THE ORIGINAL FIVE
Guitars, bass, drums and beautiful electronic mistakes.
Lead vocals · Lead guitar · Principal songwriter
Rika is the band's driving creative force: a Japanese-American guitarist with a smoky, raspy alto-mezzo voice, a blunt sense of humour and a powerful stage presence. Her signature guitar, Heartbreaker, is the battered vintage Kuroda electric she bought at fifteen. As a solo artist, she explores a broader, often more intimate musical style while retaining her rock background.
Co-lead vocals · Rhythm and lead guitar
Born to a British mother and Japanese father, Kai left a troubled adolescence in England to make a new start in Tokyo. He brings sharp guitar hooks, a bright raspy rock tenor and unapologetic glam-punk swagger to Dead Channel. A former romantic partner of Rika, he is now one of her closest musical collaborators and friends.
Bass · Vocals
Rika's oldest musical friend and the player behind Dead Channel's distinctive melodic basslines. Yumi performs on her electric bass, Black Rose, and provides a clear, agile mezzo-soprano voice in the current musical direction. Practical, perceptive and dryly funny, she balances band life with marriage and raising her daughter, Hana.
Synthesizers · Keyboards · Sampling · Vocals
Mika gives Dead Channel its electronic identity, combining vintage analog synthesizers, primitive samplers and unusual electronic textures with the band's guitars and drums. She has a soft, clear higher voice and runs Mika's Retro Tech & Repairs, a shop specialising in old and unusual electronics. Her cat, Pixel, is a fixture of the shop.
Visit Mika’s little corner ↗Drums · Percussion · Shouted vocals
Ren provides Dead Channel's speed and physical energy through his explosive acoustic drumming. He occasionally contributes rough count-ins and shouted lines, but is not a melodic lead singer. His preference for musicians playing together in the same room is central to the band's raw sound.