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High and Mighty Color

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High and Mighty Color

High and Mighty Color (ハイ・アンド・マイティ・カラー), typeset as HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, is a Japanese rock band signed to Spice Records.

History

Formation and Anti-Nobunaga

The band started with a Metallica cover band in their local hometown Okinawa, consisting of members Meg and Sassy, who are native Okinawans. The two founding members played in this band for two years before they decided that they wanted to go further with their talents than just cover songs. After leaving the band, Sassy offered Mackaz the opportunity to join, he accepted and invited long time friend Kazuto to join the band as well. Oddly, the vocalist was the final member to join the original band. Meg sat in on a school performance one day and one voice stood out to him. Meg offered Yūsuke the chance to join the band; he initially rejected this due to wanting to be a solo singer, but joined after Meg reportedly asked him to join every day for nearly four months. The band, known as Anti-Nobunaga at this time, played mainly in small coffee shops and art theaters for about a year. Sassy, the band leader, sent demo tapes to every major Japanese label, all of whom rejected the band. It was not until a small Japanese label signed the band that they found their first big break. The band was now playing areas further from their local Okinawa until they landed a spot at the yearly music festival of Okinawa.[1]

Mākii and the music festival

During the summer of 2003, at a yearly music festival in Okinawa, the band's label hyped their spot and eventually they ended up playing for a sold out crowd. Due to this festival being a "per show" ticket selling one, it meant that Anti-Nobunaga was the only band to play for a sell out crowd. A scout for a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan was in the crowd and offered the band the chance to produce music for an upcoming various artists album entitled Okinawa 2003. The band then composed their two and only completely original songs under the name of Anti-Nobunaga entitled Meaning and Hate You!. At another festival known as the "Music Picnic Festival", vocalist Mākii also grabbed the attention of the same scout that found Anti-Nobunaga. The scout felt that both projects on their own were not remarkable, but combined, the band could be something never before seen on the Japanese music scene. Mākii first rejected the offer due to her wanting to study English abroad but was later convinced by her future band-mates to watch them performed. Mākii then agreed after shocked by the band's energy and agreed to join them. With the addition of Mākii the band took on a new name, High and Mighty Color. After six months of perfecting their craft, the band was moved up from SMJ's minor label to their major label, in league with bands such as Orange Range. High and Mighty Color is some times referred to as the sister band of Orange Range, because they are both from the Okinawa area, an area known for musical fusion thanks in part to various military bases stationed there and were both discovered at the same music festival. They spent much of 2004 writing and recording, in late 2004 they released their first single, "Over" which was only sold through Tower Records stores. It sold out in the time frame of a month and became immensely scarce, thus it was re-released the next year. The album sat at number one spot of the indie Oricon charts for an entire month.[2]

2005

During 2005, the band released their first official single, titled "Pride". It was originally going to be attached to a Japanese football event being held at the same time, but was picked up for something else. A Sunrise music partner was looking for a song to use for Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny and "Pride" was chosen to be that song. At the time, the show was the number one rated anime in Japan, and being attached to this helped the single's sales immensely. With a final sell count of 223,208 copies, "Pride" remains the band's best selling single since the official start of their formal career.[3]

Over the next year, the band went on a media blitz, performing for shows such as Music Fighter, Music Station and Hey! Hey! Hey! at various times. [4] During August, the band released "Days," their fourth single, selling 7,679 copies and not breaking the top 20 mark on the Oricon charts. Despite this setback, the band was still honored with the Japanese Record Grand Prix's Rookie of the Year award, and Mākii's grandmother who had just died was given a tribute just before their performance.

2006

In April 2006, the band released their second album Gou on Progressive after only releasing two singles for the album. The album sold less copies than their first album, but it stayed on the Oricon charts longer and managed to gain a higher peak position than their first album. The band's first single of the year was "Ichirin no Hana" and was used as the third opening to the anime adaption of Bleach. This was the first and currently only single to break the top five mark on the Oricon charts since their debut with "Pride." They also played their first American concert at an anime convention in Houston, Texas on April 28.

The band then went on a large-scale tour of Japan. They played 65 venues over the course of the next five months. They released their seventh single, "Dive into Yourself," in August. The song was used as the opening song for the video game Sengoku Basara II. For a time this was the band's second lowest selling single and was also their lowest ranking single among the Oricon charts, only managing to reach the 24th spot on the weekly charts. Their 8th single "Enrai: Tōku ni Aru Akari" (遠雷~遠くにある明かり) was released on October 25 and used as the ending theme for the third Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny: Special Edition compilation movie. The single entered the charts 12 spots higher than "Dive into Yourself" at number 12. "Energy", a b-side song from the "Style: Get Glory in This Hand" single was used in a tribute compilation album composed for Death Note: The Last Name.

2007

Mākii made her acting debut with the December 2006 movie, Anata wo Wasurenai (I Won't Forget You). The band performed two songs for the film, "Tadoritsuku Basho", the film's theme song and "Oxalis", an insert song. The two songs were be released as a doubled A-side single. When Anata wo Wasurenai was released, it entered the Japanese box offices in the 10th position. [5] Also, another song "Resistance" was used as the theme song for a Nintendo DS game based on Bleach, Kokui Hirameku Requiem.

On February 4, the official High and Mighty Color website released various 30 second previews of songs from the band's third album, San (参), which was released on February 21. The album contained 15 tracks with 10 being new releases. The album was ranked number 10 on the Oricon daily rankings during its first day and 16th on the weekly charts.

