After being disbanded for over a decade with a temporary reunion for six months in 2005, heavy metal band
SEIKIMA-II held their first live USA performance at A-Kon 21 in Dallas, Texas. JaME was able to meet up with vocalist and front man
DEMON KAKKA, also known as His Excellency, to ask about the band's unique world, the works His Excellency did after
SEIKIMA-II's disbandment in 1999 and their association with Texas conventions
Oni-Con and
A-Kon.
Your Excellency is from SEIKIMA-II, which is a band of demons. Can you please introduce yourself by describing your role in the AKUMA Society?
DEMON KAKKA: First of all,
SEIKIMA-II is not a band of demons.
SEIKIMA-II is an AKUMA group.
My name is
DEMON KAKKA, His Excellency. I am approximately 100,000-years-old. The date of my appearance is November 10th. It is impossible to explain my blood type using the human language. I'm from MAKAI. MAKAI is not the same as Hell. Biologically, I would be categorized as an AKUMA. Through a lot of entertaining activities, especially performing ROCK music, we—
SEIKIMA-II—are enlightening the public. You can check out more details about our profile and the biography of
SEIKIMA-II on our official MySpace website.
During Your Excellency's youth, you lived in New York with your human father and later you went back to the USA many times, even to study there and appear on American television. How does it feel now that you've performed in the USA with SEIKIMA-II? Do you think you have a good idea of what you can expect from the American audience?
DEMON KAKKA: I had the experience of attending the State's preschool and elementary school in NYC. Most of my classmates would invite me to their birthday parties all the time; I was a pretty popular kid. We,
SEIKIMA-II, held an AKUMA worship ritual in RITZ CLUB 19 years ago, and we met an American producer there. Right after the meeting, he offered to distribute our CDs in the U.S. Therefore, I believe we'll receive an exciting and warm welcome from the U.S audience.
SEIKIMA-II is an AKUMA group masquerading as a rock band. Do you ever worry that you might frighten people?
DEMON KAKKA: Are you asking whether our scary looks affect our sales in negative way? We might have some losses, indeed. However
SEIKIMA-II is here to make human beings frightened and give a warning to them; thus this is fine with us.
What kind of message or story do you want your group to give? Do you think you've accomplished it so far?
DEMON KAKKA: 27 years ago,
SEIKIMA-II was formed. AKUMA was sent to punish humans and make them suffer, and also to protect all earthly lifeforms, excluding human beings. If AKUMA uses their evil power, it is pretty easy to bring disaster or misfortune to all human beings; however, we thought it was kind of boring to just make them unhappy in an instant. We came up with the idea of using our different skills, such as entertainment skills, and have the human race become our followers. For this reason,
SEIKIMA-II was formed and debuted on the earth 25 years ago.
Using mostly a hard rock band format, as of MAKAI year one (1999 to humans), we declared our mission accomplished and ended the band. During our reign, we released 20 tenets of scripture, which are also known as albums.
Here are some definitions regarding
SEIKIMA-II, which are of most importance:
AKUMA (n.) (ah-koo-ma)
A mystic race of gods occupying the same time and space as the human race. Believed to have been brought into existence by Anthropomorphized Natural Law to enforce the rules of nature. They follow a tenet that considers natural law as an absolute, as opposed to Homo Sapiens, who are seen by Akumas as ignorers and possible destroyers of natural law. Being physically and mentally superior to humans, they are often at odds with the human race. While the human race seems to feel the need to follow their perceived commandments from their god, Akumas only see the protection of nature from the humans as a holy cause.
MAKAI (n.) (mah-kah-ii)
A futuristic, hyper-evolved dimension where Akumas are born.
JIGOKU (n.) (jee-goh-koo)
A part of Makai. A realm reserved for humans who are brought here and punished for disobeying the rules of Makai. A place of terror and suffering for humans. A place of merrymaking and joviality for Akumas.
If you want to know more about
SEIKIMA-II's vocabulary, please check out our
MySpace.
DEMON KAKKA is Lord Excellency over the AKUMA society. How might a human enter this society? Are there any restrictions?
DEMON KAKKA: Selected people who are able to understand and support us may enter the MAKAI, AKUMA society.
You originated from JIGOKU, which is a realm reserved for human punishment when MAKAI rules are disobeyed. What are a few of these rules so that when the humans who attend your rituals do not receive punishment?
DEMON KAKKA: One, do not attend any activities relating to God.
Two, prevent people from attending activities related to God.
Three, do not be polite for any reason.
Four, do not care about how the majority of society sees you.
Five, be kind to the earth.
Six, do not waste food, et cetera.
The era before the existence of SEIKIMA-II is "Before Demons" (BD). This implies that now demons rule the world. Taking over the world must have been an enormous task. Your Excellency, was it difficult for the demons to take over? How do you think the demons fared after taking over?
DEMON KAKKA: I would say that what we've done is spread seeds for taking over the world instead of we actually took over the world, yet. Now, the seed that are growing little by little; some of them grew new leaves and buds. AKUMA is watching the process. There are some AKUMAs who are working on other music activities besides
SEIKIMA-II as their hobby while they are watching the process.
