PART ONE

This interview was conducted by bubuche93 through email on July 28, 2004 in English. If Graziano’s responses don’t make sense, it’s because she responded to the questions in English. The interview was edited as best as possible by an English-speaking friend of bubuche93 (a Frenchman) and by Spaceman-Spiff.

Q1: Can you tell me a little about yourself? Such as: how old you are, where you come from, etc.
IG: Wow! You have a lot of questions, don’t you?
So, I’ll tell you. I came from Naples (hope you enjoyed my city), but now I live in London… I started playing violin when I was a child, but I had been singing on my heart all the time… I’ve also studied the arts, in a painting school.
My age…? I’m young… maybe 19, I can’t remember really well!

Q2: What was your first experience as a singer? With Miele?
IG: I started to play with some bands when I was 15, and I had done a lot of featuring with pop/hip hop bands, and I’ve been touring with different groups and making really different styles of music (folk music, ethnic…).
That’s what I like of my experiences. I love so many genre of music, and I couldn’t choose in between them. I had the opportunity to work in a lot of different worlds! I’ve also made music for a play in a theatre… what a trip! Really good experience.
With Miele, we made together this project, and then we went on TV promotions and on a tour in Italy. It was a really nice time!

Q3: How and when did you meet Yoko Kanno?
IG: I met Yoko six years ago… my agent was also working for Yoko, that’s how we met each other.

Q4: What are your feelings about Yoko Kanno? Was the work easy with her or did she run a tight ship?
IG: She’s a flower, a butterfly. She’s an amazing person and it’s always a great experience to work with her. With no one else, I can feel so comfortable and free… she guided me when we were recording, and I try to follow her light!

Q5: Can you confirm if Gabriela Robin is Yoko’s nickname? (:p)
IG: I don’t think so! I met Gabriela one time, she’s a really nice person. I think all the people that I met from Yoko, all the musicians, are fantastic people.

Q6: What is your favorite singer / song / anime song / anime soundtrack / anime etc.?
IG: My first love was Billy Holiday, and after that, I also love so many other singers… it’s a long list! PJ Harvey, Diamanda Galas, Mike Patton from Faith no more, and… oh… it’s a really long list! And the same goes for anime songs or soundtracks. How can I say which is my favorite, all of them are different and beautiful!

Q7: You haven’t sang on many songs, why is that? Are you waiting for propositions? If so who from?
IG: I think I have to give my voice to the right character and atmosphere.

Q8: Can you tell us more about your songs/album in preparation?
IG: I’m working on my own new project… it’s not a secret, but I prefer not to speak about that because it’s just too early!
Anyway, I’m also starting to do a new live project: a sort of fusion between electronic music and loop machine… it will be really funny!

Q9: What are your plans for the future, in the next 20 years or so?
IG: I learned that it is not good to make a long term plan, you’ll never know what will come up in life!

Q10: What’s the funniest thing that has happened to you while doing this job?
IG: Every time, funny things happen, that’s a difficult question!

Q11: Can you describe how you go about recording your songs, do you feel the need to move to Japan or do you just stay at “home”?
IG: We met sometimes in Naples, Rome and New York… I’ve never been to Japan.

Q12: Are you aware that one of your songs called ” valse de la lune” (a French song) contains big French grammar mistakes? (but you have a lovely French accent, lol )
IG: I’m really sorry about that, but a French girl (from the university!) said that everything was all right. Maybe I made a mistake to believe her?

Q13: Have you ever been to a “Japan Expo” (that’s the name of our annual exposition concerning Japanese culture in Paris), in France or in another country? If not, would you come and perform a show during the expo? (there are some Japanese artists and voice actors there)
IG: No, I’ve never been there. It will be a pleasure to come and do a little show.

PART TWO

This is a second interview conducted by bubuche93 through email in January/February of 2005 in English. Questions were provided by members of the ykDB forum.

If Graziano’s responses don’t make sense, it’s because she responded to the questions in English. The interview was edited as best as possible by TenAJs. To see her unedited responses, head over to the forum thread.

Q1 by misssakura: I would like to know how much input she has into the music, whether she has formal training or if she collaborates with the musicians until they work out a sound they like… and if so, does she truly consider it to be all her work?
IG: Every time, the work with musicians is different. For me, it is important to have a good feeling with people who I’m working with.
Working on the same vibration being open, what I care about more is to feel music and go through the emotions, that can be one of my inputs.
…”All my work”?!!! It can’t ever be all my work, isn’t it? But of course, I’m a good part of it .

