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27 year-old Hoshimura Mai (星村麻衣) was born on April 14th, 1981. A former classical pianist turned Japanese pop-artist, when Mai quietly debuted in the Japanese music scene, she coined her own brand of music, known ever-so-affectionately as 'piano-rock.' This term perfectly characterized her sound at the time: infectious pop-rock inspired melodies that were heavily accompanied with her childhood friend, the piano. As an artist and a performer, Mai's rich and powerful voice blends perfectly with her quality, yet catchy, compositions as she thrashes enthusiastically on piano keys.
Growing Up
Young and talented, Mai is not only classically-trained on the piano, but she pens all her lyrics and composes all her music. Born in the Shimane Prefecture, Mai's parents, both of which are school teachers, played an essential role in Mai's development as a musician, nurturing her talents at a young age. Mai began playing the piano at the tender age of four, her mother hoping she would become a classical musician while her father influenced her with his fondness for popular music.
Chasing After Her Dream
During her high school years Mai decided that she wanted to become a professional musician; furthermore, her preference for popular music began to overshadow her love of classical music. It would not be long until Mai learned of a SONY Record contest on the Internet and submitted a demo tape. Mai passed the initial screening; however, due to conflicting schedules with university, where she was majoring in music, Mai was unable to attend the in-person audition and failed to make the final cut.
Nevertheless, Mai was unfazed and did not give up on her dream. She persevered and tried again and sure enough, she passed and was signed on to Sony Music Associated Records. She went on to release her major debut single 'Stay With You,' on October 23rd, 2002.
Living Her Dream and Aspiring for More
Since her major debut as Sony Music's 'piano girl,' Mai has continued to release eleven singles and two studio albums as of September 2007. A high-energy and talented live performer, Mai mostly frequents more intimate clubs and venues for her live performances; however, she has also expressed her wish to someday play at the infamous Nippon Budokan, but for a girl with such big dreams and aspirations Mai still has many obstacles before her.
The Japanese music business is an already crowded industry, where sales numbers speak volumes for those who desire more. Mai may have a powerful voice but her power to move the Oricon isn't near the level of heavyweights such as Hamasaki Ayumi and Koda Kumi. If we're to play the number game, her major debut single, 'Stay With You' peaked at #92 on the Oricon Weekly Charts, while her follow-up single, Cherish' unfortunately failed to crack the top 100. Her highest-ranked single to date is 'Sakura Biyori' which peaked at #20, and like her previously highest-ranked single 'GET HAPPY,' its success could be attributed to its tie-in; 'GET HAPPY' with the Fuji TV drama 'Marusa!' and 'Sakura Biyori with the hit anime Bleach. Indeed, Mai's three highest selling singles (Sakura Biyori, GET HAPPY and EVERY were all tied-in with television shows. Nevertheless, Believer, Melodea, and Sunao ni Narenai were also tied in with television dramas but their success and positions on the charts were much less than than the aforementioned three.
However, anyone, particularly myself, will tell you that sales don't mean everything. So long as Mai continues to use and hone her talents to create genuine, quality music, she has already accomplished more than many of the bigger sellers on the Oricon could ever aspire to do.
Maturing as an Artist
Eight months since releasing her last single 'Himawari,' Mai released her 6th single 'Melodea' in 2005. This single marked the beginning of a notable change in Mai's music. With this single, though her vocals were still strong, Mai's compositions were much softer and subdued when compared to the upfront power and punch of her trademark 'piano-rock' sound. The following singles (EVERY, Sunao ni Narenai, Merry go round) leading up to her second studio album, 'Joyful' continued the trend, her songs becoming more gentle and melodic rather than rock-inspired. She went on to rework her previous singles 'Believer' and 'Himawari' for the album, with the outcome being two much softer and slower versions of the originals.
It wasn't only Mai's music that was undergoing a transformation, with the release of her 8th single 'Sunao ni Narenai,' Mai revealed a brand-new, much-shorter and feminine hairstyle. Though seemingly insignificant, as Mai's public image has never been one of style or glamour, she was known for not wearing make-up or being very particular about her physical appearance. This dramatic change in Mai's image, in my opinion, shows her growth and change as a person alongside her developments as an artist: she no longer resembled the piano-rock girl with long, barely-tamed hair in relaxed, casual clothing who debuted at 21 years of age.
Now 26, Mai has seemingly embraced her softer, more feminine side, and this can be illustrated by her sophomore album, 'Joyful,' which was released on January 26th, 2006. Mai donned an elegant empire-waist gown for the album cover shoot, a stark contrast when compared to the disheveled young girl on the cover of SOUP. The same thing can be said about the album itself, while the tracks are all solid offerings, the trademark sound of Mai's 'piano-rock' has lessened, while the power of Mai's strong voice and gentle melodies dominate.
This depature from her original style and sound was seen again when Mai returned from a fifteen-month absence with 'Sakura Biyori.' The serene ballad was used as the ending theme for the popular shounen anime series Bleach and its tie-in proved to be highly beneficial to Mai as 'Sakura Biyori' became her highest ranking-single to date and exposed Mai to a much wider audience. Unfortunately, her follow-up single, 'Shunkan, Strobe.' failed to make the same impact but to long-time fans of Mai, the title track's upbeat, playful sound and catchy melody was reminiscent of Mai's older work as the 'piano-rock' girl they first fell in love with.
The characters in Mai's name are composed of kanji, Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese writing system. Her surname 'Hoshimura' [星村] are composed of two kanji, hoshi [星] and mura [村], which respectively mean star and village, her family name simply meaning "star village."
Her given name 'Mai' [麻衣] is one that is fairly popular among Japanese females, but there are actually two 'Mai's that are commonly used, the other with the single kanji [舞] which means (to) dance. Our Mai's given name is composed of two kanji characters [麻] and [衣] which roughly translates to hemp and clothes, her given name roughly meaning "hemp clothes."
Analysis
The obligatory and standard name analysis, courtesy of Kabalarians; however, interestingly enough, it is very suiting and perhaps even accurate in some respects.
"Your first name of Mai has given you energy, drive, and ambition, but also an almost excessively strong-willed and independent nature. While you are creative, inventive, and ingenious in practical matters, and always ready to initiate and promote new undertakings, you often experience difficulty in bringing your undertakings to a successful conclusion because of your own changing interests or changing circumstances."
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