Eiko Ishibashi

Eiko Ishibashi

Musician


ー What does “Clothing” mean to you?

It can be very different depending on the time and situation.

I would like to be someone who is always well dressed, but I often work from home every day, and I don't always have the time or energy to think about what to wear. I end up choosing whatever is there, or whatever can be washed easily, and clothes tend to become simply something to cover my body, keep me warm, or put on for the time being.
Ideally, though, I would like to be an old woman who dresses beautifully even when she is at home.

It occurred to me that, in the same way that I approach music with a certain rigor, perhaps I could also think rigorously about what to wear—without making it about myself, in a sense.

ー What does “Contemporary Life” mean to you?

Fortunately, I belong to a generation that spent a long time living before social media, and I also have a slightly detached feeling toward the idea of easily “connecting” with people. So I don't feel particularly controlled by social media.

At the same time, I do have a desire to stir things up a little.Rather than simply wanting to distance myself from algorithms, I would like to engage with social media with the feeling of having somehow confused the algorithms through some completely trivial or ridiculous factor!! And, as has always been the case, I feel that it is important to learn from history. Rather than being consumed by unnecessary anxiety or a meaningless sense of urgency, I think it is better to study history. It has changed the way I spend my time in “contemporary life,” as well as the way I process information.

On a more personal level, I feel that living in the countryside has actually expanded my range of activity in a positive sense. It has allowed me to encounter all kinds of people and ways of life, both locally and abroad.

ー What are the things you are thinking about lately?

・Editing synthesizer recordings made at INA-GRM in Paris in April.
・Composing music for my next album of songs.
・Preparing the music for the Thai film Fiction, which is currently in production. I have been studying Thai history, traveling to Thailand, walking around the cities, visiting filming locations, and recording sounds.