It’s been just a few months since Tony Sirianni, the lead guitarist of Vancouver-based black metal act Scalding, developed the film from his disposable camera, allowing him and his bandmates to relive their surreal Japanese winter tour. It could not feel otherwise: ten days of performing in different prefectures, affected by jet lag and with only one day off to grasp the sense of playing for foreign audiences, the sound of their Japanese colleagues, the atmosphere of Asian underground, and the beauty of the country altogether. In the interview, Tony reveals how the band took this and other opportunities to showcase their music as both a possibility and a healthy challenge, overcoming ‘Vancouver syndrome‘, and appreciating the privilege of being a musician just for what it is.
MK: When you first got this idea to tour Japan, did you take it seriously right away, or was it more like something to dream and forget about?
Tony: Through mutual friends, we were aware of that being a real option. We all wanted to do it. I remember bringing it up ’cause our friends Grave Infestation had gone over. So, I had asked them personally if they could put in a good word for us, and then I was able to contact the promoter, Raf (Rafael Yaekashi, Karasu Killer Records). He was running a service, but he’s still selective of who he works with. He pretty much took care of everything on the other side for us, which was something we don’t have in other places. There are still parts of Canada we’ve never been to!
MK: So it was partially a paved path?
Tony: A little bit, yeah. I think music, like a lot of things, is very word of mouth.
MK: Given that, was it also obvious to you what audience you could count on there?
Tony: I had absolutely no idea what I was stepping into! Honestly, it was a leap of blind faith. Ultimately, on this Japanese tour, we played the full spectrum. There were rooms that were packed, off the walls, bananas, and simply amazing shows. And then we also played in a room in a basement, where there was a bartender, other bands, and two people who lived at the bar, basically.
MK: What city was that, the least successful one?
Tony: Kobe. That being said, though, I loved that gig. That’s what I mean by perspective: you gotta let things build. It’s important to be grateful for those nights, too. That time, we decided to play completely different songs. I remember we were like, ‘Well, if we’re just playing, why don’t we play songs we normally don’t play, so we can make it more fun for us a bit?’ So we did. And it was more entertaining for us all of a sudden, you know. It’s all these little things.
MK: And what are your personal favorites to play?
Tony: I do get a kick outta Nuclear Winter Spell, I just like how intense that one is, then Hill of the Cross, it has grown on me, Plaguestorm is always a fun one for me, and I find that it goes over well with an audience. Generally, the faster ones are for me.
Scalding’s second and latest LP, Nuclear Winter Spell, came out in 2025, followed by shows in Canada and Japan.
MK: And the biggest stage you played on in Japan?
Tony: I would say Nagoya. We were opening up for Unholy Grave. Actually, we had played with them and Infest at the same festival in Edmonton.
First pic: Tony with Takaho Komatsu, 2025
It was funny because right before we played in Edmonton, the singer of Unholy Grave, Takaho Komatsu, ran up to me and introduced himself. He was like, ‘I’m putting on a show for you in Nagoya!’, and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s great.’ It was five minutes before we were about to go play. And he’s like, ‘I’m really sorry I can’t watch your whole set, but I have to prepare to go play, ’cause he was playing on a different stage elsewhere. And I was just like, ‘That’s fine, man, thank you so much for coming here.’ I felt like that was a very Japanese thing of him to do. I felt very humbled, and it was so cool to see him a year later, putting on a show for us. That was my favorite show, connected to that cool little moment for me personally. And that show was on my birthday, also.
MK: Would you say that with every show you played, your Japanese experience was thickening, layer by layer, or was it different all the time?
Tony: It was different all the time, but it’s what you make of it, right? Of course, there was the cultural shock of things, too. Every time I travel somewhere to play, I learn something: how you move from that, how you operate, and stuff. There was one show this time where the amp just was not working, and I felt like I was air-guitaring the entire gig. Technical difficulties, which at the same time I can’t control, really bum me out. But I just made the best of it. That’s all part of the game, too. You’re not gonna have great gigs all the time. But everywhere we went, the Japanese people were very lovely to interact with, very kind and helpful in showing us around.
MK: Do audiences, their presence, and involvement also affect your performance anyhow, or do you reflect on that afterwards?
Tony: If I’m in the moment, I definitely feed off of energy, and I try to bring it in. Sometimes you’re looking down, and you see what’s going on in the pit, it’s like whoa, and it gets you kind of going. But there were concerts where I’ve been like, ‘You’re a boring crowd, do something!’ The response is what you want to get out of it, whatever it is.
