In Rina Sawayama, Elton John Found a Collaborator and a Friend – The New York Times

E.J.: You should bring the world together as a musician, that’s your job. I truly believe that as a musician, you travel and see for yourself. There’s nowhere that I have been treated badly. I mean, yes, I’ve played in Arab countries where people have said, “You shouldn’t be here because you’re gay,” but the audiences have been great. I was so upset when the U.K. left Europe because you know, we need to come together more than drift apart. I’m a staunch believer in that. It was such a colossal mistake.

R.S.: I actually haven’t traveled that much, because this is my first record and I haven’t been able to tour it. But my version of travel is social media. I get messages from people in Kuala Lumpur, from people in Turkey. I have fans who are L.G.B.T.Q. in countries where it’s illegal to be. It’s nice to know that the music resonates with people. And not necessarily people from the community or people who I intended the song to be for, you know? That’s what I want to do. What they say about queering a space, that’s kind of what I’m trying to do with music by injecting a bit of an interest in areas other than heterosexual love. I feel the pressure of having to write heterosexual love songs. Like, I just genuinely can’t. I’ve tried.

E.J.: Initially my collaborator, Bernie Taupin, wrote songs that I knew were about women and I didn’t care. But as he came to know who I was sexually, you can take any of our songs written after about 1974, and they can apply to a man or a woman. Because you know, for me to go onstage and sing, “Oh, Maria, I love you so much.” It would be crazy.

R.S.: Although, obviously you, Elton, are so theatrical. Gaga, so theatrical. The songwriting is like a musical. I love Disney songs. I love theater songs. Songs that really get a story across and sometimes you’ve got to make the decision to go that way. A lot of people don’t want it. They want to stay subtle.

E.J.: Rina’s written kind of a musical spectacle with “Sawayama.” The album is fantastic when you hear it, but when you see it performed, it’s going to take on another dimension completely.

R.S.: I fantasize about it every single day. It’s so dramatic. I’m not playing stadiums, but I’m still going to do three outfit changes, because the songs have different personalities and I need to bring a different character to each one. Some songs will have choreography. With “Chosen Family,” I’m going to play acoustic guitar. I want it to be a moment with, you know, candles and lighters in the air. And I want to talk to the audience a bit. Because it’s not about me. It’s about how people feel, you know? I hate gigs where it’s all about the artist. That’s so boring. I want people to feel connected to each other. I want people to feel strong.