Interview Exclusive

Music, Art & Style: Introducing SHILoN

11/11/2021 Author: Anu Translator (EN-JP): Tomo Translator (JP-EN): Sophie

SHILoN is expressing her creative energy in various forms, such as music, painting, and fashion. And all parts of her are equally important to being SHILoN, she says.

SHILoN, also known as EPSILON*CHILD, is a fresh and intriguing newcomer on the music scene. Within the last year she first began gaining traction on Instagram and TikTok as a model and cosplayer, and in August she made her debut as a music artist.

Her debut single's title track Olcott gained extra visibility for being the theme song for "King of Mölkky no GO!GO! Mölkky dai sakusen", a TV show running on station TOKYO MX. In this programme, Tetsuya Morita and his co-hosts challenge their guests to play Mölkky, a skittle-throwing game that was originally invented in Finland and has since spread internationally. Therefore, in addition to getting to know more about SHILoN and her music, we also took the opportunity to ask about this collaboration and her impressions of this European game.

To begin our interview, could you introduce yourself to our readers?

SHILoN: Nice to meet you! I'm SHILoN. I'm making my debut as a singer with my new single Olcott that was released on August 25th.

Other than my singer activities, I'm also a freelance illustrator and working as a model and staff member for the shop VOLCAN&APHRODITE in Shibuya 109. Other than that, I also model for art and collaborations, so I'm multifaceted, really.

The title track of your debut single Olcott was used as the theme song for the show "King of Mölkky no GO!GO! Mölkky dai sakusen". How did you get this chance to have your music play on TV this early in your career?

SHILoN: My mother was also a singer for a long time, so someone my mother knew saw my music and asked me to do the opening theme for their TV programme. It really was a miracle connection, to be honest.

JaME's editors and readers in Finland are curious to hear what are your personal thoughts on Mölkky. Also, have you played Mölkky yourself?

SHILoN: I've played Mölkky once. The skittles were further away than I thought they'd be, and the baton is so heavy it doesn't fly as you think it would. I thought it was really difficult! The rule where, if you don't get exactly 50 points, your points get reset was oddly nerve-wracking and really interesting. I want to try and master it one day.

You have worked as a model and an illustrator and now you are debuting as a singer. Would you consider one of these fields to be above others and closest to your heart? Also, are there yet more things you would like to broaden your activities to include?

SHILoN: Personally, I think that everything together makes me 'SHILoN'. I think that all the parts of me, even if they aren't those three you mentioned, are equally important. Right now, the SHILoN that I want to show you and that is tugging at everyone's hearts is a singer, illustrator and model, so there are loads of other things I want to try to do. My hobby is makeup, so one day I want to do a cosplay photo book of all the characters I drew as a child. I want to try and add songs to my next form as I level up.

An art piece by SHILoN. More works can be seen on her social media.
Before your official debut, you released your previous music video under the name EPSILON*CHILD. Did anything else change with this change of name? Did you for example fine tune your image as an artist now that you are called SHILoN?

SHILoN: I think the type of music changed quite suddenly. It took a quick turn from cover songs and blues rock like my music video BLUE, to music that has a unique take on the world. Since I changed my name to SHILoN, this debut single is put together alongside the songwriter iLa. His music sense and my lyrics have created a world view that is the most different thing from EPSILON*CHILD.

What kind of music do you personally enjoy listening to? Do you have any favourite artists or genres?

SHILoN: I love music. I particularly love AURORA. Her exotic, mysterious sound and performances are really overwhelming. Recently I've been listening to a lot of alternative rock.

Can you reveal what type of goals and dreams you have in regards to your music career?

SHILoN: I want to go to loads of different places and perform there. If I can, I want to keep performing until I die. I would be so happy if songs started to be referred to as 'this is a SHILoN genre song'.

Lastly, would you like to say something to foreign fans?

SHILoN: I think that music surpasses borders and language. I would be so happy if my music gave you even a little bit of energy. Also, we will definitely meet one day. Please think kindly of me!

JaME would like to thank SHILoN for this interview.

SHILoN held her debut one-man concert It's a beautiful day~the sound of beauty on September 28th at Shibuya Quattro. On that stage, she performed Olcott live for the first time and additionally introduced several new songs. A recording of the performance can be watched on IGTV (Open in Instagram app for the horizontal format to display correctly). Live photos of that night can be seen below.