Toronto was a gig that we played recently, where I remember looking at the audience kind of felt like the ‘Vancouver syndrome’ was happening: it’s when everyone’s like ‘gimme a reason to think you’re cool.’ I find this happens in bigger cities. Then you go to smaller towns, where people are just happy that at least something is going on. But anyways, if I only have 30 minutes to prove what I’m worth, I would like to do that as effectively as possible.
MK: So, you take it as a challenge?
Tony: I look at it always as a challenge. But it’s a healthy challenge, and a good motivator for me. With this Japan tour, we wanted to kind of prove a point, too.
MK: I guess you did, given the positive feedback on your shows. I also saw that some local zine printed out material about you. So, your presence definitely had some humming around before and after.
Tony: I do believe there is a Japanese community that wants this kind of action. I don’t think it is as large as some other forms of music there, but it does exist there. From my perspective, it looks like something is growing there, and we were excited to see it from the stage.
MK: Aside from those few Japanese bands you happened to know personally, did you take a moment to familiarize yourself with more local metal before the departure?
Tony: I was going there with an open mind to be exposed to it while I was in Japan, like Hydrophobia that blew my mind, they were amazing. I strongly suggest everyone should go listen to them. Unholy Grave, sure, was the other one, as well as Coffins. Demolition, I guess, is a big band in Japan that I had not heard of before, but they were a big deal. Loudness is my favorite Japanese band, though. I’ve found myself listening to a lot more of Loudness and things recorded in Japan, like Ozzy’s Live at Budokan.
MK: Some say that Japanese culture has been ‘Americanized’ over the last few decades. In your opinion, did it show? Was their underground life similar to the one in America or not really?
Tony: Well, I would say there’s a fascination with North American culture to a degree in Japan that it’s kind of similar to the fascination that you see of Japanese culture here. Have I noticed a difference? Maybe slightly. I would say there’s the Japanese way of things.
MK: Could you recall any Japanese things you happened to witness while there?
Tony: Well, I remember one thing. I was playing guitar in the bar, just warming up, killing time, whatever. And there’s a guy from another band who has his whole outfit on, and he’s also playing guitar, and at the same time, while he’s practicing, he had two people doing his hair for him. Looking over, I felt like that was a very Japanese moment. I also remember someone commenting on us, how it was confusing if we were black metal or not, ’cause we didn’t have face paint on (laughing). But I guess that’s an honest assumption, if you’re someone who’s trying to absorb this media, and that’s how you see it.
MK: By the way, let’s talk about a Canadian thing also. One of your Japanese listeners, who commented on the show, mentions that you have ‘a distinctly Canadian metal sense of complex technical songwriting.’ Could you please tell if there’s such a thing, and what it means if so?
*Tony thoughtfully rereads the quote a few times, aloud*
Tony: That’s very much a compliment. I hear people referring to our metal in the way that ‘because it snows up there all the time, you’re stuck in your house, and you play guitar more.’ I’ve heard that from a lot of Americans, pointing to bands like Cryptopsy or Archspire. Actually, there are a lot of techy bands that come from here. But I’ve never thought of my band in that context personally.
I think I’ve heard similar things about anywhere that tends to have a lot of snow. I remember when I was a teenager, any band that came from Scandinavia was automatically good because, well, they’re from a country where they get paid to go to school! My assumption is that the Japanese person who said this was thinking similarly. However, I’d like to know what they thought. All I can say is we’re all from here, so we’re all drinking the same water. This is gonna bug me now, though…
MK: Off the record, you said you’re considering returning to Japan. Would you be ready to do it at the same pace and effort?
Tony: Well, I’m 37, and I would like to do this as long as I can and as much as I can. So yeah. I’m so grateful that I can sleep in a van as well as I can, that I can tolerate it. Once again, I try to have a perspective of just being grateful for things even though I’m not feeling great in that moment. I love it when I’m somewhere on a map I couldn’t point to, and that guy in a business suit is really having a good time, and another guy’s losing his mind.
MK: But really, given how much you played and traveled in between, were you able to process your trip while it lasted?
Tony: I definitely tried to stop and smell the roses also! I do have these memories of our first night in Yokohama: walking around over some canals and just being like, ‘you’re doing this, and it is cool.’ Just sitting with the moment for a minute. As I’m getting older, I try to take advantage of those moments ’cause that’s kind of what living’s all about.