What's next on your plate?

MI: The first thing I'm going to do now that Right Now is out is release a soundtrack I did for a silent movie called Lorna Doone. It's my first classical composition for something. An American fan approached me, a student, about doing this project and he wasn't afraid to pay me for it, so I made the score for the film. I would like the CD to be in the stores. Me and Jeff went to a few stores like Borders, which used to carry independent records, but they don't anymore. But if I can get Lorna Doone into stores, it would be a change. With No Limit I couldn't achieve that.

So how is Jeff helping you professionally?

MI: He writes newspapers and magazines about who I am, explaining my background, the music.

Does he play on some of your albums?

MI: Yeah, he plays keyboards. He is a great keyboard player. He was the keyboard player for Toto when David Paige wouldn't play for European tours. He has a band called Doves of Fire.

You've mentioned before about a musical collaborator that was also your husband?

MI: My ex-husband. I'm divorced. I didn't have a boyfriend for a long time. Now, Jeff is my boyfriend.

Are you and Jeff going to collaborate?

MI: I was married to a musician who I depended on so much, and I didn't really have my own life. Jeff is so passionate about helping me, but he's busy. So, I have to walk by myself.

How about your two boys, what role do they play in your music?

MI: Well, they're only eleven.

Are they musicians themselves?

MI: Yeah, they're playing. They're playing violin and cello at middle school.

How do you feel about being a struggling musician in America?

MI: When I see Japanese TV shows, and a lot of bands and singers, top ten, then I'm so relieved that I'm not there.

Do you like working in Los Angeles?

MI: When I first moved here I was interested in living in a totally different place. And then I started to see good things and bad things; and good things about Japan and bad things about Japan. My parents are in Japan and my friends are in Japan. Sometimes I feel like I don't have an identity. Who am I? Where am I at? I really have to do something to make myself happier and more comfortable.

What do you feel needs to happen for that?

MI: It's hard. I want to be more recognized as a musician, of course. I'm not ready to start working at a restaurant yet.

What do you feel is the major hurdle of doing music in Los Angeles?

MI: I think I need to gig more. Get a band together and start gigging. Right now I only gig about once every two months. But I have so much energy that I need to use it. I am divorced so the kids are not always with me, so I feel a little empty as a mom, like I'm not with that a hundred percent, and I feel a great sadness because of that. If I'm not doing anything and my boyfriend is off doing his own music, I find it difficult to just sit still. I need to play.

You're still pretty big in Japan. So, what's the difference between who you are in Japan and who you are in the US?

MI: I feel like I have two totally different lives. It's tough for me.

It's admirable. In Japan you came from that pop idol milieu that you say you don't like much anymore. And here you are the independent, struggling musician. Two very different identities. If you became a top forty success here, would you still be happy?

MI: Um … I think so. Do you think Brittany Spears is happy?

Who knows. But Mari Iijima still plugs away, letting us know that she's playing again on November 4th at Genghis Cohen in Los Angeles. Her albums No Limit and Right Now are available now on her web site, marimusic. Maintaining a kind of independence she couldn't enjoy with the few true artists back in Japan's music industry machine, Mari Iijima always looks ahead.

Thanks to Thomas Denson who took the photographs of Mari for this article.