Fire Museum Presents: AKNKVN

Fire Museum Presents AKNKVN
Fire Museum Presents AKNKVN

aknkvn is a duo based in Tokyo and has been performing free improv and noise in tandem since 2009.

Akihiko Akkun Ando is an alto saxophonist born in Chiba, Japan in 1986. Since moving to Tokyo in 2001, he has been an active member of underground music scenes in both Tokyo and Kansai in western Japan, performing sax, effects and electronics.

From 2012, Akkun has been a regular collaborator with pianist Kevin McHugh who is a pianist, accordionist and improviser from Seattle, WA. After graduating from Oberlin Conservatory, McHugh won a yearlong Watson Fellowship to explore improvised music scenes in 5 megacities around the world: São Paulo, Cairo, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Tokyo. Since 2009 and after living in NYC and Oakland, Kevin has been based in Tokyo, performing and recording as an active member of Tokyo’s experimental music scene.

By Kinan Faham

"the Silent Camera" was conceived in 2009 and was inspired by the music of Arvo Part especially his piece "Silentium". I perceive the modern world as oscillating between two extremes that are analogous to two of Arvo Part's pieces: "Perpetuum Mobile" represents the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the sea of people surrounding you, the noise in the streets, the deadlines, the challenges and the lessons to learn, the new technologies and risks facing our civilization, the musical pieces you learn [or fail to master],.. etc. "Silentium" represents the resolution of every musical note, every spoken word and every movement of your day. It is the moment that you are most likely to remember after the day's noise has settled and its turbulence has subsided. It is the moment that we all crave and the moment that will allow us to persist to the next day when the Perpetuum Mobile cycle starts again.

Shouts and Murmurs go here!