Exclusive Interview with Akkin – Rock Artist Bridging Italy and Japan

Akkin is an Italian musician and session guitarist who has collaborated with numerous well-known Japanese artists, including Aimer, Reona, and Yuri. His playing and arranging have been featured in numerous anime opening and ending themes, making his work familiar to fans worldwide.

Alongside his session work, Akkin is also a composer and arranger pursuing a solo career. His latest singles, “Under the March Rain” and “A Pocket Full of Stars”, showcase his evolving artistic direction, blending Western rock sensibilities with Japanese influences and featuring collaborations with Japanese vocalists.

Where are you from?

Hi, I’m from a small town near Milan.

How long have you been making music?

I’ve been making music since I was 17, or rather, I started getting into music seriously at that age, only later did I decide to seriously dedicate myself to creating original songs with the various bands I formed at the time.

How many songs /albums have you released to date?

To date I have released a couple of instrumental singles, an album and an EP, but the songs I care most about are the last two singles released recently “Under the March Rain” and “A Pocket Full of Stars” because they are songs that show the musical path I want to take from now on.

Can you tell us about your latest release and the background/inspirations behind it?

My latest single is called “Under the March Rain” and for this release I had the pleasure of hosting on vocals a dear friend and a great artist called Sakura Seiko, a Japanese singer famous mainly in Japan and on local platforms such as niconico TV and bilibili. It’s a song that talks about a love that could not continue, that no longer had the conditions to be nourished, I tried to tell the story of the love that ends between two people even though there is still something between them but that despite the desire to make it work, sometimes what burns ardently can also break and none of us can fix it other than to move on and put an end to it and I think that with Saeko’s voice I managed to evoke those emotions that the song needed…

How have/did you end up in the music industry?

Professionally, I ended up there 4 years ago as a session man for the Japanese music market, because thanks to an EP I released, it aroused the interest of a Japanese musician who worked in the session man sector and I was contacted for a collaboration that would then become, over time, the current profession of session man that I still carry out, solo career aside. As for the music sector, I entered it many years ago as an amateur musician with various bands and independent solo releases, so I’d say that between one thing and another it’s been almost 27 years even if I lived the first 20 in the shadows…

What do you think of the music industry in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic hit?

Good question, five years have already passed since that pandemic and certainly a lot has changed, including the music industry, but it was already changing much earlier, that is, with the advent of digital, from that moment we knew that it would never be the same again, I mean, before the release of a record saw the physical format with CDs, vinyl and was experienced in a more profound way, now everything is much more liquid and dispersive, now there are Spotify, iTunes, etc.. you release a single and hope that the public will include it in some playlist because nowadays there are an incredible amount of releases and people are used to scrolling through a song after a couple of seconds, before a single was released, followed by an album and if the single was liked, the purchase of the album was obligatory, so the revenues were also higher.. I’m not saying that digital has completely ruined music, because it has its advantages, but coming from the old school, I would still prefer the physical format.. obviously, however, we have to adapt to what the market demands…

Who do you think is the most influential artist?

I don’t know, honestly, I continue to listen to artists who belong to the past and who have influenced me in the rock and pop scene. In my case, however, since I work there, I would like many Japanese artists to be recognized even outside their own country because they are very valid. To date, I don’t know. Being Italian, I could tell you that Maneskin have played a fundamental role in music and for the influence they have had on the new generations of musicians and not only in Italy.

Who have you collaborated with so far in your career?

Over the past 4 years, through my work as a session man, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with many artists, all obviously from Japan. I could mention AIMER, REONA, the composer Hiroyuki Sawano, and many others. But regardless of whether the name is important or not, it has been a pleasure to be at the service of anyone who wants me as part of their project.

How do you think you differ from other artists?

Well, in my case, the genre I propose, that is, having played for years for artists from Japan, I think I have assimilated some distinctive traits of that music which in my humble opinion is different from Western music, starting from the language in which it is sung, I believe that Japanese artists have a way of expressing what they sing differently from the rest of the world and I have begun to love it so much that I have included it in my compositions.

Who will you love to have a collaboration with?

Honestly, there are so many artists I adore and would love to collaborate with that I really don’t know which one to name… But if I really have to exaggerate, then I’d say Bryan Adams, an artist I’ve been following since I was 15… but there would be a very long list to make!

What was the first album you bought as an artist?

The first album I bought was “Wake Up the Neighbor” by Bryan Adams, from that day I began to get closer to rock and the desire to take up a guitar.

What’s your favorite song at the moment?

Ovviamente la mia “Under the March Rain”!!!!!!

If you had to sell your music collection tomorrow, what album/track would you leave in your draw?

Dizzy up the girls dei GOO GOO DOLLS..

What is your favorite quote/saying?

I don’t have any particular quotes I rely on.

What other hobbies or interests do you have?

I love reading when I have free time, but basically even when I have free time I always find myself with a guitar in my hands!

Tell us more about your upcoming project or this new project?

Currently, in addition to the two singles released so far, I have two more releases in the pipeline that will be released around December and then grouped together into a single EP that will be released around January of the new year. I also hope to continue playing on artists’ records as I have done up until now. I have projects in place… we’ll see.

What’s in the pipeline after this project?

I’ve already partially answered you before, but as I was saying, I’ll continue as a session man on various future projects that require my presence.

Follow Akkin Online

Twitter: https://x.com/Akkin_guitar

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_akkin_80

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@akkin410

Song Mentioned: Under the March Rain