Folk duo hopes to bring love through music

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Eccentric husband-wife folk duo Nature Airliner is composed of Laurier Tiernan, playing the guitar, and Eiko Hosaka, providing vocals.

The bi-cultural folk duo is currently based in Tokyo, Japan, but they have been heading overseas more often in attempts to reach more global audiences.

This year alone, Nature Airliner performed in Rochester, Minn. in the United States, London and Essex in the United Kingdom before arriving in Seoul in October to take part in the Zandari Festa.

"I was born with a rare medical condition called the Marfan syndrome," Tiernan told The Korea Times. It is a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue and the heart and this is why Tiernan is over two meters tall.

The musician walked his first professional runway in Tokyo in March and thought it would be nice to share his story with other Marfan patients.

"To share the story, I contacted various Marfan support networks across the world. Many children with the syndrome die young and if they see me working as a professional musician, reporter and model, I could give them hope," Tiernan said. "The Marfan Foundation in America invited me as a guest of honor to their annual conference and asked me to conduct a children's choir, emcee a fashion show and perform as Nature Airliner."

The duo said it is virtually impossible for foreign music to take root in Japan.

"In Japan, almost nobody speaks English and people love to hear Japanese music. In the 1970s and '80s, when I was younger, I listened to American and British music, but nowadays young people don't listen to music from overseas,” Hosaka said. “Our aim is not to become superstars, but to find an audience who appreciates our music. But it's almost impossible in Japan.”

The duo is clear about their goals, wishing to spread more love in the world.

“We want to continue what we've been trying to do _ bringing more love and healing to the world. Often after concerts, people come up and say they have been healed,” Tiernan said.

“We not only play the music, we also chitchat with the audience between the songs. We want to give people hope to live," Hosaka said. "We don't really have to aim for big audiences. Small audiences are fine, but we want to share our message more clearly with our audiences."

Hosaka said the band's music is for people in their 40s and 50s who listened to rock music and have a basic knowledge and interest in music, but who do not listen to music much now because of their busy lives.

"They definitely love music and we want to bring them back to live music," Hosaka elaborated.

For more information about the band, visit www.facebook.com/natureairliner or contact infolaurier@gmail.com.