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“It’s definitely<br />
inspired by Seattle.”<br />
Ibuki: When did you start playing the piano?<br />
Lisa: I was two or three when I started. My dad took me kicking and<br />
screaming to piano lessons because that’s what proper Japanese girls do<br />
(laughs). But they were also a very musical family. Both of my Japanese<br />
grandparents played piano. My dad and my uncle play all kinds of string<br />
instruments — guitar, banjo — and they do bluegrass and country and<br />
folk all the time. Music was definitely a big part of the family.<br />
Ibuki: When did you start singing your songs?<br />
Lisa: Probably not until college. I had done choruses through grade<br />
school and in high school and college, but singing in a chorus is different.<br />
I had a great vocal teacher when I was in college who was openminded<br />
enough to hear some of my original songs. I was very, very shy<br />
about sharing them. When I played them for her, she was really supportive,<br />
and she said, “Lisa, it’s time to be a woman now!” (laughs)<br />
Ibuki: And you teach too?<br />
Lisa: Yes, I’m a full-time teacher as well. I think it’s really great for any<br />
teacher to keep their craft alive because it gives you inspiration to share<br />
with your students.<br />
Lisa<br />
Furukawa<br />
Transpacific Soul<br />
[ INTERvIEW ]<br />
Whether she’s singing the<br />
“Tennessee Waltz” in<br />
Japanese, reworking the<br />
music to anime classics<br />
like Ghost in the Shell<br />
or performing an original composition, Lisa<br />
Furukawa plays the piano with depth and feeling,<br />
and sings with soul. She bridges the gap between<br />
Japan and the US like no other artist, giving<br />
Japanese lyrics to American classics like “Country<br />
Roads,” while also performing Japanese favorites<br />
at anime conventions across the US and abroad.<br />
Ibuki talked to Lisa about her music. (To hear<br />
some, go to lisafurukawa.com)<br />
Ibuki: I hear you are forming a new band with your husband, Leon Monroe.<br />
Where’d you get the name Cloudsang?<br />
Lisa:: It’s definitely inspired by Seattle. Our first year here, it was an adjustment<br />
getting used to the clouds and the rain, walking and hiking<br />
when it’s rainy and cloudy. We thought, how can we really get comfortable<br />
with this and see the beauty of it? We had this idea of noticing that<br />
it is not always the same. Even when it’s cloudy, every cloudy day is different.<br />
It’s like the clouds are singing. And Cloudsang has a little twang<br />
to it … a little Southern twang!<br />
www.ibukimagazine.com 5
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