We’re reporting from South By Southwest Music Fest in Austin, Texas. We sat down for an interview with Elle Shimada along with 3 other performing artists including Bathe Alone, ASHY, and Ada Oda. You can listen to interviews with all of these artists on Name 3 Songs podcast and see the full transcribed interview with Elle Shimada below.
Elle Shimada is a violinist, producer, DJ from Tokyo and based in Melbourne, Australia. We talk to Elle about making a space for herself in a heavily white and male music environment, and how she uses music as a tool for activism to make people think.
Name 3 Songs: Alright, today we are here at South by Southwest. This is one of the first days of music. Kicking it off, we’re talking to Elle Shimada. Elle, how are you doing today?
Elle Shimada: I’m good, thank you for having me.
South by has been around for like 30 years. It’s known for bringing festival artists from all over the world to the city. And a lot of these are kind of up -and -coming artists, people who are really exciting, who have a lot of potential. So for you, what drew you to this festival and wanting to come and participate in it?
Well, I came from Tokyo originally, but now I’m based in Northern Australia. I’m just ready for something new. I’ve been a musician for a while now and always been really proud to be underground. I love the freedom and the creativity of the underground.
Is South By something that artists like you think about in regards to something like you come here and there’s a lot more potential for you to meet the right people, to get you in the right doors, to potentially help your career grow?
Sure, yeah I think so. The music that I do, there’s not a huge industry representation in Australia. So, I’m always around people that’re not as musically similar or relevant. So like, it’s been really cool, meeting all of the artists. And also I came here to represent Melbourne.
I feel like it definitely already feels like a community feel where people are all coming together to witness something that they might not normally witness, which I think is really exciting about festivals like this where people are all here for discovery.
Totally. And people are so friendly. I feel like we have a great lineage of music. And it’s just so cute because even if I’m walking around the city, you know, like, just chilling, someone’s like, hey, are you a musician? Like, you’re a music hero in a festival. I feel like it just opens up a space to talk to strangers and normalize it.
I love that. And I think also because of the nature of this festival, there’s so many opportunities, like, yourself to meet artists from all over the place, you know, sharing the same stage. So there’s almost this aspect of cultural exchange as well.
It’s so cool because sometimes you never know even if you know the others, if they’re trying to work or they’re trying to chill or they’re trying to stick with their crew, socialize. Here, it’s just expected that people like here hustle and then to connect. I like this energy. I don’t know if I can do it for more than a week. I’m definitely pushing out my extraverted side which is not my main side.
That’s so fun. I feel like that’s also the thing that’s cool is because so many people have come from all over the world, I feel like everybody’s so much more open to being like, okay, let’s put ourselves out there, let’s meet new people. Even when it comes to just other artists getting to know each other, which doesn’t happen as often anymore. And I feel like especially with how touring has changed post -COVID, you don’t see people intermingling as much. And so getting to all be here together must be really awesome.
100 % and I think also like… A lot of music business has been so focused on Spotify streaming numbers or Facebook followers, TikTok. There’s a lot that happens. Also, of course, on emails, there’s a lot that happens on the screen. It’s just really good to put the face and name together.
Getting into your music, you’re a violinist by nature, but you also DJ and produce, so really a jack of all trades. You pull on influences from jazz, from drum and bass, and all these different genres combined together. So for you, what was your inspiration pulling these sounds together and finding your own sound within it?
I have my own songs, a lot of people say that I’m unique and I really appreciate that but I feel like my songs will only be defined after I have a long enough music career. It’s a discovery process, it’s a journey. And I feel like I tend to be subscribed to a genre that didn’t come from my people as well. I’m not a huge fan of music, but I listen to a lot of music from different countries. Usually the story or message comes first and then different sounds are there to support that vision. I don’t want to be too subscribed to like, genre or categories but I love learning deeply about the music history.
So you play violin. Did you start out with that instrument and then expand with the things that you liked and start combining things together?
Yeah, so violin is probably my first love. And then I started singing because I have things to say. Violin is a really expressive instrument. It can be so emotional. We’re humans, we’re gifted with words. Production… I think I was always obsessed with the notion of production. My parents, my father, gave me like a little tape recorder and that had the overdone function so I was always recording everything from my surroundings, like my mother cooking and I used to make like a mix day. Oh cool yeah. And I also went to engineering college, which was really fun. But there’s also not very many women in production.
Yeah. I feel like we’re starting to see more women be like, oh, we want to have that role to take on the production stuff. Because as you said, there’s not that many women who do it. And I think it’s been really empowering, as a fan and a journalist to speak to other women who also are like, yeah, I’ve been learning production because I wanted to be more involved because they go in rooms and there’s just a bunch of dudes there.
It is such a gift for any marginalized person, whether that be gender or race or social moments. Because when we can record ourselves, we can tell our story authentically without somebody else editing what we say. Music recording, for example, like recording vocals on the track, it’s not that technically challenging. Honestly, I feel like having production skills meant that I could say what I wanted to say without the gatekeeping in the recording studio, or what record labels wanted for me. I was like, if I can’t keep open this door, let me make my own.
I think that that’s incredible because like you said it’s lie when people who don’t understand your story are trying to be part of the storytelling, all they’re gonna do is really mess it up or try and put their own viewpoints on it when they might not really know where you’re coming from
With that, like, I’m not saying women are better than men. I’m saying that, there are as many or less women as men.
In speaking of that, your bio mentioned that you have a big interest in feminism and culture and politics, which are big things that we care about and talk about on our podcast. And it referenced something called dance floor activism, which I think sounds very cool. So can you expand a little bit more on like what that entails?
