Six years have passed since the release of her last album, but now Shunkan — the Los Angeles-based rock project of Marina Sakimoto — is back to soon drop her third studio album, Kamikaze Girl, out May 6 via Rite Field Records. With the release of the album’s debut single “Hellbound” on Valentine’s Day, Sakimoto conveyed a powerful introduction to her new record — one that was glittering with shoegaze sparkle.
After signing on to Rite Field Records last year, Sakimoto quickly put together Kamikaze Girl, an eclectic and diverse body of work written after the most transformative years of her life. After reconnecting with her identity and embarking on a journey of self-discovery within the city of angels, Kamikaze Girl explores themes of identity, relationships, heartbreak and nostalgia.
Sakimoto’s second single released ahead of the record, “Usual Suspects,” is an upbeat emo rock track, balancing an upbeat, punchy composition with melancholy lyricism. Within her work, Sakimoto consistently maintains a balance of dark and light, sweet and sour, pop and alternative. Growing up in a bicultural household where she often felt the pull of two contrasting worlds, Sakimoto conveys this divide in her work as she flawlessly balances charming, bubblegum pop radiance with grunge-infused, fuzzed out guitars to create a sound that is so uniquely her own.
Following a magnetic journey of independence, Sakimoto felt she had no other choice but to pour her heart out into this record. Through her hazy, distorted electric guitars and unrelenting passion within her vocals, Sakimoto returns from her musical hiatus stronger than ever. In light of her upcoming album release, Sakimoto sat down with Melodic Magazine to discuss the story of Kamikaze Girl, musical influences and what listeners should soon expect.
Recently you signed on to Rite Field Records, which I feel like is such a big milestone for any artist. What’s it been like so far working with them?
They’re so great, I can text them in the middle of the night and they’re cool with it, seemlingly (laughs). They’re just super supportive and have really made the ability to record an album a possibility. [I’m] just super grateful.
The new album Kamikaze Girl is coming out soon, and it is your first full-length album since 2019. How does it feel to finally work on a full-length project after such a long time?
It’s awesome. It’s certainly a long time coming. I expected to be doing DIY forever. I mean, I knew I would always make music whether anyone heard it or not, but it’s just super exciting. Alex Newport, the producer I worked with, is someone I met probably in 2016, forever ago, and the timing of everything never worked out until this year, so I’ve wanted to work with him for a long time and the label made it possible, so that was exciting.
You’ve already released a couple singles, “Hellbound” and “Usual Suspects.” For those who don’t know, what are the stories behind both singles?
With “Hellbound,” at that time I was driving around L.A. a lot late at night and developing friendships and relationships with people. It was encapsulating that time where I’m doing these late night drives and kind of trying to escape my day-to-day and knowing that this isn’t the healthiest thing to do or best thing to do. But I still found there to be something worth capturing, and that’s why it’s kind of moodier and darker. But with “Usual Suspects,” I knew the subject matter was a little darker. It’s a song about dealing with your mental health, whether it’s internal or external things in your life, so I thought it’d be fun to make the song the opposite of that and a little jovial, bouncy and full of life, comparatively. I imagined Charlie Kelly from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” just going mad about trying to figure out the conspiracy of Carol. I was like, ‘I feel that too, except with my brain.’
On these songs you tackle some more vulnerable subject matter like mental health and relationships. Were you ever hesitant to write some of these songs? How did you feel writing about these personal topics?
Yeah, a little bit. But I really felt like I had no choice. That’s just what was happening at the time and writing songs is very therapeutic and I felt like there’s a lot going on so I may as well write about it. In the past, I felt like I kind of used my imagination more so and just whatever imagery came to mind. It wasn’t always pertaining to my day-to-day. But with this record I really tried to do that, because I wanted a more honest approach with myself. And I think I like doing that more, so I’m probably going to keep doing that.
For a lot of this record it was written after you spent a lot of time driving around the streets of L.A. trying to find yourself. When you were driving around L.A. on that journey, what did you find about yourself? What did you end up learning along the way?
Partially, I feel like I’m still dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s with that. But I feel like overall I’m trying to work on my perception of myself. I felt like being on my own, as someone who’s been so dependent on others for probably most of their life with interpersonal relationships, was cool. Because it’s been a long time since I’ve had that experience again, where you don’t know what’s coming next and you’re on your own and you’re trying to figure out yourself. I felt like it had been many years since I reconnected, so it’s like meeting up with an old friend and you haven’t seen them in several years, and you’re just trying to suss out who they are and what they’re up to. But I feel like I need to give myself a little bit more credit day-to-day, and I think overall I’m probably kinder to myself now.
It was during this period where you were discovering yourself and learning to figure out who you are, but with that came a lot of independence and being on your own for the first time. Was that more of a freeing experience or was that terrifying?
Oh yeah. Because initially you’re pretty stoked, and you’re like, ‘I’m so hyped up. I can do whatever I want and everything is to my own disposition.’ But then of course in the wee hours of the night there’s no one to talk to or there’s just those quiet moments where it is very lonely or you’re questioning choices or whatever it is, and that is extremely terrifying and probably why most people like to stay in their comfort zones. And I totally understand that, because it is just really terrifying to embark on something new and challenge yourself and see who you really are at the end of the day.
Going off of that, another topic expressed on the album is that you also grew up in a bicultural household. You’ve talked about feeling this pull from two different worlds throughout your career and growing up, and I was wondering how that might have impacted you as a musician?
