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Monkey Majik is a Japanese pop-rock band, consisting of two Canadian brothers and two Japanese musicians.

Profile

Monkey Majik is a Japanese band composed of two Canadian brothers, Maynard and Blaise Plant, who both perform vocals and guitar, drummer tax and bassist DICK. The band is sometimes referred to as a "hybrid-band", as half of the members are foreigners and the lyrics are sung in both English and Japanese.

Much of the band's music has been cross-promoted via television programs, commercials, and movies. The band has been chosen as “Goodwill Ambassadors” for the 80th anniversary of Japanese-Canadian relations^[1].

Monkey Majik is managed by Edward Limited and are signed to binyl records, an avex subsidiary. Their live recordings are handled by Under Horse Records, a record company the band was signed on to before their major label debut.

The band, even after mainstream success, is still based in Sendai, located roughly 350km from Tokyo. This is contrary to the majority of musicians in Japan, whom most often move to Tokyo after mainstream success.

Band members

Current members

Maynard Plant (born August 6, 1975 from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Vocals and guitar. Monkey Majik Founder. Graduated from Queen's University. Fluent in English, French, and Japanese, also able to speak in the nanbu dialect (なんぶべん). While living in Canada Maynard wrote songs as a hobby, but only performed privately. Moved to Japan to work as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). Initially formed Monkey Majik in 2000 with Thomas Pritchard, Chad Ivany, and Misao Urushizaka. When Pritchard and Ivany quit the band, Maynard decided to invite his younger brother to join the band. He has high respects for Godiego, the band whose song "Monkey Magic" became the inspiration for the band's name, and even goes so far as to refer to them as "gods". Other Japanese musicians which he mentions in high regard include UA, Oda Masashi, and Spitz. His father is also a professional musician who has played with Paul Anka.
Blaise Plant (born March 18, 1980 from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Vocals and guitar. Maynard's younger brother whose full name is Blaise Joseph Anthony Plant. Fluent in English, French, and Japanese, though around the time of Monkey Majik's debut he often spoke in English. Plays on a local ice hockey team in Sendai. He was active as a singer songwriter since he was in high school performing at clubs. While in Canada he studied at The University of Lethbridge and was a solo musician, while also pursuing an acting career. Blaise joined the band in 2002. In 2007 he began his official blog. On March 3, 2008 he launched his solo project "The Alphabet Project".
tax tax (Takuya Kikuchi, 菊池拓哉) (born August 31, 1975 from Sendai, Miyagi, Japan): drums. tax partakes in the majority of songwriting. He had worked as a dental technician for five years, after which he switched to becoming a salaryman. He was introduced to Maynard through a friend. Before becoming Monkey Majik's full-time drummer his drumming experience only consisted of two years spent drumming during junior high school.
DICK (born March 10, 1978 from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan): bass. Has previously been part of a funk soul band called Soul Addiction under the name Hideki Dick Mori. Also was a member of a jazz band called Private Kitchen. Maynard and tax invited DICK, who had become a well-known bassist in Sendai, out to a bar in Kokubun City and forced him to drink until he agreed to join Monkey Majik. Joined the band to switch in with Urushizaka with the release of band's second indie album "eastview".

Past members

Misao Urushizaka (漆坂ミサオ), bassist: Left the band with the release of the second independent label album, "eastview". Songs which credit Urushizaka with songwriting have been released even after his departure.
Jan, drummer: A German exchange student who was part of the original band in 2001.
An English drummer: Responsible for naming of the band. Still known to visit Japan on occasion and meets up with Maynard when doing so.
A Canadian

History

Maynard Plant moved to Japan in 1997^[2] to teach English after graduating from Queen's University where he was president of the Alma Mater Society. He was able to learn Japanese while working as an Assistant Language Teacher. Blaise moved to Japan in 2001, after studying Drama at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta and spending some time as a solo-artist.

