About
SUMI is a Japanese singer-songwriter based in CA hailing from Japan and NYC.
Born and raised in Japan, Sumiko Yamazaki (aka SUMI) was immersed in music since she was a child as she learned to play the piano and flute. Her mother was an opera singer and piano teacher. She thought she was going to attend the conservatory of music in Japan but in 2002, when she graduated from a high school where she made friends from overseas and got to experience different cultures, she decided to come to the US instead.
In her senior year at the University of Buffalo, twice a month she was spending her weekend nights on the bus to NYC to give her resume and do an internship in a PR firm. A couple of months after her graduation in 2008, she got a job in the fashion industry and began to work with NY collection designers. Closely working with accomplished and globally recognized designers made her realize that she wanted to pursue her own dream of music. She asked a jazz singer to teach her singing after she saw a live in Greenwich Village and learned to sing songs written by other artists. After a year of voice training, her friend asked her to write and sing vocals on his tracks. Though she never thought she could write songs, she realized she enjoyed writing them. Yet they were never released after years of work on the project.
"Originally hailing from Japan, the sultry Pop-goddess is creating an eclectic brand of music on her own terms. Within the track her musical fire and passion comes through like an unstoppable force." - Vents Magazine. photo by glamglare
In 2014, she finally began to release her music which got featured in Japan Times, and to perform in NYC at Pianos, Cameo Gallery, Rockwood Music Hall, and Studio at Webster Hall. At the same time she studied vocal performance with Tabitha Fair who worked with Lady Gaga, Beyonce and Elton John. Later in the year, she wanted to dedicate herself entirely to music so she left her full time fashion job in order to pursue her dream to be a full time singer-songwriter. It was a perfect storm of losing her relationship, her job, her place, breaking her foot, becoming homeless as she dragged her suitcase for a while. She stayed at her friends, not knowing where she would be the next week, walking over the Williamsburg bridge, riding a bike everywhere to save in subway fees. She was helped by friends and strangers on the street.
After managing to get her life back together, she was introduced to a songwriting coach, Billy Seidman at BMI who was teaching songwriting to artists like Bebe Rexha and Rachel Platten. Immediately after, she started to take songwriting lessons with him and they co-wrote some of her songs together. During the summer of 2018, she released her new pop/synth pop songs: SPACEY LOVE, BULLSHIT DETECTOR and NOMADIC LIFE which got featured in Hype Magazine, Happy Mag, Vents, and SheBOPS etc.
In 2019, She moved to CA and working on her new project.
スミ（山崎純子）
シンガーソングライター、CA/NY在住。２００４年にNY州へ単身渡米。２００８年バッファロー州立大学卒業。その後ニューヨークシティに移り、ファッション業界に就職し、世界で活躍するNYコレクションデザイナーらと働き始める。物作りに真剣に取り組むデザイナーら、夢を追いかけるニューヨークの人々のエネルギーにインスパイアされ就職１年後、音楽活動を始め、ボイストレーニングを受け始める。
ある日プロデューサーの友人から曲にボーカルをのせてほしいと頼まれ、ポップスの作曲経験はないもの、始めてみることに。作曲の楽しさを感じ、その後も作曲を続ける。２０１３年、ブルックリン在住のプロデューサーと共同制作を始め８曲完成し、２０１４年ファーストシングル、アルバムをリリース。ジャパンタイムズに”印象的なデビュー、幅広い音域、ドラマティックな歌を歌い上げる”とフィーチャーされる。
NYのコンサート会場でライブを活動をしながら作曲をし続け、レディ・ガガ、ビヨンセ、スティングらのバッキングボーカルを務めるボーカルコーチ、タビサ・フェアーと出会いボーカルパフォーマンスに力を入れる。２０１７年に米国音楽協会、BMIのソングライティングディレクターであり、ビービー・レクサ、レイチェル・プラッタンに作曲を教えた、ビリー・セイドマンに出会う。彼の元で作曲を勉強し、その後共同制作に入る。そして、２０１８年夏、コミカルでしあとりかるなダンスポッププロジェクト、スペーシー・ラブ、ブーシェット・ディテクター、ノマディック・ライフをシングルリリース。アメリカ、ヨーロッパ、南米、アジアのメディアに取り上げられる。
２０１９年に１５年すんだニューヨークを離れ、現在カリフォルニア在住。西海岸から新たなSUMIの歴史が生まれようとしている。