Mirai Kawashima: In the 80s when I was a high school student, heavy metal was rather a big movement, so it was nothing special to get into heavy metal. I saw several classmates into this kind of stuff. Since I was a little kid, I was pretty much a violent person and I was always attracted to dark occult stuff, so it was very natural for me to be drawn to heavy/thrash metal. It was the music I wanted.
What are your all time favorite heavy metal artists and albums?
Whiplash – Power and Pain, Venom – Black Metal, Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast, Mercyful Fate – Melissa, Kreator – Pleasure to Kill, Cryptic Slaughter – Money Talks, Death – Scream Bloody Gore, Celtic Frost – Into the Pandemonium, Sacrifice – Torment in Fire, Sabbat – History of a Time to Come. These are the albums I still listen to after 20 years. There are many more though.
Do you consider Sigh to be a black metal band, or have you moved beyond those boundaries?
I don't know, it's all fans to decide. When Metallica tried to get rid of the thrash metal image in the 80s, I was laughing and thought they were a thrash metal band without doubt. No matter how far our music goes, it isn't easy to change the impression. It is true that we debuted on Euronymous' label. Death metal isn't the word to describe our style.
Neither is thrash metal. Then what? Maybe black metal is the closest? Anyway we don't care.
You've been playing extreme metal with Sigh for almost 20 years. What have been the biggest changes you've seen in the metal world?
It's not just about the metal world, but definitely digital technologies have changed everything. Back in the 80s, we had to get in touch with foreign bands/labels through snail mail like writing letters, going to the post office then getting replies after two weeks. Everything was so slow. Recording an album was much more expensive, but now you can do it at your own house and put it up on the internet so that people from all over the world can hear it.
What have been the high and low points in your career?
The high point should be the Inferno festival of this year. It was a big fun to play at Norway's great festival. The lowest point was definitely the gig which we had to cancel as Shinichi did not show up.
What led to your departure from Necrophagia?
Simply I could not stretch myself thinner. Sigh wasn't productive enough when I was involved in Necrophagia. It was time to get back to my own job.
Are you involved in any other bands or side projects right now?
I have a project with Shane from Napalm Death, but we both are pretty much busy it's going very slowly. Also I've just played the keyboards for the new The Red Chord album.
Do you still have a day job, or are you a full time musician?
I still have a day job. It isn't easy at all to live on music especially when you live in an insular country like Japan.
What's the extreme metal scene like in Japan these days?
There are a few cool bands and lots of crap just copying the leading bands. The same as everywhere else.
