If you like anime, art, and incredible rock, then Spirit Bomb is for you. 

“Spirit Bomb is an explosive anime tribute band making waves across the nation,” their website reads. “Fronted by vocalist Elaina Sekino and guitarist Kevin (Samuel), better known as Tuning the World, they join forces to create an unforgettable live concert experience for anime enthusiasts worldwide.”

Sekino and Samuel are joined by Nate Buesching on bass and Damian Hyde on drums. They will perform at Sweetwater Sound on Saturday, Oct. 21. 

Paying his dues

I have had the pleasure of working with Spirit Bomb in the past, and even though I am not big into anime, it was such a fun and unique experience. Seeing all the cosplay within the crowd and watching faces light up when their favorite show is represented is quite the joy. 

“I’ve been local to Fort Wayne since I moved here in middle school,” Samuel said. “That’s roughly when I picked up the guitar and got into recording at the same time. I scratched out my ideas for songs on a Fostex 4-track tape player … this was pre-Napster times! 

“I was surrounded by music thankfully from my father who has been a regular gigging bass player since I was born. He encouraged me to pick up the guitar and inspired me greatly. Shout out to my mom for buying my first guitar though and getting me into lessons early on.”

Moving around quite a bit when he was young, Samuel has always felt at home on stage.

“I always admired the stage and knew I wanted to be a guitar player in a big band,” he said. “I got to it right out of high school and landed a spot in a local band around 2005 that had some radio play on local stations. I knew my strengths in the band as guitar player, but also learned what it took to promote and negotiate deals for the band.”

After moving out of the Summit City, Samuel would return, picking up where he left off.

“Fast forward to 2012, I moved back to Fort Wayne and started a new band called Thematic,” he said. “Social media was picking up then, and many independent artists started to emerge out of nowhere. I knew we had a chance to get this band thing going in a direction that could lead to the big stages. We invested in our own recording gear and spent many months in the basement working on our debut album and landed spots on concerts opening for national bands.”

However, just as Thematic, which included Buesching, Ryan Schmidt, and Adam Cesarz, got moving, good ol’ 2020 came along.

“We made our second album and released it in January of 2020, and then everything shut down,” Samuel said. “All the steam was gone in an instant with the pandemic. I decided to not sit and wait, and pushed the release out as an interactive album release instead of the standard, ‘Our album on Spotify just dropped. Check it out please!’ I sought out animation artists to create an entire full-length movie that played out along with the concept and story of our album called Skyrunner.”

Spirit Bomb takes shape

When asking them about their origin story, Sekino and Samuel share similar stories. 

“Kevin and I met through another gig,” Sekino said. “He found out I was half Japanese and that I spoke Japanese, and he immediately went on a rant about his love of anime. 

“It turned out he had an anime YouTube channel with a pretty big following. When he asked me to collaborate on a cover for his channel, I was like, ‘Why not?’ I was excited to sing in Japanese. 

“We recorded ‘See You Space Cowboy’ from Cowboy Bebop, and I made an offhand comment about how there was probably a market for live anime music at anime conventions and such. Kevin took that idea and ran with it!

“The next thing I knew, he had a website set up, had a logo … he even had a name picked out. Spirit Bomb was born.” 

If the idea seemed to come out of nowhere for Sekino, it was something Samuel latched onto.

“I had been compiling a long list of songs we could do for our show and built playback tracks to help support our performances,” he said. “After a couple shows as a duet, I felt like we lacked the dynamics to really bring us to the next level.”

That next level meant more members on the team.

“In walks Damian Hyde, who had seen our debut performance at the 2022 Cherry Blossom Festival,” Samuel said. “He wanted to join the band and fulfill the role of drummer. His skills were on another level, and his love for anime might even exceed mine.”

Then came Buesching, who Samuel was familiar with from their time in Thematic.

“Nate’s a multitalented musician and we’ve known each other for 15 years,” Samuel said. “Don’t let his Oni mask fool you. He’s a standup comedian and a giant muscular teddy bear.”

Giving fans what they want

The band provides plenty of pop, showcased by their recent set at Piere’s ahead of the metal act hanabie out of Japan. Along with their excellent musicianship, they also play anime on a screen behind, much to the elation of fans.

“Spirit Bomb, or Genki Dama as it’s known Japan, is a reference to the character Goku from (the popular anime series) Dragon Ball Z and his famous last-ditch effort powerful attack. Spirit Bomb was created to give fans of anime and Japanese culture an experience that can’t be found here in the U.S. 

“Many fans of anime know their favorite songs from the show, but might not ever get a chance to see those artists come to the U.S. and perform live in concert. We took our skills and expertise as musicians and professionals in the music industry to bring this to an underserved audience. 

“Like Goku’s genki dama, Spirit Bomb gather their power from all the great anime music in existence to coalesce into an explosive live performance.”

Spirit Bomb find inspiration through the diverse crowds that come to their shows and how much passion they have for Japanese culture. 

“I think it’s fascinating that such a massive demographic of Americans are so interested in Japanese culture through anime,” Sekino said. “At many of the events we perform at, I’m the only Japanese person present. It’s a real treat to represent Japan and get to interface with fans who love anime so much. The music we perform means so much to them. It’s truly humbling at times. 

“This music is really special. It spans every genre from rock to pop to jazz to classical — there really is something for everyone. I’ve had people approach me after shows and say they came just because their friend, kid, or spouse was into anime, but that they ended up having a blast.” 

That appreciation is evident. When they performed at Sweetwater in November 2022, the show sold out the 250-seat Performance Theatre. Because of that, this year’s show will be in the 500-seat training center.

“We look forward to performing over 90 minutes of music plus having some special guests and cosplay showcase,” Samuel said. “We want to see you best outfits.”

Along with songs from you favorite anime, Spirit Bomb are also working on original material. They recently released the single “Asai Yume” on streaming services.

Make sure to grab your tickets!