Joining Necronomidol in 2017 Himari Tsukishiro moved on to a solo career under the Isiliel moniker garnering a cult following in the process. Peter Dennis Chatted to the Japanese icon about performing on her own and mixing music cultures.
The solo project Isiliel has now been active for two years. How has it been?
I’ve been able to try so many new things and I really feel that the solo project is moving forward. It has really been meaningful.
Your live show is very energetic. How do you prepare yourself?
Since I’ve been solo my main focus has been on my voice, along with muscle training.
How easy is it to perform dance routines to black metal music?
For me, I am not so much focused on the choreography as how it relates to the song, but how to express my feelings to the people watching, and that goes for music, whether it is black metal or other genres. For me it is difficult, because a lot of these things I am doing for the first time, but I am really happy to see that so many fans are able to connect with it through the genre of black metal and then tell me that my expressions have really been novel and new to them.
Similarly, singing to black metal. Is that hard or difficult?
It is difficult, but not so much because of the genre, it is more because I’m doing it all myself; it is just me on stage. Trying to connect with the fans and express myself to the fans is a big challenge to me and that’s something I’ve really been working on recently.
Your music videos and photographs make extensive use of rope as a means of constraint. Where did you get the idea and what message are you trying to convey?
For me, as we go through life a lot of things are placed upon us that are restricting, heavy things, but what I really want to show is that working through those constraints, something beautiful can be born.
In September you will play in Norway with a live band, which is the first time you will perform in Europe with live musicians. Do you prefer performing with a live band or a backing tape?
I started with a backing band in Japan and I really felt a lot of pressure, so for those gigs I wasn’t really able to enjoy those shows, I was focused on making sure everything went smoothly, but overseas when I played with a backing band, one thing I really noticed was that there was so much power coming from the band and being able to pull together with the band members on stage was really, really enjoyable and so I really liked being able to play with those musicians.
As for the Norwegian set, Nicholay Hovland, who wrote all the music on my first album Moonbow Genesis, he is going to be in the band as a guitar player, so being able to perform with him in a Scandinavian backing band is a real honour and I’m really looking forward to seeing what is going to happen at that show.
And in October you will tour Germany with Coppelius. How do you think you will compliment them as musicians?
I’m wondering the same thing myself, so I am really approaching it as a newborn, so I just want to go in there and take in everything I can and really immerse myself in the experience and I think it is going to be a great opportunity to grow as an artist.
But, for myself, I am kind of a dark character, my personality leans towards the dark side so being on tour with that many people is going to be a challenge, but I also think it is going to be a big opportunity to grow beyond my current boundaries.
You play a lot of concerts in Europe. What makes your show connect with people of different cultures?
It might seem an uncool thing to say, but I really think it is love; I sing in Japanese and most of my audience can’t speak Japanese so they don’t necessarily understand what I am singing or what the lyrics mean, but through that my feelings, my emotions and what I want to express really connects with the audience, so I think it is something that exceeds the boundaries of verbal communication and goes straight to the heart. Words are something I treat very importantly, I place a lot of emphasis on my words, but I think performing overseas the most important thing is to exceed that and go beyond that so the audience directly understands what I am trying to convey.
You mix Japanese folklore and culture with Norwegian black metal. How do you fit the two together?
When Nicholay wrote his first song for me, we had never met before and when I heard that song I was shocked by how beautifully the musical tones he was bringing forth in the song were able to work with the dark depths of my soul. But for me it is not so much about Norway as a country or Norwegian black metal as a genre, but I really feel as if it is one big musical sky which we are all working and living under, so I was really shocked that although Nicholay and I had never met before, through music we were able to communicate beautifully.
If I could make a wish come true for you, what’d it be?
I’d like people all around the world to hear Isiliel songs and I’d like to go around the world and sing to them in person.
Interview and photo by Peter Dennis