Marié Digby Not Just ‘The Girl with the Guitar’Posted on Monday, September 7, 2009.
Published in the Nichi Bei Times Weekly Aug. 27 - Sept. 2, 2009.
By CHRISTINE T.
Nichi Bei Times Contributor
Just a little over a year ago, Marié Digby showed the world that YouTube could be your best friend when you’re trying to make it in the music biz. Now she’s preparing for the release of her sophomore album, “Breathing Underwater,” which is set to hit stores on Sept. 8.
The half-Japanese, half-Irish singer/songwriter first caught our attention with her infamous cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” which now has more than 13 million views on YouTube, and followed up with a debut album entitled “Unfold.”
Digby describes the new album as a continuation of the first. “‘Unfold’ was my declaration, right? That I would open myself up to other people and allow other people to see who I really am and not be afraid of that,” she explained in an interview with the Nichi Bei Times. “And I would say that ‘Breathing Underwater’ is that new realization, or that new sort of unchartered territory type of feeling.”
We see this evolution in tracks such as “Crazier Things,” where Digby sings, “I was so scared to try/’Cause I’ve seen other people cry/And it seemed like it hurt too much/To fall in love.” Then in “Love with a Stranger,” she sings about having a strictly physical relationship with someone.
But in fact, Digby fell in love during the making of this album. She says, “That was a really, really intense experience and this album is the ups and downs of [that].”
The changes in Digby’s life also brought changes in her musical style. On this release, she exhibits a fuller, more mature sound. “I was tired of being boxed in with the same singer/songwriter girls with acoustic guitars,” she states. “I feel like I have so much more to express, so I wanted beat, rhythm. I wanted fuller production, while still being true to my artistry.”
With songs like “Feel,” which showcases her familiar voice over a powerful rhythm, and “Know You by Heart,” a fast-tempo, Kylie Minogue-esque track, she seems to achieve the intended sound. She says, “I just think that as long as the lyrical content remains truthful and of substance, that’s the foundation of everything else, to be experimented with.”
Part of what has influenced her growth is her first tour (with Eric Hutchinson and Justin Nozuka). “When you have to do a show every single night, day after day, you start experimenting with your set list and how you interact with the audience.”
Even with their busy schedules, the three still found time to play a few pranks on each other. For Nozuka, they brought a birthday cake up on stage and pretended the now 20-year-old was turning 17. “He was the youngest kid by far on the tour, so we were just making fun of the fact that he was the little baby,” explains Digby.
Digby and Nozuka, being fellow Japanese Americans, even practiced a little Japanese together while on the road.
In addition to touring, being without management contributed to Digby’s growth as an artist as well. It left her handling both the creative and business sides of the album. In fact, she delayed its release, which was originally scheduled for June, because she didn’t feel that it had the proper set-up.
“You have to get the right TV and film placements, you have to be touring, you have to have a music video ready, you have to be in the right publications,” she explains. “You could have the best album in the world and if no one knows about it, knows that it’s coming out, then it’s not going to be anything.”
Digby was also simultaneously working on a Japanese album, “Second Home.” Writing for both albums at the same time proved to be too difficult and the Japanese album, which was initially going to consist of original music, ended up being a compilation of covers that were recorded in Tokyo.
Of “Second Home,” Digby says, “I think that it was a very well-received album, but I think that the Japanese audience for me seems to be more interested in my original material, which is actually more flattering.”
She even performed at Summer Sonic, Japan’s annual music festival in Tokyo, earlier this month.
Digby hasn’t given up on releasing an original Japanese album either. “I really, really hope to do an original album sometime soon in only Japanese ‘cause I have songs that I’ve written in Japanese,” says Digby, who’s a big fan of Utada Hikaru.
“To me, I thought if there was going to be an Asian artist to break through this market, it would be Utada because she’s fluent in English, she’s a megastar in Japan, and she’s an incredible writer,” she says. “But it’s hard.”
Digby used to say that her mixed heritage appeared to be working for her, but now she sees things from a different perspective.
“I don’t necessarily feel like I’m held back, but it is certainly something I’m much more aware of,” she says. “I think people look at me and I look Asian and I’m proud of that, but I think it scares people too because there haven’t been Asians to be successful in this industry.”
Still, Digby isn’t discouraged. “It’s sort of like the added fire that I need to be successful,” she says.
Maintaining the grassroots approach that gained her popularity in the first place, she plans to create a mini movie based on all of the songs on her new album instead of filming a typical music video.
“Some of the stories will be true and what I was going through during the album and some of it might be a little bit tweaked,” she says. “I want the audience to decide what they think is real and what’s not.”
The mini movie will be released virally in three- to four-minute clips.
Coming up, Digby plans to tour in the United States this fall to promote “Breathing.” She’s also in early talks to play a role in an upcoming musical.
For more information on Marié Digby, visit her MySpace page at
www.myspace.com/mariedigby or her YouTube channel at
www.youtube.com/mariedigby.
