Miu Sato has built her career composing music for stage and screen. Yet while crafting soundtracks for other people’s ideas, now she’s getting to share her own with her new EP, entitled To Let Me Be Me. It’s a beautifully personal record that explores what it means to exist between cultures and the concept of home.

In an interview with TVBrittanyF.com, Miu spoke about putting her original work and original voice forward. She also reflected on her creative process, and how it changes when working on her own material. Plus, find out which song from the EP is her favorite!

Brittany Frederick: What motivated you to release To Let Me Be Me? Was this something you’d always wanted to do and this was the right time, or what made it exciting to you?

Miu Sato: I started writing a song called “Home” three years ago that was kind of like the seed of the whole album. That explores this idea of belonging, [being] torn between different cultures, and so that was kind of a seed that sparked other songs on the project.

I started writing as a means to kind of just put my thoughts on the page. And naturally there was a throughline of oh, they all touch on the same thematic and personal experience and journey. I talked with my collaborators on this project, and was like hey, I feel like this could be a good collection to put into a project. That was kind of how it came to be. But I had no intention of specifically being like, “Hey, this year we’re gonna drop this.”

Every musician has a different creative process. How would you describe yours?

Piano is my primary instrument. I’ve been playing since I was three, so I love just [being] at my home studio, sitting at the piano, and just fiddling around and seeing what naturally comes to me at that point.

If I’m doing songwriting, I think it’s kind of the same principle—but I will sort of just spitball out thoughts or kind of journal in real time. Not actually logging anything, and then seeing what lyrically might stick for my writing. That’s mainly my process, and then I just love collaborating with other people, too. Being in rooms with different artists and musicians and writers also is a crucial part of my composing.

Most of your work is on film or stage, meaning that you’re in service of someone else’s creative vision. Did your process change when it was your EP and your vision?

For sure, I think it’s harder when it’s your own, not just because it’s something that could be deeply personal to your experience, but moreso you’re the one making the final call. As a film composer, you’re one small [piece] of the whole picture. We’re in post-production, and at the end of the day the director, writer, producer—they make the final say of what they’re envisioning. That’s our job as composers, to fulfill that and make sure everybody’s happy.

For theater, as the writer, you’re still at the top of the food chain. But there’s so many different collaborators and voices, and it’s all about making sure everyone’s happy in that room. When you’re working on something that’s your own, nobody’s telling you no. And I think the judgment call and making sure that you’re still staying true to your gut and your authentic voice is definitely the hardest part.

For those curious about To Let Me Be Me, do you have a favorite track or one that you would encourage listeners to start with?

I think it changes every day, but for now, I’m going to say the title track “To Let Me Be Me,” and also the first track, which is called “Who Do I Wanna Be?” I’ll start with that one. That one was created because of my fascination of how accents shape our perception of people… You sort of make your own assumptions depending on how someone sounds or [what] someone also looks like. And that was something I was intrigued by [with] my own personal experience and reactions I got, as someone who is Japanese but grew up in Singapore, and I had a British education. But I sound like this, so people are kind of confused and they’re like, what’s going on?

It was just something that I leaned in leaned into, and was like wow, accents are really powerful in the way that we code-switch, the way that we present ourselves, the way that people make assumptions. That’s kind of a very universal experience, I feel, for people who have been in different kinds of communities, people who are often caught in code-switching between different groups that they’re in. That was kind of the baseline of what sparked that first song.

And then the title track “To Let Me Be Me” is encompassing my experience as a third culture individual, which is somebody who primarily spent most of their developmental years outside of their parents’ culture. And as a result of that, one common thing that I and I think a lot of people can resonate with is being used to the instability. Being used to friendships [and] relationships being cut off all of a sudden, or never knowing where you’re next going to go. The unknown was a very familiar vocabulary for me, and I got really used to the detachment and not knowing where you’re going to be, what kind of people you’re going to meet.

I think [that] has created a great lens for me in the sense of I love meeting new people, I love having new conversations with people, but at the same time the other side of the spectrum—I didn’t realize how difficult that was for me the past couple years, and so that was all the journey that I wanted to write about, and is reflected in that specific song. And that’s why I also named it for the whole EP. I felt that was really apt.

How will you reflect on the success of the EP, given that it is so personal and something different from the majority of your career?

It all comes down to the people that I get to work with. This was an incredible group of collaborators. My dear friend Carlotta Romano was on vocals, my co-producer Archie Lewis-Harris, my co-arranger Sam Russo, and all our wonderful musicians that were part of this record. For me, it’s getting to work with those people, creating something that only we can create as a group, and putting it out there.

For people to believe in some factor of what I had to say—I think that was more than enough for me to be like, hey, there could be something here. And also my wonderful record label, Joy Machine Records; they truly were such an important part of this journey, believing in the art that I wanted to bring. That’s what I would base it off of is just how I felt, and I felt genuine gratitude across the board with all kinds of people that were involved in this process.

I just want to shout out the people that helped make it really happen. I don’t sing; I am a composer-songwriter. I sing for the demos, but to get the vision across I really pass it on to my dear friend Carlotta Romano, who is a wonderful, wonderful vocalist. We both studied film composing at NYU, and she has a background in opera singing, and is just a great human being that really understood what I was trying to say. She identifies as a third culture kid as well, so we had a similar jumping point to delve into these conversations. So huge, huge shoutout to her because I could not have done this without her—quite literally, because she is the voice of the project. I have been working with her for three years, and hopefully many more collaborations across film and record-making.

My co-producer Archie Lewis-Harris, who I’ve been working with for almost five, six years. We also met through our time in film scoring, and he has a great sense of just listening and leaning into things that you can’t teach anyone. It’s one of those things where you bring something to someone and you let them go with their intuition, and that’s what happened for all the tracks that he helped co-produce for this record. So I’m really, really grateful for this friendship and for our collaboration.

And then the last person is Sam Russo. This is the first project that we had worked [on]. We had never even actually met in person up until our first rehearsal with the band, which is kind of crazy. But [he’s] another person that I deeply, deeply value; just a great friend and collaborator on this project. Those are the three people that really, really made a mark on this project, [and] also just my musical journey as a whole. And then of course the label, Joy Machine Records, tying it all together and [who] said, let’s work on this together. Let’s put your music out there. Let’s try something and see where we can go. I am truly full with gratitude for everybody,

What else comes next for you now that To Let Me Be Me is out?

I scored a film called I Am American. I Am American is a narrative 40-minute short that follows a Japanese-American family that builds a life, community, and future, until Executive Order 9066 forces them from everything they fought to call home. It’s a story about sacrifice, belonging, and what it means to be American.

Miu Sato’s EP To Let Me Be Me is streaming now, including on Apple Music. For more about Miu, visit her website. Photo Credit: Shaina Ahmed/Courtesy of Skollar PR.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.