) I’m not sure it’s changed much because of the city, but it’s definitely changed since entering the fashion industry. Luckily I get to borrow a lot of cool clothes and attend shows that I feel really inspired by in many ways.

Who or what would you say has influenced your music the most over the years?

Utada Hikaru, computer games and Beyonce.

How do you find being Japanese has affected your music? Or how the industry perceives you?

I grew up listening to J-pop of the 90s and also the old songs my family used to sing in karaoke (Southern All Stars, SMAP, Yamaguchi Momoe, Ishikawa Sayuri etc). But being East Asian in the Western record industry where there’s hardly any precedent is difficult because people can’t immediately see what kind of artist I can become. Whereas I’ve heard in label meetings the phrase “she’s the next x” and for me I don’t know who that is – CL, SNSD and Kyary I can think of, but again they fit a more conventional “imported” sound that I’m not aspiring to.

Have you ever experienced racism within the creative industries? Online or IRL…

Um, yes all the time. Modelling is based on casting, so if I walk into a casting and there’s another East Asian girl with coloured hair I know that only one of us is gonna get the gig. Which is really depressing so I’m trying to change that by speaking up. I’ve been told that I’m simply an “Asian Addition” on a campaign shoot for the biggest high street chain in the world, and when I’ve had work in East Asia I’ve had to fight to get paid the same as the white models. White supremacist thinking is everywhere, unfortunately.

In your opinion do you think that female Asian musicians are still underrepresented in pop music?

Yes, and by that I mean that its quite rare that you see an female artist that the industry hasn’t superimposed an Asian stereotype onto. Mitski is an exception- I stand by her because I can relate to her music, personality and music videos, and she’s so vocal about issues that affect us. Yukimi from Little Dragon is rad and also Kiko Mizuhara, though not a musician, is representing a side of Japanese femininity that the world hasn’t really seen yet.

Do you think social media and the internet can promote real change? 

Yes absolutely.

Have you ever felt negatively towards social media? What would you say was the defining moment for how you embraced the positive side of cyber living? 

I used to get annoyed at social media, and in a way I still do but now I’m just scared I’m gonna say the wrong thing because trolls. I’d say when I met Arvida (Bystrom) was the defining moment that social media felt positive, because she showed me how to create not consume.

How do you think people can best combat anxiety in the digital age? 

I think different people have different responsibilities with this: for example on Instagram creators need to aim for transparency, and brands need to be responsible for their content and comment sections. In daily life though I think no phone in bed rule is pretty great although easier said than done…

Who are your must-follows on Instagram and Twitter?

Follow Mitski (@mitskileaks) and E&SE Asian Beauty (@ESEAsianBeauty) on Twitter, Rebel Yellow on Facebook, and then Dior in the 2000s (@diorinthe2000s), Sad Topographies (@sadtopographies) and definitely project Xing (@xi__ng) on Insta!

Who are your favourite emerging fashion designers and musicians right now and why? 

I love Faustine Steinmetz, Mane Mane studios, Marques Almeida, Dilara Findikoglu, Fyodor Golan, Percy Lau – Lorenzo Buzzi is a designer I wore to an event recently and his pieces are absolutely breathtaking.

What would be your dream creation to produce? Musical or otherwise. 

I would love to produce and score a film!

And finally, what creative project is up next for you? 

My debut EP is out in late October, and my live show is 2nd November at the Pickle Factory!

Check out Rina Sawayama on Instagram here, Soundcloud here and Twitter here.