In 2002 Monkey Majik released their first EP called TIRED, a self-financed release limited to 1,000 copies available at Tower Records in Sendai. The EP attained the number one sales position for the store for six straight weeks. In 2003 the band released the first full-length album "SPADE", once again only available at Tower Records in Sendai. The album retained the number one in-store sales position for 13 consecutive weeks. "SPADE" was released nation-wide in 2004. The band's second full-length album, "eastview", was released in 2005. In the fall of the same year the band signed on to major label avex.

Their first major release single through avex was "fly" in 2006. The single was commercially successful, reaching #19 on the Oricon charts. "Fly" was quickly followed by the release of their second single, "Around the World", which was used as the drama Seiyuuki's theme song. "Around the World" became their break out single, reaching #4 on Oricon charts and charting for 13 weeks. "Around the World" sold 164,299 copies in 2006, becoming the 62nd most selling single of the year in Japan.

In 2007 Monkey Majik released their fourth full-length album "Sora wa maru de", where the titled song "Sora wa maru de" became the first song in Japanese History to reach #1 on USEN Request Chart before being released.

Their most recent album "TIME" opened it's first week at #2 on the Oricon Chart.

Band Name

The band was named by a former band member, an English drummer, who was apart of Monkey Majik before they debuted. The name is a tribute to the song "Monkey Magic" performed by Godiego, which was the theme song to Monkey, the English language voice-over version of the Japanese television series Saiyuki. The former drummer had watched the series as a child growing up in Britain and was a fan of the show and its theme song.

Discography

Albums

Title	Release date	Label	Notes	Peak weekly chart position (Oricon Japan)
TIRED	May 13, 2002		Limited edition EP
SPADE	September 24, 2003	Under Horse Records	1st full album	186
Lily	February 9, 2005	Under Horse Records	1st mini album	216
Get Started	April 13, 2005	Under Horse Records	2nd mini album	124
PREMIUM BOX	July, 2005	Under Horse Records	Limited edition CD & live DVD
eastview	September 21, 2005	Under Horse Records	2nd full album	114
BEST 2000 - 2005	March 8, 2006	Under Horse Records	Compilation	18
thank you	May 24, 2006	binyl records	3rd full album, 1st major label	5
Sora wa Maru de (空はまるで)	July 25, 2007	binyl records	4th full album, 2nd major label	3
TIME	September 3, 2008	binyl records	5th full album , 3rd major label	2

Singles

Title	Release date	Notes	Peak weekly chart position (Oricon Japan)
fly	January 18, 2006		19
Around The World	February 22, 2006	Tie-up with TV drama Saiyūki. 62nd highest selling single of 2006 (in Japan) with 164,299 copies sold	4
Futari (フタリ)	October 4, 2006	Featured song for the film "Yoru no pikunikku" (夜のピクニック)	15
Picture Perfect	February 7, 2007	Collaboration with m-flo	23
Sotsugyō, soshite mirai e. (卒業、そして未来へ。)	March 14, 2007	Collaboration with SEAMO	24
Change	April 25, 2007	Collaboration with Yoshida Brothers	52
MONKEY MAJIK x MONKEY MAGIC	June 27, 2007	Cover of "Monkey Magic" by Godiego. Tie-up with movie, "Saiyuki".	20
Together / Akari / Fall Back (あかり)	April 23, 2008	Subaru CM song, Menard Cosmetics CM song, Panasonic Cell Phone CM song	11
Aitakute / MORNING-EVENING / goin' places (あいたくて)	June 25, 2008	Asahi Style Free Beer CM song, Little Charo TV SHOW theme song, Pocari Sweat CM song	21
Tada, arigatō (ただ、ありがとう)	August 27, 2008	Theme song of the drama series "AnDonuts" (あんどーなつ)	28

References

^ "Japan-Canada 'Goodwill Ambassadors' Perform in Ottawa and Vancouver". epochtimes.com. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
^ "East-end brothers hit the big time in Japanese music scene". eastottawa.ca. Retrieved November 9, 2008.

