Recently, Deborah of Pop Experiment had the pleasure of talking with Shawn James Seymour and Yoshimi Tomida of Lullatone. “Lullatone’s music is cute!” they say.
We say it is that, plus more.
With three released albums (Computer Recital, My Petit Melodies, and Little Songs About Raindrops) and another on the way (Lullatone Plays Pajama Pop for You), Lullatone has created worlds where the sounds are gentle, interesting, varied, layered, and evocative of afternoon sunshowers, dreamy summer naps and languid days spent painting, writing, and watching the moon move across the sky.
This music is contemporarily electronic, but full of the natural world, be they the sounds of drinking orange juice, or the sense you get of being outside while listening to Lullatone at your computer with your headphones on.
Some say it is minimalist, and it is essential, using only what is needed to convey its incredibly lush sentiments, leaving the rest to you, the listener.
PE: I love the organic nature of your music and vocals. Do you have a way of describing/defining it?
SHAWN: Thank you! We usually call it pajama pop. A lot of musicians and artists seem to want to avoid genres and descriptions of their music, but I think it is fun to think about that kind of stuff. Especially if you make up your own genre name!
PE: I read that many of your songs grew out of lullabies you were writing for Yoshimi…has this changed over time?
SHAWN: Yeah, it has really. Before I would stay up all night every night. I only slept like 2-3 hours a day, so it was a good chance for me to make these sleepy sounds for her while she was snoozing by my side. But now I work with Junior High School kids, teaching English, and I usually end up playing basketball or running or something with them after school. So, I am too sleepy at night to make lullabies these days. Every time I try I fall asleep in the studio (it happens a lot).
YOSHIMI: He always woke me up in the middle of night to play the lullabies he made for me!
