Nekron 99

Nekron 99 (musical group)
New York based Nekron 99 (1980-1985) was the first Asian-American led rock band to achieve international recognition. It was founded by guitarist John Seetoo and his brother James, on bass. Often linked to the burgeoning post punk hardcore scene that spawned New York bands like The Mad, False Prophets, Stimulators and the Cro-Mags (*1), their Commercial Success E.P. was distributed by Bomp! Records and found its way to Japan, Italy, Denmark, Spain, UK, France, Netherlands and Germany, where their popularity lasted sufficiently to prompt a CD re-release and compilation inclusion, "Back to Front", from Stuttgart based Incognito Records (*2).
Nekron 99 garnered critical notices from "Jersey Beat" magazine editor, Jim Testa and "Trouser Press" writer Tim Sommer, among others. David Fricke of "Rolling Stone" described Nekron 99 as "U2 with Jimmy Page on guitar" at Yardbirds' producer Giorgio Gomelski's "Tonka Wonka" event, a mid 1980's "Underground American Idol" type showcase held at NYC's The Bitter End. The band's significance within the Asian-American community was solidified by their multiple invitations to perform at NYC's Asian Pacific Heritage Festival at Lincoln Center. Nekron 99 was also the subject of a video documentary by New York/Hong Kong filmmaker Bonita Lei. The documentary focused on the song lyrics' exploration of Asian-American issues, such as "ABC - American Born Chinese".
John Seetoo continued the band from 1982-85 with other musicians, and the Nekron 99 music video, “Reincarnations” was a quarter finalist on the then emerging MTV cable station “Basement Tapes” show.
John Seetoo has subsequently gone on to perform the title song for the film, "The Source of Power", produce the album, "The Art of Protest" for acclaimed Japanese-Canadian artist Terry Watada, and has recently contributed slide guitar to the 2008 Stellar Award nominated gospel hip-hop CD, "Testimony: 1 Lyrics 4 Life" by Joe L. Da Vessel.
*1 Liner notes by Neil Cooper from ROIR records compilation.
*2 Giant Robot Magazine, issue #15, article on Nekron 99 by Eric Nakamura

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