Meet Yukino Takenaka | Music Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yukino Takenaka and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yukino, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I see “risk” as one of the biggest steps I can take in my life without actually having any risks. When people think of “risk”, some might think a lot of the negative side of the risk. Like, what if this is not gonna work, what if I can not make it, or what if I can not afford it? However, I think in this way. “What can I gain by taking this risk rather than losing it?” And, take that risk first before thinking too much. Of course, sometimes things do not work as I wish, but it does not mean that I lost something. Taking that risk and figuring that some things do not work out taught me a lesson and then, next time I am in a situation where things not working as I imagine, I know how to deal with it. And if the risk that I took was worth it, it also grew me up a lot. I like putting myself on edge so I can practice finding solutions or coming up with ideas in a limited situation. It does not mean that I am not scared of taking the risk, but I try to challenge myself as much as possible. The recent risk I took was to move to LA without knowing a lot of people here and finding a job. However, I knew that coming to LA was worth enough to take the risk than staying where I was because I will more likely to have more opportunities for music and meeting people from the industry that I am seeking for.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Music is something that I wanted to work with when I grew up. It is something I like doing and enjoy. However, at this age, I realized that doing something I like is not only fun but also harder than I thought. Even though I knew I wanted to do music, I was scared. Even though someone gave me compliments about my music, I could not believe and still cannot. The reason is that I know myself that this is very competitive industry. The more I like music, the bigger fear I have. The reason is what if something that I like is actually not for me. What if I cannot achieve my goals, and what if I ever happen to hate music or not enjoy it anymore? I have been a musician since I was super young but I started to learn composing and producing when I went to university, which was two years ago. To be honest, I am having something similar to slumps right now. However, now I am answering questions for this interview and it reminded me the reason why I have loved doing the music. There are a lot of different kinds of artists, producers, and so on, some write songs for themselves, and some make songs about themselves. Some make music just because it is fun and some might just like sounds or whatever. But now when I think of myself as a music composer, I would like to be a composer or artist whose melody can be taught to someone without lyrics. Please do not get me wrong, I do songwriting and I love it. But I always thought how amazing it would be to deliver the emotion just through the melody itself? I have not overcome challenges yet, everything has just started and I will face more challenges sooner or later. However, what I learned is that the bigger fear is, the more I will gain after trying and when I am facing the struggles, that means I am moving forward even if it is a little step.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
To be honest, I have just moved to LA so I am still learning this area. However, because I have lived in Orange County before, which is one hour drive from LA, I will talk about those places. I loved going to the beaches in Orange County, like Newport beach, Huntington beach, Laguna beach. I used to go to Newport beach when I wanted to be motivated because they have wonderful house with nice view out there. When I go to Huntington beach is when I am in a good mood, and to Laguna beach when I want to clean up my mind and chill. I would like to explore more natures around my area and cafe or bars!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The biggest reason why I am here still doing the music is because of my piano teacher that I have been taught from since I was 3 years old. I started going to the music lesson since I am 3 years old, and even though there were up and down, I was her student until I moved to the U.S, which was 3 years ago. She was the person who believed in me and told me I can do it for anything that I mentioned I wanted to do. For me playing the piano is one of the ways to express my emotion that I cannot show with my words and heal myself. I really appreciates her that she taught me what music is for human. That is why I want to be someone who can help people mentally from their struggles, I wanted to be by someone’s side with my music even though I do not know them because that is what music did for me when I needed someone.

Website: https://y02takenaka.wixsite.com/website

Instagram: yukino213_

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yukino-takenaka-718044239/

Image Credits
Yukino Takenaka and James Ledbetter