100 Demons

The work has its origins in Japanese folklore, ‘Hyakki Yagyō’ (‘The Night Parade of 100 Demons’), but evolved into an exploration of politics and propaganda following a perceived shift in the sense of national identity seen in the media at the time of writing. Daniel has said about 100 Demons, “Globally, it felt like we were seeing behind the curtain of world governance — how the magic trick was performed — and it wasn't pretty.”

Despite its evolution, the heart of this work remains firmly in the folkloric world of the ‘other’. Daniel worked with Japanese historians and musicians to study an ancient verbal enchantment that was said to protect one from the parade and had originally thought to explore an instrument being possessed by tsukumogami (an artefact ghost: an unloved or discarded object that, upon reaching 99 years of age, becomes possessed by a spirit and often causes mischief or pursues their owner in an act of revenge).

This idea of possession remains present in the piece. The work blends the real (string quartet) and the illusionary (pre-recorded and manipulated string quartet), or in terms of the work’s spiritual origins — the living and the dead. The interaction of these two worlds phase in and out through the course of the work with the intent to disorientate both player and listener.

The difficulty of performing the work is in part a charge to the player to wrestle with its 'demonic' origin; the vocal elements you hear are phonemes from the ancient verbal enchantment, struggling to be produced. The incessant, driving rhythm is at once indicative of a marching procession of demons, and the pervasive hammering of politically charged agendas in the media.

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