ARTICLE
Light House September
Satoko Furusawa, Editor-in-Chief
My Turning Point「Watashi no Tenki」 P.20
In 2019, singer-songwriter Aico Simon released her first single, "Habana"; a song composed and performedby her.
She is fascinated by salsa music and was interviewed about the musical journey that led to her solo debut.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved singing. For as long as I can remember, my dream has been to become a singer. I started attending Yamaha Music School when I was in kindergarten. Later, I became a fan of Namie Amuro, and through her influence, I developed a deep interest in dance.
During my junior high school years, I worked with a talent agency, started voice training, and actively went to auditions. While I was deeply into J-pop,
I also began exploring R&B, hip-hop, and American pop music. I realized that to become a truly versatile performer—not only vocally but also as a dancer—I needed to speak English. So, for my senior year of high school, I studied abroad in Washington State, where I joined the school’s competitive dance team. After returning to Japan from my study abroad, I came across the documentary Buena Vista Social Club, and that was the moment I discovered Cuban music. Cuban music led me to discover salsa—when I heard it, something deep inside me was stirred.
I felt a shock run through me—I knew, “This is it. This is the music that I want to pursue!”
At the time, I only knew Latin music as a broad genre, but I began learning that salsa was actually born in the U.S., deeply influenced by traditional Cuban music. I’ve always been the kind of person who dives headfirst into things I'm passionate about, so I said to myself, “I’m going to America—somewhere I can also learn to speak Spanish.”I worked as a singer and did various other jobs to save money, and eventually made my way to San Diego, where I enrolled in college and graduated. Although I returned to Japan for a while after that, in 2011, I decided to come back to San Diego once again—and I’ve been based there ever since.
A song came to me after a trip to Cuba
Soon after I returned to San Diego, I was invited to join a salsa band as its lead vocalist. It happened entirely by chance: I walked into a restaurant where live salsa music was playing. I started tapping the clave rhythm along with the music, and the band’s director noticed me. As luck would have it, their lead singer had just left. Later on, he offered me an audition—and I passed. It felt like destiny. By day, I worked full-time in an office; by night, I sang in restaurants and bars. The more I immersed myself in salsa, the more I realized that every style I was drawn to shared roots in Cuban music—even though “salsa” itself blends many musical influences. That realization became a turning point. In 2016, I traveled to Cuba alone. I had no set plans, but somehow,
I met a renowned composer, exchanged contacts with the musical director of the Buena Vista Social Club, and even had an unexpected encounter with one of my idols, the legendary singer Omara Portuondo. Each experience affirmed that Cuban music was my true path.
Not long after I returned home, a melody and some lyrics came to me while I was driving—they became the seed of my original song, “Habana.”
At first, only the chorus echoed in my head, but I was determined to complete it. I left my full-time job, went independent, and—with support from many incredible musicians—self-produced and released the song.
Shortly afterward, the pandemic hit. But the downtime gave me the chance to complete the music video, which I hadn’t finished before the release. After uploading it to YouTube, I was moved by the heartfelt responses from listeners around the world.
When the time is right, I hope to tour in both the U.S. and Japan. I truly believe that music—especially salsa—has the power to uplift people of all ages and backgrounds. That’s the reason I fell in love with it in the first place, and sharing that joy and energy is what continues to drive me.
Translated by Aico Simon