"MONKEY MAJIK Official Web Site" (Shockwave Flash) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-02-07.
"Gyao.com "Original Feature Program" on MONKEY MAJIK" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-09-16.

External links

[1] "Japan-Canada 'Goodwill Ambassadors' Perform in Ottawa and Vancouver". epochtimes.com. Retrieved November 9, 2008.

[2] "East-end brothers hit the big time in Japanese music scene". eastottawa.ca. Retrieved November 9, 2008.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 === Current members ===
 *'''Maynard Plant''' (born [[August 6]], [[1975]] from [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]): Vocals and guitar. Monkey Majik Founder.  Graduated from [[Queen's University]]. Fluent in [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], also able to speak in the nanbu dialect (なんぶべん). While living in Canada Maynard wrote songs as a hobby, but only performed privately. Moved to Japan to work as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). Initially formed Monkey Majik in 2000 with Thomas Pritchard, Chad Ivany, and Misao Urushizaka.  When Pritchard and Ivany quit the band, Maynard decided to invite his younger brother to join the band.  He has high respects for [[Godiego]], the band whose song "Monkey Magic" became the inspiration for the band's name, and even goes so far as to refer to them as "gods". Other Japanese musicians which he mentions in high regard include [[UA (singer)|UA]], [[Oda Masashi]], and [[Spitz (band)|Spitz]]. His father is also a professional musician who has played with [[Paul Anka]].
-*'''Blaise Plant''' (born [[March 18]], [[1980]] from [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]): Vocals and guitar. Maynard's younger brother whose full name is Blaise Joseph Anthony Plant. Fluent in [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], though around the time of Monkey Majik's debut he often spoke in English. Plays on a local ice hockey team in [[Sendai]]. He was active as a [[singer songwriter]] since he was in high school performing at clubs. While in Canada he studied at The University of Lethbridge and was a solo musician, while also pursuing an acting career. Blaise continued the band with Maynard in 2002 where they released their first EP Tired.  In 2007 he began his official [[blog]]. On [[March 3]], [[2008]] he launched his solo project "The Alphabet Project".
+*'''Blaise Plant''' (born [[March 18]], [[1980]] from [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]): Vocals and guitar. Maynard's younger brother whose full name is Blaise Joseph Anthony Plant. Fluent in [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], though around the time of Monkey Majik's debut he often spoke in English. Plays on a local ice hockey team in [[Sendai]]. He was active as a [[singer songwriter]] since he was in high school performing at clubs. While in Canada he studied at The University of Lethbridge and was a solo musician, while also pursuing an acting career. Blaise joined the band in 2002.  In 2007 he began his official [[blog]]. On [[March 3]], [[2008]] he launched his solo project "The Alphabet Project".
 *'''tax''' tax (Takuya Kikuchi, 菊池拓哉) (born [[August 31]], [[1975]] from [[Sendai]], [[Miyagi Prefecture|Miyagi]], [[Japan]]): drums. tax partakes in the majority of songwriting. He had worked as a [[dental technician]] for five years, after which he switched to becoming a [[salaryman]]. He was introduced to Maynard through a friend. Before becoming Monkey Majik's full-time drummer his drumming experience only consisted of two years spent drumming during junior high school.
 *'''DICK''' (born [[March 10]], [[1978]] from [[Sapporo]], [[Hokkaidō]], [[Japan]]): bass. Has previously been part of a funk soul band called ''Soul Addiction'' under the name ''Hideki Dick Mori''. Also was a member of a jazz band called ''Private Kitchen''. Maynard and tax invited DICK, who had become a well-known bassist in [[Sendai]], out to a bar in Kokubun City and forced him to drink until he agreed to join Monkey Majik. Joined the band to switch in with Urushizaka with the release of band's second indie album "eastview".