Where did you come up with the idea for your outfits? Is this the normal dress attire for the AKUMA society?
DEMON KAKKA: Our costume is special order-made for our work on the earth. We have a human tailor who deals with AKUMA sew our costumes. Because the level of gravity and dimension in MAKAI is different than on the earth, we cannot wear the same clothing there.
SEIKIMA-II disbanded in 1999. What made you decide to not only reunite, but to spread your music to the USA with Oni-Con in 2009 and A-Kon in 2010?
DEMON KAKKA: After
SEIKIMA-II disbanded, there were many offers to release our music outside Japan. However, since we had already disbanded, we've always refused to do so. Two years ago, an animation producer
Kubon Sizuno offered to create a collaboration with his anime using our music, and then we accepted it. I thought it would be a good time to inspect the society that we took over. Also, this is the 10th anniversary of finishing our mission; therefore, we decided to release an AKUMA tenet of scripture world wide.
Why is the reunion only temporary?
DEMON KAKKA: Everything has to have an ending. Before we start an activity, we set an ending for it.
Your MySpace reads that SEIKIMA-II is going to play some international series of AKUMA worship rituals. Which locations does the band expect or want to perform these rituals?
DEMON KAKKA: We are planning to visit ten places including North America, Europe and Asia. Details will be announced via our official website and Myspace when the time comes. Of course, we are welcome to any propositions!
Now that you're active again, do you have many previous fans awaiting your return or more of the newer ones who are interested in one of the most famous metal bands of Japan?
DEMON KAKKA: Both new and previous followers are important to us, so we do not care about the number.
SEIKIMA-II disbanded when the Devil's calendar began. However, this was predetermined when the band first began. What was it about that era that made the band decide to end activities at that time?
DEMON KAKKA: We noted that the AKUMA calendar will begin at a certain date when we formed. This is to say, our purpose for doing
SEIKIMA-II is to start a new era on that day. Doesn't it make sense to dissolve an organization or group when they have accomplished their purpose? Starting something new is equal to the end of something.
In 2005, you had a first comeback where you celebrated your 20th anniversary. How do you feel the AKUMA faith had spread among the humans after SEIKIMA-II was disbanded for five years?
DEMON KAKKA: I was satisfied with the result.
Your latest performance in the USA isn't your first time performing outside of Japan. How do you feel this performance differed from your previous performances?
DEMON KAKKA: I can say that I refer the previous live performance as the War and the newer performance was the Triumph. That's the type of picture I have in my head.
Your Excellency, what is the reason behind changing your name from DEMON KOGURE to DEMON KAKKA? What is the difference between the meanings of these two names?
DEMON KAKKA: KAKKA means the Living fire and the Excellency, and
KOGURE means the Twilight of Sunset.
Your Excellency has held a number of seminars and speeches in Japan; for example, there was one at Waseda University. What were these seminars about?
DEMON KAKKA: I have been attending the World inspection tour twice so far. Based on the experience, I give a lecture about the significance of intercultural exchange, environmental prevention and how can they spend a variable college life and so on.
If you had this opportunity in the USA, what would you like to teach your audience?
DEMON KAKKA: The same answer as I just mentioned. I would like to talk about "The World that You Do Not Know."
You have released a series of CDs under the "GIRLS ROCK" theme, on which you cover songs from female pop stars. What inspired you to cover these songs? How did you select the tracks and decide on their arrangement?
DEMON KAKKA: Singing the feelings from a woman is good training as a vocalist. There are a lot of ways to pick a song among many of them. Basically, I focused on a few points: a song that I want to sing, a song that matches my singing and a song where nobody would expect me to actually be singing, etcetra. I asked
Anders Rydholm from
Grand Illusion who is Swedish to arrange those songs, and I did so in regards to his music sense.
Your Excellency, you've gone above and beyond the music industry by becoming a television personality and having your own radio show, to name a few. How did these opportunities come about? How do you feel these different outlets have helped you grow as an artist?
DEMON KAKKA: I am always willing to experience different worlds as long as I have the opportunity to. The word "world" implies counties, communities and also the cultures, religious, style, customs, trends, and occupations; most of stuff in the society. I have actually visited almost 60 different countries and communities. If someone asks me to work for them, any type of work, I would like to answer as long as they have an appropriate reason. Interacting cultures and customs that are different from the one you are used to makes your mind capacity wider and would also be a great opportunity to refine your sensitivity.
How did you spend your time preparing for A-Kon?
DEMON KAKKA: It's been five years since our previous activity, so we started with rehab in order to bring back our condition. After that, we studied about the cultures and humors of the the countries we are planning to visit; U.S, Europe, and Asia.
Lastly, please leave a message for our readers.
DEMON KAKKA: Do not judge others based on the way they look; look at them from inside! Make sure not to finish your life before you have an awesome experience with
SEIKIMA-II!
Many thanks to Cure Media USA for making this interview possible.
