SIGH - Interview with Mirai Kawashima by Dave Wolff - Music

(This interview was conducted with Mirai outside CBGB in NYC the day of the band’s first American appearance with DECEASED -DW)

What’s the band’s lineup?
I’m Mirai on bass and vocals and synthesizer, Shinichi on the guitar, and Satoshi on drums.

This is your first time playing in the U.S. How did this come about?
When Dan Lilker came to Japan with BRUTAL TRUTH, we told them that we would like to play in New York. So Dan told Leno of HEMLOCK and he arranged everything for us.

Are you enthusiastic about your first show here?
Oh yeah, yeah, because... we try to do our best and we hope for a good reaction from the audience.

What’s the underground scene like in Japan?
Well, there are a few good bands worth mentioning, such as SABBAT and ABIGAIL as long as Black Metal goes. They both have CD’s out and I think you can get them somewhere in the stores. Also, there are some good Thrash Metal bands like RITUAL CARNAGE; now they’re on Osmose Productions, I think you will hear much more about them in the future.

There is much schism, infighting, and basic stupidity going on between kids into Black and Death Metal here in the U.S. Are the kids into different forms of underground Metal more united in Japan?
Yeah, they’re quite united. We don’t have many fights between the bands and I think we’re doing quite well.

What made you decide to become a Black Metal band?
I think Black Metal is one form of progression of all the Thrash Metal in the ‘80’s. We all three grew up listening to Thrash Metal in the ‘80’s, so it was quite natural for us to play music like this.

Have SIGH played outside Japan before? If so, how did it compare to Japan?
Yeah, we toured the U.K. and Ireland a few years ago with PRIMORDIAL and HECATE ENTHRONED. Actually, we didn’t see that much difference between the Japanese scene and the U.K. scene; it’s quite the same.

What are your influences as a unit and as individuals?
It’s not easy to explain this in English... Our drummer Satoshi-he’s rather the silent person, he doesn’t speak much, but he loves old Heavy Metal like BLACK SABBATH, WITCHFINDER GENERAL, SAXON, and other old shit. Our guitarist Shinichi likes Thrash Metal a lot, like VENOM, BULLDOZER, bands from the ‘80’s. I love old Thrash Metal too... I like bands such as CELTIC FROST, BULLDOZER, KREATOR, SODOM, EXHUMER, stuff like that. I think the biggest influence must be CELTIC FROST.

What influences your lyrics?
Well lyrically, it‘s more personal; it comes from within myself; I don’t see a big influence from outside. Mainly I write about my personal view on life and death.

How long has SIGH been together?
Almost nine years, so far. We released the first demo in 1990.

Have there been shows for the band outside Ireland and England?
No; we usually play in Tokyo. We hope to tour as much as possible, but Cacophonous Records has no ability to arrange shows in Europe or the U.S.; it's annoying.

Has SIGH had the same steady lineup since your inception or have there been a few changes in lineup?
Our guitarist Shinichi joined us in '92. Before that we tried out some guitarists, but none of them fit our music. Since Shinichi joined SIGH, this has been the strongest lineup and we hope there will be no lineup changes anymore.

Are you friends with DECEASED?
Oh yeah, we had some correspondence in the past through mail and through email and I really love them. I watched their soundcheck and it was amazing; very great.

Tell us about the material you guys have out.
We released three full-lengths, one mini-CD, one seven-inch EP, and one split seven-inch EP. The first seven-inch EP was released in '92 on Wild Rags Records in the U.S. I sent the E.P. to Euronymous, he happened to like it and we got a deal from Deathlike Silence Productions. We recorded the first album, Scorn Defeat, in the beginning of '93. It was out in August. The first album is primitive and simple compared to our recent stuff. After that we released the split seven-inch EP. It was out on Cacophonous Records in '94. And, after that we signed to Cacophonous Records and recorded the second album, Infidel Art in '95. It contained much more synthesizer than the first album. Then came Ghastly Funeral Theater, the mini-CD, which was going to be released as a split CD with ABIGAIL, but the plan fell through and it became a mini-CD. Ghastly Funeral Theater is much more simple and straight Heavy Metal compared to Infidel Art; I think it may be the heaviest stuff ever done by SIGH. The latest stuff is Hail Horror Hail, the third full-length album, which we recorded last year, and is quite extreme and very, very experimental. These days we love experimental music such as FRANK ZAPPA and JOHN SORIN and some contemporary music.

How much would you say SIGH has grown as a band?
Well, I think we... even when we formed the band we wanted to do something we did on Hail Horror Hail but we don't have the ability to recapture live what we write in the studio. But I think we achieved our first goal on Hail Horror Hail, so I think we've grown quite a lot.

Are there any social issues that concern you?
No, not at all.

What are the band's plans for the future?
Well, first we have to record the next album which we hope to start recording from November. It will probably be entitled Scenario IV: Dread Dreams and will be out on Cacophonous Records and it's gonna be the last album on Cacophonous.

You're gonna move on to another label?
We hope so. We're talking with some labels, so we hope to find a better label in the future.

Anything you wish to finish with?
Thank you very much for the interview. We've got a website on the Internet and you can get the latest information through it. The address is:
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~nd6m-kwsm

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Page Updated Thu Jul 22, 2004 8:40pm EDT