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MAN WITH A MISSION: Speaking with One of J-Rock's Biggest Bands

We're checking in with MAN WITH A MISSION, one of Japan's premier guitar rock bands whose joyous & loud power ballads are in anime series.

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MAN WITH A MISSION, the Japanese rock band behind the opening theme song for the current season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, played a tour in New York City in late May, culminating in a concert at Irving Plaza. We had a chance to interview MAN WITH A MISSION, with guitarist and vocalist Jean-Ken Johnny speaking for the band.

MAN WITH A MISSION: Interview with One of J-Rock's Biggest Bands
MAN WITH A MISSION still from the music video

MAN WITH A MISSION is known for wearing wolf masks when they play their K-rock guitar power anthems with a backstory of having been created as the ultimate life form by "doctor of the guitar and wolf biologist" Jimi Hendrix. Their songs are loud, raucous, epic, joyous, and perfect as the themes of several anime series.

Congratulations on landing your first US concert in New York City. How have you found New York City so far? Does it meet your expectations and fantasies of its myth?

Not sure about the myth, but NYC is a great place, and it's always a pleasure and an excitement for us to visit.

Can you tell our readers more about the wolf guitar god myth behind MAN WITH A MISSION?

Superior wolf-headed humanoids created by the mad professor Jimi Hendrix a long time ago, first for the duty of evil, iced and frozen for the evil deeds they have done, but came back to the world somehow inspired by music

We love the uniquely Japanese sound of your rock anthems and the music videos you make, and your various collaborations with other artists. How did you decide on the sound and influences of your songs? 

Most of my music influence comes from the music and the culture of the 90s. Very experimental, alternative, and full with diversity. I guess we have the heritage of that era with a hybrid essence of the modern sound today.

How did you decide on naming the band MAN WITH A MISSION? 

Check out the artwork of the album "Recipe for Hate" from Bad Religion, and also check out the fourth song on that album. You'll get a hint.

The majority of fans in the US and the West discovered your music through anime series. Your songs have that dynamic, epic grandeur that goes with big anime stories like "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba." How did your music start getting used as themes and anthems for anime series? 

Well, that depends on the creator side of the animation, so I'm not sure if I can answer that, but I guess being a fan of the same culture, animation, and manga helps us a lot in taking part.

It's fitting that the wolf guitar god's myth should come to the mythical city of New York. Do you think you'll find new stories from this concert? 

For sure. Everything can happen here in NY.

Thank you, MAN WITH A MISSION!

MAN WITH A MISSION has an official music channel on Crunchyroll.

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Adi TantimedhAbout Adi Tantimedh

Adi Tantimedh is a filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote radio plays for the BBC Radio, “JLA: Age of Wonder” for DC Comics, “Blackshirt” for Moonstone Books, and “La Muse” for Big Head Press. Most recently, he wrote “Her Nightly Embrace”, “Her Beautiful Monster” and “Her Fugitive Heart”, a trilogy of novels featuring a British-Indian private eye published by Atria Books, a division Simon & Schuster.
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