Tell us a little about how the band got started.
 The band got started during our later years of school. Matt (drums) and Alex (guitar) had played together in a band for a few years, but the final lineup for Akumas Kinder is a result of a Matt and Marcus (guitar/vocals) meeting in high school and forming the band. With a few changes in bass players over the years, Akumas Kinder are Marcus,Matt,Tim and Alex

Who writes the songs, what are they about?
 Marcus (guitar/vox) and Matt (drums) write the majority of the material, with basic rhythmic guitars and drums laying down the foundations for each song. Marcus will usually bring a basic guitar pattern and the two would begin work on the new song. Tim (bass) has also contributed catchy bass/guitar sections, bringing prog metal type riffs played on acoustic guitar and then incorporated onto the electric guitar in a more structured manner. Alex would then come in and deliver his skill- full blues/metal lead sections and solos on top of the finished, unpolished product. Lyrics are written separately by both Matt and Marcus, who would bring both their individual ideas together to see how to incorporate both them into each song.
The themes to a lot of our songs are based around the human condition and the conscious knowledge of doing wrong while harming people and the earth around us. The depths of these themes lie with the very capable existence of evil and the want to do wrong in humans as we try to explain the reasons why and approach a different issue in each song, these ideas stemming from both personal experiences and metaphorical scenarios

How do you guys typically promote your band and shows?
 Promoting our band and shows has been made easier than expected through the Internet and social media. We are lucky to have a wide range of friends and family that support us and share our music/gig information whenever we update something new. Facebook has been our biggest promotional tool so far, followed closely by triple j unearthed

Who are some of your musical and non-musical influences?
 Influences include Metallica, Trivium, Machine Head Karnivool, Parkway Drive, Led Zeppelin, Tool. Generally a mix between thrash metal, progressive metal and post hardcore with blues scaled leads, influences each song to have a dynamical uniqueness of its own.

What have you found to be some of your biggest obstacles?
 Some of the biggest obstacles faced at this age are commitments to university and part time work. We find it hard to get the whole band to free up their time and consistently have efficient practices, or expect band members to focus all their time into writing and learning new sections to written and unwritten songs. Also, being a metal band in Sydney, we are learning that finding gigs and venues to play at alot more difficult than we first anticipated

What do you look forward to most as you make your way though the festival?
We are looking forward to playing Emergenza mainly because we have the opportunity to play with a number of diverse bands and we are excited to make new friends along the way. We are also excited about playing the venues organized for the festival as we wouldnt expect to play venues such as the Lair at Metro and other such venues otherwise.