In March, it was announced that Yūsuke would work with former Porno Graffitti bassist, Masami Shiratama. Yūsuke provided vocals for the joint single entitled "Honnō", the single was released on May 23 featured Yūsuke using what the band describes as his machine gun vocals.[6]

The band also made their second American performance on May 11 and May 12 during 2007's Anime Central anime convention.[7] The band performed 12 songs and were opened by the Spiral Spiders.

The 10th single from the band was released on August 1, 2007. The title track of the single, titled "Dreams", was used as the second ending theme to the anime Darker Than Black.[8][9] During its first week, the single entered the Oricon charts at the 24th spot.

On September 24, 2007 it was announced on the band's official page that the 11th single from the band will be released on December 12, 2007. On October 5, 2007 it was announced on the band's official page that the 11th single is to be named "Amazing". On November 4, 2007, it was announced that the band would be releasing a single collection album entitled 10 Colored Singles featuring the first 10 singles and a bonus track titled "Ichirin no Hana (Live Studio Version)".[10] It also includes a DVD with music videos that never made it to DVD like "Style", "Dreams", "Here I Am", and the new music video for "Mushroom". The band also contributed to a Luna Sea memorial album, performing the song "Rosier". The album was released in December 2007.

2008

The 12th single "Flashback" was released on February 27, 2008. It will be the second double a-side single from the band and will be used in promotion with the anime series Hero Tales. [11][12] Their 4th album Rock Pit was released on March 19 and became their lowest selling album to date.

The band began the fourth volume of their Live Bee Loud tour on March 17, 2008 at the famous Club Quattro in Japan. [13] They then went on to perform at 13 other venues across the country, with the final venue being in their hometown of Okinawa. The 13th single of the band is a cover of one of T.M. Revolution's early singles, "Hot Limit". The visual style of both the music video and the promotional images is meant to mimic that of the original. This was also the first time since "Dive into Yourself" that Sony Music Entertainment had produced a commercial for advertisement of a single from the band. The single went on to garner the best sales for the band in nearly two years and ranked at number 20 on the Oricon charts in the weekly rankings for its first week.

On July 1, 2008, it was announced that Mākii had married Dreams Come True singer Masato Nakamura on June 22, 2008 and would be leaving the band by the end of 2008. In her parting message, Mākii thanked her fellow band members and all of their fans for supporting her and the group for such a long time. [14] A special event was planned for Mākii's graduation from the band as well as at least one more single before she left the band. It was also announced that the band will begin searching for a new vocalist in early 2009. [15]

High and Mighty Color appeared at the Zepp in Nagoya on August 15 as part of the Steal The Show Friday night lineup. Zepp is a private club venue known for having popular artists. They performed alongside 175R, One Ok Rock and Gollbetty. [16] The 14th single from the band, "Remember", was released on October 15, 2008 and is the final single featuring Mākii as a band member. [17]

2009 and new lead vocalist

The band was transferred to Spice Records on January 1, 2009. Spice Records is an Okinawa based studio that maintained minor rights to the band while under SME. The first live DVD from the band was released on January 25 and reached the 11th spot on the Oricon weekly DVD charts, reaching a peak of 9th on the daily charts. After the departure of Mākii the band began auditions for a replacement vocalist, the auditions were open to women for a month before call backs and performances were done. On February 9, 2009, the band announced that a replacement vocalist was found, whose information would soon be added to their website after an extensive overhaul. [18] The band plans to begin working on a summer single and live tour to promote the new vocalist in May. [19] The first single (titled ""XYZ") featuring the band's new vocalist, Halca, was released on iTunes in both Japan and Australia on July 8, 2009.

The band released their fifth album, Swamp Man, on September 2, 2009[20] and took the #25 spot on the Oricon charts on its release date.

Following the release of their album Swamp Man, High and Mighty Color released a tribute song for two popular mangas named Red. The song was released digitally in Japan on December 9, 2009 and re-released December 23, 2009 on iTunes Japan and Japan Files.

2010: Starting a new life

On March 13, 2010, the band is scheduled to give a live concert with Halca, titled Night Light Parade Vol. 1.1: One of the new beginning at Shibuya Club Quattro in Tokyo.

Members

Former members

Discography

Main article: High and Mighty Color discography

Studio albums

Awards

  • 47th Japanese Record Grand Prix in 2005 - Rookie of the Year Award

Performances in the United States

References

  1. ^ "Biography from High and Mighty Color's official site".
  2. ^ "Oricon's official High and Mighty Color profile and history section".
  3. ^ "Oricon's Pride profile".
  4. ^ "Official information page listing live performances".
  5. ^ "Box Office Mojo's sales Japanese sales list".
  6. ^ "Blog entry from Tama stating he will work with Yūsuke".
  7. ^ "Tofu Records news section announcing the band's second US performance".
  8. ^ "Release date and track listing". Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  9. ^ "Description of the Dreams single". Retrieved 2007-06-06.
  10. ^ "Release date for 10 Colored Best". Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  11. ^ "Amazon catalog listing". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  12. ^ "Information regarding usage on the Hero Tales anime". Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  13. ^ "Club Quattro band profile". Retrieved 2009-04-07.
  14. ^ "ご報告です". Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  15. ^ "「HOT LIMIT」マーキーにファンから「おめでとう」…ドリカム中村と入籍". Retrieved 2008-07-07.
  16. ^ "STEAL THE SHOW @ ZEPP NAGOYA". Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  17. ^ "2008/10/ 1 タイトル未定 HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR". Retrieved 2008-08-10. {{cite web}}: horizontal tab character in |title= at position 11 (help)
  18. ^ "重大発表". Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  19. ^ "千分の1を勝ち抜き"ハイカラ"新ボーカル誕生". Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  20. ^ J-Pop World interview
  21. ^ a b c d e f "Biography from High and Mighty Color official site". Retrieved 2008-12-24.
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