Q2 by roger343: I’d like to know if there are artists who influenced her music (of course not only Yoko Kanno).
IG: It is a big list… and doesn’t have any genre or time. From classical, jazz, heavy metal to ethnic, popular music, hip hop, and electronic, I don’t have any limits. I won’t to be influenced by everything that makes me feel emotions!

Q3 by hokidoki: Ilaria Graziano is my favorite. She’s so awesome.
Question: Are you working on any more projects with Yoko kanno at the moment? What are the plans for your solo project?
IG: Mmmmm… You know what! Like a good Neapolitan girl, I’m really superstitious…! In my city, we say: statt ‘zitt che e’ meglio!

Q4 by ykDB: Following roger343′s question, I’d like to know what the music industry is like in Italy. And what are the reasons for her to move to London? Hopefully that question isn’t too personal…Something more relational to YK, how did she meet Yoshio Nakatani from Chiara Sun Music?
IG: Well, the music business in Italy? Oh my god!… It’s… (I don’t want to/won’t say anything bad) …Anyway, it is not just about music, is it? Money, money, money! So things can’t be too good when $ is around!

Q5 by misssakura: I would like to know what languages she speaks, and how well she speaks them.
IG: Okay, I speak Italian, French, English, and Neapolitan! And I’m really bad in all of them!

Q6 by Megumi: Like Misssakura, I would like to know more about her relation with other languages, specially with French. Did she live in France to know it as well?
IG: I love languages, I mean, you can find a different sound in your voice and play with it! I used to sing with my band in Bulgarian, African, Spanish, and different dialects too. Also because I believe that languages keep the differences and the unity of human beings, are the sound of races and lands, cultures and traditions, the vibration that give us a place in the world. And I like to feel part of the globe!
About French, I’d learn it at school, on holiday, and one time, I had a French boyfriend! (shhhhhhhh!)

Q7 by tlsmith1963: Since she recently did some songs on the new Cowboy Bebop album, I was wondering if Ilaria is a fan of CB.
IG: I love him!!!!!!!!
[ykDB's note: "him"? Hmm...]

Q8 by CiscoMatisse: I’d like to see what she looks like too. A girl with a voice that beautiful has GOT to be pretty. (i loved the answer of another fan : “Try telling that to celine dion”
IG: Um, um… thanx baby, I hope that I can be nice for your taste then!

Q9 by mike_s_6: There’s this thread in AnimeNation and one of the forumers that I encountered thinks that the female version of Heaven’s Not Enough was sung by Ilaria. Can we verify this?
IG: No, it was not me!

IG: thanx a lot to you all!
peace ‘n love !!!!!
ilaria

Something that you do
I really can’t explain
The way you make me smile
The way you make me love you
When you’re shining…

Diamonds don’t make promises or deceive me
They don’t lie
All they do is shine like the sun
Stars up in the sky
I see them in your eyes
Can I see them now?
Yes, I see them now

Little diamonds
Please don’t go away
Let me love you
Can I keep you near?
Let me hold you dear ever more
Don’t know what it is
Your magic sparkle kiss
Little diamonds
I’m yours

Twinkling like a melody in the twilight
Ever clear, made in heaven, some are cold
And some are perfect cuts
While some are in the rough
All so beautiful
You’re so beautiful

Little diamonds
Don’t you go away
Let me love you
Can i keep you near?
Let me hold you dear for all time
Don’t know what it is
You sparkle with a kiss
Little diamonds
Little diamonds
Be mine

Seeing you in my tears
In my own reflection
I hear you in the wind that passes through me

Feel you in my hunger
You’re haunting my ambition
Beautifully destructive attraction

Climbed to zero G’s
Now falling like a rock
Drugged and digitized you inside a dream

Tu sei per me…iaria che respiro
Il mio cibo, cioche osservo
Magico sei tu! e sento che
Sono inamorata di emozioni
Smisurate e infinite ormai!
Vivi, nei miei pensieri.

A velveteen equation

I find you in my fears
And in my fascination
I taste you in safe water and it drowns me

Paranoid and peaceful
Inside a sweet addiction
Velvety electrical reaction

Soft insanity
And I can’t make it stop
Live hallucination within a dream

Tu sei per me…iaria che respiro
Il mio cibo, cioche osservo
Magico sei tu! e sento che
Sono inamorata di emozioni
Smisurate e infinite ormai!
Vivi, nei miei pensieri.

A velveteen equation

Magico, questo eun grande amore
Magico, questo eun grande amore