Last November, the duo ICHION (イチオン) were in Europe for a short tour with performances in Germany and Belgium to promote their latest album, Oro Mike Mike May, released via HIGHFeeL. Originally, the plan was to tour Europe shortly after the album’s release, but this changed due to the pandemic and the duo, consisting of singer Kyra and instrumentalist Akira, needed to wait a few years to finally make this tour a reality. Live footage of the performance at Boom Café in Brussels, also the tour finale, was shared, shot by Live Moments.
Consisting of vocalist Kyra and Akira who plays electronic instruments, ICHION’s music gets described as neo-spiritual and electronic shamanistic music, and is influenced by songs of indigenous people living in Japan and the United States in combination with electronic experimental music that incorporates homemade instruments made by Akira and environmental sounds. Since childhood, vocalist Kyra has been immersed in the Ainu culture, one of Japan’s original tribes. Her father, a historian, spent years studying the Ainu people’s history, customs, and language. Kyra picked up the torch and blended her love of music with this passion. 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. According to ICHION, they add LED bars to their stage for the performance to simulate the ceremony of a Shinto shrine.
The band got formed in 2008 and released their first album, in 2011, their second album in 2017, and their third album, Oro Mike Mike May, in 2020. For the third album, they travelled through their own country, as well as Northern Europe, specifically Finland and Norway, to find inspiration and eventually record in the locations declared sacred by the (indigenous) people.
Over the past few months, the duo has shared various stories from their past tour through their social media and blog posts. In case you want to know what Kyra and Akira have been up to and how they experienced the tour last November, be sure to follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
