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Head Phones President

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Head Phones President
Head Phones President in New York City 2010.
Head Phones President in New York City 2010.
Background information
Also known asHPP, Deep Last Blue
OriginTokyo, Japan
Genres
Years active1999–present
LabelsSound Ship (2000–2001)
Ex Tribe (2002)
Howling Bull (2003)
Tribe Gate (2004)
Tyhoon Japan (2005)
United Asia Link (2007)
Spiritual Best (2009)
Tower (2010)
Radtone Music (2012–)
MembersAnza
Hiro
Narumi
Batch
Past membersKawady
Take
Okaji
Mar
Websiteheadphonespresident.com

Head Phones President (stylized as HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT) is a Japanese metal band, formed in Tokyo in 1999. Their sound has been described as alternative metal, progressive metal, experimental metal and nu metal.

They have played various festivals, including Loud Park 08, Taste of Chaos, Metal Female Voices Fest, sharing the stage with the likes of Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Story of the Year and In This Moment. They have also played in the U.S., Sweden, Australia, neighboring Asian countries, and South America.[1]

History

After vocalist Anza Ohyama ceased performing with the Sailor Moon musicals in 1998, she embarked on a solo career for almost two years,[2] receiving help from guitarist Hiro and his brother Mar.[3] They had a desire to play heavier music, so together they formed the band Deep Last Blue. They found bassist Kawady and drummer Okaji and managed to release their first single, "Escapism" in 2000, after changing their name to Head Phones President. Bassist Kawady left soon after and was replaced by Take the following year.

Playing at small venues all over Japan, they started to gain more popularity. In 2002 the group released the EP ID, after which Take left due to family reasons and was replaced by Narumi.[3] That year Head Phones President had their first international tour, including a stop in New York City.[4]

Head Phones President's first album Vary was released in late 2003, after which the band returned to America for another short tour and started releasing CDs in the United States.

Okaji left the band in October 2004, desiring to make his own music. They recruited support drummer Batch in January 2005 (he was made an official member in 2009). They continued to tour Japan, taking intermittent breaks to allow Anza to work on her solo career.[4]

Head Phones President released their first DVD, Toy's Box, in August 2006. The band desired to tour Europe, and in February 2007, they went to Sweden for two performances.[4] In November, they performed at the Pacific Media Expo in Los Angeles, California. Their second full-length album Folie a Deux was released on December 12.

In July 2008, they played the Formoz Music Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, and would return to the city again in July 2009.[4] On October 7, 2009, the mini album Prodigium was released on the Spiritual Beast label, and was mastered at West Side Music by Alan Douches (Mastodon, The Agonist).

Batch, Anza, Narumi and Hiro at Japan Expo Sud 2011 in France.

On September 3, 2010, they released the self-cover album Pobl Lliw, which includes rearranged versions of old songs as well as some all new tracks.[3] On September 19, 2010, Head Phones President performed at D'erlanger's Abstinence's Door #005 with defspiral and Girugamesh. The concert was streamed worldwide live on Ustream.tv.[5] The band returned to New York City to play three shows as part of Frank Wood's 10 Days of Wood music event in November. On November 24, 2010, the band announced that guitarist Mar had resigned from the band due to unspecified personal reasons.[3][6] The band publicly wished him well and stated that they will continue activities without him.[7]

On April 2, 2012, Head Phones President released "Purge the World", a memorial single for their US tour which began on April 6.[8] Their third full-length album Stand in the World was released on June 6, 2012. In December 2013, the band went on a four date tour of China that took them to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai.[9]

Head Phones President released their fourth album Disillusion on August 6, 2014. They also performed at Yoko Fest The Final on September 12 in memory of United's deceased bassist and leader and at Belgium's Metal Female Voices Fest on October 17 and 19, 2014.[10][11] The band released their first compilation album Alteration on November 18, 2015, which also includes six remixes, in celebration of the 15th anniversary of their first EP.[12]

The music of Head Phones President was the genesis of the rock musical Stand in the World written and directed by Shohei Hayashi, which ran at the Tokyo Arts Center from June 11–13, 2016. The band performed during the show which stars Erika Yamakawa, Manabu Oda and Hikari Ono.[13]

Members

  • Anza Ohyama – vocals (1999–present)
  • Hiroaki "Hiro" Saito – guitar (1999–present)
  • Ryuichiro Narumi – bass (2002–present)
  • Batch – drums (2009–present, support member from 2005–2009)
Former members
  • Kawady – bass (2000)
  • Take – bass (2002)
  • Okaji – drums (2000–2004)
  • Mar – guitar (1999–2010)

Discography

Albums
  • Vary (April 25, 2003)
  • Folie a Deux (December 12, 2007)
  • Pobl Lliw (September 3, 2010, self-cover)
  • Stand in the World (June 6, 2012) Oricon Albums Chart Peak Position: No. 146[14]
  • Disillusion (August 6, 2014) No. 132[14]
  • Alteration (November 18, 2015, compilation) No. 239[14]
EPs
  • ID (February 9, 2002)
  • Vacancy (November 23, 2005)
  • Prodigium (October 7, 2009) No. 294[14]
Singles
  • "Escapism" (December 6, 2000)
  • "Crap Head" (May 16, 2001)
  • "De Ja Dub" (April 23, 2004)
  • "Whiterror" (June 6, 2005)
  • "Purge the World" (April 2, 2012, US only)
DVDs
  • Toy's Box (August 30, 2006)
  • Paralysed Box (October 29, 2008)
  • Delirium (July 6, 2011)

References

  1. ^ "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT: New Album Samples". roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
  2. ^ "J-Music Ignited profile". jmignited.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  3. ^ a b c d "Interview with HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT". jame-world.com. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  4. ^ a b c d "JaME profile". jame-world.com. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
  5. ^ "Live Stream of Abstinence's Door #005, #006". jame-world.com. Retrieved 2011-10-09.
  6. ^ "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT、ギタリストMARが脱退". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-03-26.
  7. ^ "Mar leaves the band". headphonespresident.com. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
  8. ^ "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT待望の新曲をUS先行リリース". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 2012-03-26.
  9. ^ "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT Holds Tour In China". barks.jp. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  10. ^ "United to hold 'YOKO Fest The Final' to honor the late Akihiro Yokoyama". aramajapan.com. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
  11. ^ "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT to play at the world's largest female vocal metal fest". barks.jp. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  12. ^ "New Best-of Album from HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT". jame-world.com. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  13. ^ "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENTの楽曲が舞台化、出演は山川恵里佳ら". Natalie (in Japanese). 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  14. ^ a b c d "HEAD PHONES PRESIDENTのアルバム売り上げランキング". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved 2016-05-05.
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