I feel like I get a lot of my melodic sensibilities from my Japanese side. I don’t really know how or why. When you grow up with Japanese culture, it’s like there’s a lot of sparkle and cutesiness and lightness as far as what you’re exposed to as a kid and societally, just out in public in Japan. Everything there is just kind of an overlay of Kawaii, and I feel like that is always in me. I always love that and embrace that, and I feel like maybe the more bubblegummy type of elements of my music just come from that. A lot of the music I listen to, like if it’s some sort of American ’90s grunge band or something, they don’t always have that kind of marriage, and I’m really more focused on the guitar tones or the lyrics. So it’s interesting to try to stitch the two together because I love that sparkle and that type of cuteness. But that’s only just one part of me. It’s like an interesting balancing act.
I love how you bring this more cutesy bubbliness to your music, but then there’s also that darker, heavier musicality in there as well. You also incorporate a lot of emo influences in your music as well. Who are some of your favorite artists you draw musical inspiration from?
My gosh. It’s all over the place. This is so random, but I love Akira Yamaoka. He’s the composer of the “Silent Hill” video games from back in the day, and a lot of that music was super influential with writing songs. But also I love a certain era of alternative rock. I always mention Failure or Hum. Those bands encapsulate the guitar tones that I really love and that inspired me to get certain gear. But then there’s more modern bands that I really like. MILLY is a band that I really like and they encapsulate the guitar tones as well that I really like. I really just like heavy guitar, but on the opposite end of that I really love post-punk and a certain era of ’70s post-punk. I love Television and I love Wire. Those are a couple bands that I think do something cool, where there’s light guitar work but the vocals are so strong and distinct. I just love a strong song and I love interesting lyrics and I love a narrative with lyrics. At the end of the day, I will always consider myself a songwriter first. I always just love a good song, no matter the genre.
When it comes to your guitar sound – because it’s something you prioritize heavily – do you have any favorite guitar players or bands who influence you specifically with your guitar gear or tone?
When I was growing up, I wasn’t too into the real shredder or technical guitarists. I was more drawn to the soul of how someone plays guitar, and maybe their technique or little personality traits. Carrie Brownstein was my first huge inspiration, and I know in Sleater-Kinney they had a baritone guitar. I think Corin [Tucker] played one. So I was like, ‘Oh man, I got to get a baritone guitar.’ And it’s awesome because it can handle those lower tunings and it sounds really meaty and very beefy. He is technical, but I love J Mascis. I’ve seen him live and it was one of the craziest, loudest shows I’ve ever been to. He just plays with all these stacks of amps and stuff and it’s crazy. Of course he’s extremely technically talented too, but there’s something a little unorthodox about him and there’s a characteristic about him that I really like. I like his weird balance too, because he can go for it. He can shred, but his vocals are unique too. They’re very distinct and he is a very quiet individual publicly. I kind of like the balance of that.
Going off of that, without giving too much away, what are some different sounds or musical influences you play around with on the album?
It’s a pretty eclectic album. I was a little worried about that, because I love shoegaze. I made shoegaze music, to an extent. But there is some very 2000s pop-rock inspo in there, and there’s more of the plucky kind of playing. I don’t know what to call it. I guess you would just call it 2000s indie rock, like Spoon-esque. But more on the quirkier side. And then I was inspired by Alex G, which is totally different than everything else, but I think there’s kind of this overlay overall of just emo, emo-pop and rock. So I think that might be the consistent sound. But it’s eclectic, I would say.
You say emo is a very prominent sound on the album, and one thing I was thinking about is how emo is such a timeless genre. Why do you think the genre has remained so relevant and still resonates with people so much?
I feel like it is an interesting blend of rock, but there is a punkiness to it. And overall I feel like, at least for that mainstream 2000s emo, a lot of it was pop-structured songs and very catchy and melodic. So I think that’s why it’s so accessible and replayable and people still love it. At the end of the day, they’re just really good songs, but they have such strong energy to them, and I think people are always going to resonate with that. It’s something I resonate with a lot because my day-to-day is not crazy, but with my music I like to be a little louder and use my voice a certain way. It’s just a way to get your anger out or your sadness out in a way that brings people together at the same time. I think that’s the amazing thing about it, and it’s cool to see kids now loving it and keeping it alive. I think people just want something authentic and grounded and relatable, and I think emo music always provides that. I guess it sort of stays real.
Going back to the album, you talk a lot about love, finding yourself and identity on the record. Once it’s out, what do you hope listeners can learn or get from the album?
I want to feel like a confidant with people. I just want people to feel like they’re not so strange and they’re not weird. Though I feel like a weirdo every day of my life, I heavily rely on my music to feel seen. And I know it’s a little bit of a cliche, but I want people to feel like they can fully express themselves. That would be the best outcome. And also to remember this time that I’m referring to, I suppose, and the great music of a certain time and just still appreciate that, because there’s so many bands that I was listening to that felt like they were very underrated even at the time. Like Abandoned Pools is one of those. They did the theme song for “Clone High,” and I love that show. Then I dug into [their] music and it was super inspirational for the record. So yeah, it’s just a certain time and place. And if I can transport people back to that time and place, that would be awesome.
I haven’t heard “Clone High” in a hot minute [laughter]. Did you have any final thoughts or anything else you wanted to add?
I feel like that’s really it as far as what I’m up to right now, I feel like I’m really now figuring out the whole live aspect of everything. I don’t have a backing band right now or anything. I recorded everything on the album except for drums, and so that was interesting. But yeah, I’m just trying to figure that aspect of it now. I’m stoked to have new music out at all, and hopefully it’s not going to be another five to six year gap. I’d like to regularly put out music again. Of course, with the wonderful support of the label.
Listen to Shunkan here.
Pre-order Kamikaze Girli here.
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