I feel like it’s probably good to see. I think that music is such a powerful tool for opening people’s minds. 100%. Someone can be racist or misogynistic. But when they hear a feminist song or when they hear culturally diverse people sing about something, people are more likely to listen to that than being told like ‘hey, you’re racist’. I think music has set a powerful way of opening people’s minds up and as musicians we have a responsibility because we have a voice and when we have a voice we have power and with power comes responsibility. Because it’s kind of a one -way conversation when someone’s on the dance floor and we’re singing to them.
Of course it’s an interaction between the audience and the artist but we’re singing to them and dance to them and they can’t really speak back to us and it really matters what we say when people’s hearts open and they can’t speak back to us like a normal conversation. So I really care about the integrity in what I say. I grew up in a house where my parents always took me to different protests. I was a freedom fighter before I was a musician. I guess that’s kind of the back context for the dance floor activism.
We’ve talked to other artists too who make kind of like quote -unquote unexpected music to be like feminist or activist, most of the time it’s been like folk music or rock music that has a bigger message in it. But, when you have music that people are gonna be going to dance to or have more of like a free flowing fun time that’s actually has a message, I think that can also resonate without them realizing it. And that’s also really powerful.
Club music was underground resistance before anything. So was hip -hop, so was jazz, I think the more I learned about where the club music or jazz or so many other types of music came from, I realized like it’s all activism whether you’re speaking specifically on something. Sometimes I do wonder if I say too many things on stage and that’s why I haven’t made it yet.
I mean, there’s always going to be people pushing back. But, I think to your point earlier about wanting to have autonomy as an artist, it’s like, music has always been a form of art, has always been a form of expression for marganalized groups to say what they want to say. The mainstream versions of these genres are usually a bit watered down, but it’s always been that tool for expression and that tool for talking about hard topics.
100 % and I think like, I have a voice so why not? It’s been really beautiful in my local, like in Melbourne or Tokyo, because of the messages that we stand for. I’m not gonna ever say our dance floor is completely safe, nothing is and you can’t control it at the end. Over the years we’ve really built a community of other people for the changes that we want to see in the world. It’s really beautiful to invite new fans into that space, the focus of many of the people, like, I haven’t ever felt so accepted. And then creating those spaces where people can be… People can feel safe in being who they are first and foremost, creates a space where we can aim for the trends that we want to see together. I don’t think my job as a musician is to like… I don’t have the power to change the registration system but my job as an artist is to bring people together and create a space to kind of cultivate this.
We grew up in rock music, and the people we saw on stage were just like a lot of white men, like all the time. But I’m curious, in your experience of being in the dance world and being a DJ and being a global citizen, coming from so many different countries, but living in Australia, what has your experience been? Have you had to fight for that community or to find those people? Was it difficult to do that?
I think music led the way, like I went to a very white school and then high school, when I immigrated I didn’t speak a word of English. It was a challenge not gonna lie. And then I went to audio engineering school and there was only one other femme -identifying person in basically the whole class. There was a couple of queer people. So you know, it took me a while to find my people. I started making music in hopes of reaching the kind of people I want to be surrounded by. And over the years I was, I’ve been blessed to create that space, first for myself and then second for like small group of us and now we have this bigger platform. It’s such a blessing.
Have you had people who come to your shows, like audience members or fans of your music, who come up and say anything about your music or show appreciation to you know the art that you’re doing or like something really resonated with them?
Sure, like my first album is called Home, and the album is actually quite short, it’s only 8 songs and 2 intros and outros but it speaks on looking for a sense of home that’s not equal to a location so for me, where’s home for me? Is it Japan? Is it Australia? And especially here in America, there are so many people who don’t even have a privilege of knowing where their motherland might be. So I wanted to find like a sense of hope that can be found in other things, other regions. It’s been so so beautiful because I was going to London and some random cities I’ve never been and then someone said ‘yeah it really helped me feel at home’ and like you know in whatever else like in music or like in the community too. I make music for those moments more than like a brand or success. Like of course I want that but I don’t know that makes me feel amazing.
That’s so powerful. I mean, both of us can really relate to that because we both have moved around a lot and it’s always been that thing where it’s like, okay, I might not have a space that I feel like is my home in regards to an actual apartment or house or whatever, but it’s like you find your home in people or like you said, in music and that kind of thing. So I feel like that’s definitely a theme that everyone can understand. And for you, that must make you feel like oh my god like this is like a real thing where we’re finding home in each other.
100 % and also especially living in Australia where it is a colonized land and like since I migrated I kind of never knew as a migrant, whether to call this place that’s stolen a home. It’s the same thing in America as well. But I also think that regardless of our race, whether they are black, brown, white or anything else, I think we all deserve to feel a sense of home. And a lot of these race conflicts happen because… we fight over a place, you know? And it’s all based on this concept of ownership where we don’t really own a place, we are over a place, it’s on colonialism. But, I wrote that album more for me to feel like I belong to something, even though I may not have a location or something. Yeah, yeah. And I think it’s kind of like what we were saying earlier about finding your community. And I think we’re in an era, and especially social media has helped us be able to find people that we identify with and we appreciate the same values and things. So it’s like you don’t even have to be from the same place in order to share that connection. I think it’s really positive. I also think like with music like I arrived to a new place and I get to instantly meet so many people because of the music community and it feels like wow this is getting smaller.
Well I think that’s a beautiful note to end with in sharing culture and sharing community and finding each other so thank you Elle for talking to us today.
Thank you so much.