As a model, MEG has decorated the covers of numerous magazines, and for girls of her generation, she’s an influential figure in fashion as well. Moreover, as club music gradually becomes a mainstream force in the current Japanese music market, she’s garnered the enthusiastic support and production of some of the scene’s most representative sound creators including FreeTEMPO, FPM, i-dep, capsule, Sugiurumn, and DAISHI DANCE. We asked the rising star about her new single “OK” and her thoughts on club music.

First, please tell us about your new song “OK.” You’ve appointed capsule’s Nakata Yasutaka as sound producer on this release, but what background did that involve? This song had actually been left untouched for about half a year, and I worked on it together with Nakata-kun since before this single was ever decided. Then the right timing just happened to strike so that I could release it like this now.

You worked with Nakata-san on your last album as well. Yes. He remixed the song “ROCKSTAR” on my previous album, and that was really good. Since then, I’ve been working on songs with Nakata-kun on a constant basis.

What attracts you to his production style? To start, I think his use of vocals is skillful. And he works extremely fast. I was shocked. He produces on a computer in his own home, and I’d be listening in the background like, “Oh, that’s it! Nice!” (laughs) When he works on a track, it’s like he really understands what I’m looking for perfectly. He’s really adept at that (laughs).

In other words, you’ve come rather close to your ideal vision with this work. Yes, that’s right. This one especially left me without any doubts. Collaborating with Nakata-kun felt like a must even in terms of the song’s concept. I think fashion and music are both about creating entertainment by nature, so I decided to make something that people could respond to sincerely without thinking about genre or anything too complicated. My goal was to make music that everyone could enjoy together.

Incidentally, leading up to this point, you’ve done a lot of work with artists like Tanaka Tomoyuki [Fantastic Plastic Machine], Sugiurumn, KAGAMI, and — perhaps most interesting of all — Theo Parrish, all of whom are considered key people in the dance music scene. What do you think is the biggest reason that they’ve taken an interest in you? I’m not sure about that… If I had to say one way or another, most of those people whose names you mentioned are people I was friendly with in my personal life. In other words, they know me as I normally am, and they also understand who I am as MEG in that I’m not just a singer, but also a model, designer, etc. So when I worked on aquaberry with [i-dep’s] Nakamura [Hiroshi]-kun, too, he portrayed that ordinary version of me in the lyrics and created a soft, warm kind of feel to suit my image. But… There’s a lot I’d like to ask them about how they see me as well (laughs).

On that note, what type of music do you personally prefer? Maybe techno-leaning house. Actually, I like what’s called “four-on-the-floor” the best. Something with a little bit of a rock feel is a better fit for when I’m doing deskwork than more stylish kinds of house.

How did you come to develop an interest in dance music and going to clubs? In middle school, I saw Denki Groove for the first time on Ponkickies [a children’s show] and was like, “What is this?” (laughs)

Were you shocked? I think they piqued my curiosity. I remember vaguely thinking that something about it was really cool. I gradually started to like that before I even knew whether or not it was dance music. Before long, I started going to clubs like a party where I’d hang out with friends, and being invited to perform as part of KAGAMI-san’s set at WIRE ‘05 was significant for me. That was when I experienced that feeling of oneness in the dance hall for the first time, and I thought, “If music is something I can share in a space with others, then there are still things I want to do through it.” Recently, I’ve finally found myself in an environment where I can create that music with other people, so it feels like I’ve been able to bring that idea to life more and more.

Did your way of thinking about music change at that moment? I think so. When I thought about it, what I'd shown in my music before then had seemed very one-sided to me. Taking that experience as a turning point, I decided then that I wanted to express something less one-sided that I could share with others instead.

I think it’s precisely that sense of unity with the audience that might be the truest and greatest pleasure of dance music. I agree. After that, I started thinking about performing as a tool for having a good time with everyone, and that made me consider what kind of music I should make. I asked myself how I should approach girls who were interested in fashion and music, for instance, but had never been to a club before, and what I should do to make it so that they could have fun along with everybody there and not feel bored.

I think there are quite a lot of girls in that position. For sure. And there are also girls who go to a club for the first time, don’t know what to do and just watch from the sidelines. I wanted to create music and live performances that those kinds of girls could enjoy and have fun experiencing together with everyone.

In that case, you need to oversee not only the sound, but the visuals and stage production, too. Like, say, expressing the lyrics in Japanese that everyone can share and including simple choreography. Without thinking too hard about it, I’ve been approaching it as a tool for everyone to enjoy together above all, and in that sense, music and clothing are the same for me.

On another note, completely separate from the music and fashion industries you described, I’ve heard that you plan to advance into the “virtual world” as well. That's right. I did a concert on Second Life [via an avatar performance at the Second Life fashion event “SL Creator Award 2007” on August 28th].

That’s an innovative experiment. I’d been hearing since last fall that this kind of virtual world would be coming to Japan very soon. Within that reality, you can have clothing stores, conversations and concerts, and multiple versions of yourself can exist as different characters… I thought it sounded interesting.

Even in the real world, it’s as if you have a number of identities. That's true — as a singer, designer, model… There are times when I think having several different distinct characters like that would make life easier (laughs). That was another thing that intrigued me about the world of Second Life. And it’d be neat if you could eventually buy the same items being sold in stores in Harajuku on that platform, too. I can instantly connect with people all over the world through Second Life, so I planned that concert as a first installment to start.

That must’ve been the first time a Japanese artist has done a concert via Second Life. I did hear something along those lines. Either way, I’d like for girls in our same generation to be able to participate more freely in that environment, too. And it’d be interesting if it even managed to create its own trends.

Like trends exclusive to that virtual world? For example, when I see the dedicated fans who come to my concerts and the girls who visit my store, a huge percentage of them all have the same haircut. Maybe because your hairstyle is the easiest thing to change. So I’ve been thinking I’d like to have a wig store within Second Life (laughs).

(laughs) So you’re going to make that a trend in that world. You know, I searched everywhere and I couldn’t find anything, so I guess my hairstyle just isn’t popular at all from the looks of it (laughs). But I think about how it’d be interesting to have something like that, and then I think about how if Doraemon made a store, it’d probably be the most profitable and things like that (laughs).

Do you find yourself overflowing with ideas like that every day? Maybe so (laughs). When things come to me that way, I guess some part of me constantly feels like I want to bring those ideas to life, or I want to test them out for myself.