成人快手

More about Hikari...

Where are you from?

Preston

Who plays what?

Irene Silva - vocals
John Livesley - keyboard and orchestra
Andy Irvine - guitars
Sion Hopes - drums and percussion

Got any bad habits?

Not that we have noticed so far but they are sure to come!

What's the band's history so far?

The story of Hikari's artistic odyssey begins with the meeting between singer Irene Silva and lead producer John Livesley. In July 2008, Irene - of Scottish and Filipina descent - was an aspiring singer-songwriter walking a familiar tightrope between her desire to perform and a need to remain true to her own visions and style. Like all artists, Irene's yearning for an audience as well as need to survive saw her become a regular fixture in local clubs, bars and hotels - all the time conscious that her true destiny lay somewhere outside of the mainstream genres.

Upon meeting, John and Irene wrote their first song 'Out of the Darkness' within two hours; an auspicious sign of the chemistry which was to characterise the succeeding tracks of Hikari's first album. Andy was requested to get involved with the guitar sections for 'Out of the Darkness' and his innovative suggestions completed the track. `out of the darkness` was the herald of the band's signature eclectic style which prevents them from being pigeon holed within any musical lexicon.

Each piece provides an adventure for the listener; a journey into the unknown where major meets minor, love meets betrayal, life meets death, night meets day. The transitions implicit within the music from suffering to elation are only made intelligible through Irene's extraordinary vocal ability to encompass an array of identities from the innocent, the loved, the victim, the deserter and the temptress. Her own mixed ethnic background places Irene in a prime position to champion the group's exploration of other cultures and genres, as evinced through her signature Oriental motifs and use of Arabic scales.

Irene's desire to situate Hikari within a culturally eclectic framework is manifest not only through what she calls the 'appreciative borrowing' of ornamentations from worldwide genres such as Spanish flamenco and Colombian ballenato, but also through the backgrounds and influences of other band members.

The classical training of John, for instance, holds the key to the kaleidoscope of sounds witnessed in the instrumentation of Hikari's songs. John, whose musical influences oscillate from classical to New Age, from dance to rock, cites the single most important contribution of Hikari as its unification of styles and sounds which wouldn't normally meet in any other way.

The excitement contained in our music comes from our lack of trepidation in discovering new sounds, mixtures and combinations produces an exoticism which we haven't really seen anywhere else. That's not to say we're not influenced by other groups from all over the world; John is a big fan of Jean Michele Jarre and Yanni, Irene's idol is Utada, Andys are Metallica and the Prodigy and Sions is Iron Mad maiden. Hikari is all about evoking a world where the deviant and the eccentric are embraced. We're not afraid to take risks.

Style and influences?

Along the lines of Within Temptation and Evanescence with oriental motifs.

Best moment so far?

Hearing anyone compliment our music.

Worst/most embarrassing moment so far?

Releasing the first demo without the guitar section on two of the four songs. Whoops!

What's your favourite song? Or which song do you wish you'd written?

听That would be our song "Out Of听The Darkness"

Anything else we should all know about?

Hikari is Japanese for light. The Hikari website www.hikari-band.co.uk is currently under construction but our MySpace page has our music there to be heard.