In a few days, the duo ICHION (イチオン) will board a plane to head to Europe for a short tour. After releasing their third album Oro Mike Mike May via HIGHFeeL in 2020, Akira and Kyra already wanted to head to Europe to celebrate. Unfortunately, this was not possible because of the pandemic, and the duo decided that this November is the time to finally do so. Since it is not very easy to tour at the moment, seeing the number of tours that do not go ahead due to many reasons, the pair decided to stick to a few shows in Germany and Belgium. Hopefully, in the new year, there will be another chance to have a bigger tour through Europe.
ICHION European tour 2022 dates
Friday 4 November, 2022: POP – Berlin, Germany
Thursday 10 November, 2022: WP8 – Dusseldorf, Germany
Friday 11 November, 2022: TBA – Mouscron, Belgium
Sunday 13 November, 2022: Boom Café – Brussels, Belgium
Started with activities in 2008 and consisting of vocalist Kyra and Akira who plays electronic instruments. The music of ICHION is based on Ainu and Zuni music in combination with electronic experimental music that incorporates homemade instruments made by Akira and environmental sounds. They describe themselves as NEO spiritual and include LED lighting in their performances, which contributes to a multidimensional cyber ceremony space. According to ICHION, they add LED bars to their stage for the performance to simulate the ceremony of a Shinto shrine. The band released their first album, in 2011, their second album in 2017, and their third album in 2020.
For the third album, they travelled through their own country, as well as Scandinavia, specifically Finland and Norway, to find inspiration and eventually record in the locations declared sacred by the (indigenous) people. Since childhood, vocalist Kyra has been immersed in the culture of the Ainu, one of the original tribes of Japan. Her father, a historian, spent years immersed in the history, traditions and language of the Ainu. Kyra took up the torch and combined this passion with music. Akira is a sound explorer, passionate about instruments and musical experimentation. All the instruments the band uses in their music and performances are made by Akira.
