銀杏BOYZ
銀杏BOYZ (Ging Nang Boyz) is a legendary Japanese punk band, and the successor to the members' previous band GOING STEADY. Similar to the former band, the main themes in 銀杏BOYZ's music are love and boredom; their style is often referred to as 「青春パンク」, which translates to "youth punk". As the genre implies, the majority of the band's fanbase consists of young adolescents.
銀杏BOYZ was formed in early 2003 by vocalist/guitarist 峯田和伸 (Mineta Kazunobu) shortly after the breakup of his band GOING STEADY, who called it quits just before the beginning of a major national tour. The very first recording made under the name was an a cappella cover of the エレファントカシマシ song 「悲しみの果て」 for the 2003 tribute album 『花男』. Mineta recruited GOING STEADY alumni 安孫子真哉 (Abiko Shinya) and 村井守 (Murai Mamoru) to play bass and drums respectively in the new band, as well as guitarist チン中村 (Chin Nakamura) of fellow Japanese punkers Derangements and BOYS NOW. Between 2003 to 2004, the band held constant live performances while working on new music in the studio. The result was two full-length albums, 『君と僕の第三次世界大戦的恋愛革命』 and 『DOOR』, which were released on the same day, 15 January 2005 (coinciding with the 27th birthday of Murai). The albums reached number 6 and 7 on the Oricon Ranking Chart, a major success for an indie band. The band then started a nationwide tour, but due to several injuries and bone fractions caused by the members' highly energized performances, many tour dates were postponed. When performing at the annual Rock in Japan Festival that year, Mineta was brought in by the police for public indecency. Such incidents were not uncommon for the band, with Mineta being arrested again and fined for nudity during a performance in Taiwan.
In 2006, Mineta and Nakamura formed a side-project named 敏感少年隊 (Binkan Shonen-Tai) and released the single 「サウンドオブ下北沢」. In 2007, 銀杏BOYZ released the 「僕たちは世界を変えることができない」 DVD, consisting of concert and documentary footage, for which a single 「僕たちは世界を変えることができない」 (written by Mineta and Nakamura) was recorded by the unit 「峯田和伸とシックスナインズ」 (Mineta Kazunobu and the Sixty-Nines). The band also released the singles 「あいどんわなだい」 and 「光」, vinyl reissues of their first two albums, and two books entitled 『GING NANG SHOCK!』. The band made two separate trips to the US around this time, during which they worked on releasing the 『Libido』 EP with Phat 'n' Phunky Records (a label run by Bob Vielma of the band Shinobu), performed an impromptu set as a three-piece at 924 Gilman St., and performed again as a four-piece in San Jose at the Cuddle Space. In 2008, the band recorded a cover of 南沙織's 「17才」 as the theme song for the film 『俺たちに明日はないッス』, also releasing 「17才」 as their third single. That same year, 銀杏BOYZ's songs 「漂流教室」 and 「銀河鉄道の夜 第二章 ～ジョバンニに伝えよ、ここにいるよと～」 (a new song that was unreleased at the time) were featured on 『DO! TOKYO HEART』 TV commercials starring actress 宮崎あおい (with the band members also appearing). Mineta wrote the music on the entirety of 板尾創路's 2008 mini-album 『ミュージック』 and appeared on the Kebab Records compilation 『ニャンでもない日には』 in 2009, contributing the acoustic song 「朝立ち」. He also collaborated with TV writer 倉本美津留 on the theme music for the web drama 『Out of Focus』, which was released as the single 「つたわり/つたわれ!」; the song 「つたわれ!」 also featured the other three members of 銀杏BOYZ. Although 銀杏BOYZ releases, live performances and tours became more and more infrequent over the following years, the band began recording their follow-up to 『君と僕の第三次世界大戦的恋愛革命』 and 『DOOR』 in 2009.
Mineta became more prominent as an actor around this time, following up his leading role in the 2003 film 『アイデン&ティティ』 with appearances in 『グミ・チョコレート・パイン』 (2007), 『色即ぜねれいしょん』 (2009), and 『USB』 (2009). 銀杏BOYZ also recorded theme songs for two more films: 『少年メリケンサック』 (2009) and 『ボーイズ・オン・ザ・ラン』 (2010), the former of which included all four 銀杏BOYZ members in small roles, and the latter featuring Mineta as the lead. The song 「ボーイズ・オン・ザ・ラン」 which 銀杏BOYZ recorded for the film of the same name was released as their fourth single. The band also worked on the music for the 2010 play 『裏切りの街』; its 2016 film adaptation used the band's fifth single 「ピンクローター」--which they recorded for the play--as its theme song. The music 銀杏BOYZ contributed to the 『裏切りの街』 play as part of a unit dubbed 「銀杏BOYZと壊れたバイブレーターズ」 (Ging Nang Boyz and the Kowareta Vibrators) was released as the album 『SEX CITY 〜セックスしたい〜』. The band recorded a cover of 遠藤ミチロウ's 「JUST LIKE A BOY」 for the tribute album 『ロマンチスト〜THE STALIN・遠藤ミチロウTribute Album〜』 in 2010. However, 銀杏BOYZ fell into a period of silence after their 2011 「スメルズ・ライク・ア・ヴァージン・ツアー」 ("Smells Like a Virgin Tour") in order to finish their new albums.
Nakamura left 銀杏BOYZ in the summer of 2012, and Abiko followed suit in the spring of 2013. The departure of both members was not publicly revealed until November of 2013; five days afterward, the band suddenly announced that they would be releasing two new albums--『光のなかに立っていてね』 and 『BEACH』--on 15 January 2014, the ninth anniversary of the release of their first two albums. Just before the release of the albums, in December of 2013, Murai also announced that he had left the band. The new albums reached number 2 and 4 on the Oricon Chart. The studio album 『光のなかに立っていてね』, composed largely of re-recordings of those singles released by 銀杏BOYZ in the previous seven years alongside new material, was noted for the unprecedented stylistic shift in the band's sound that it exhibited. Utilising heavily programmed instrumentation that was handled mostly by Nakamura and Abiko, as well as polished and refined production, the band underplayed the raw punk sound previously associated with 銀杏BOYZ in favour of contemporary and classic J-pop influences, especially conveyed by the emphasis on Mineta's vocals in the album's mix. Its companion 『BEACH』, labelled a "live remix album", contrastingly featured loud, noisy live recordings of past 銀杏BOYZ shows (many of which were sourced from the 2011 「スメルズ・ライク・ア・ヴァージン」 Tour) altered by digital programming handled entirely by Abiko, who also mixed the album. Following the release of 『光のなかに立っていてね』 and 『BEACH』, Mineta began performing regularly under the 銀杏BOYZ name as a solo acoustic act. Nakamura completed his Buddhist monk training and moved to a vegetable farm--now the entirely family-owned Suo Oshima Nakamura Farm--with his wife and children. Meanwhile, Abiko founded the independent record label KiliKiliVilla where he serves as the label's "director", also becoming a father around this time while signing, producing and releasing records by young Japanese indie rock bands such as SEVENTEEN AGAiN, NOT WONK, LEARNERS and CAR10. Murai is working on non-musical creative ventures, specifically at a TV company as an associate producer.
Although he had not appeared in any acting roles since 2010, Mineta's acting career seemed to continue just as 銀杏BOYZ returned; he had a lead role in the play 『母に欲す』 (2014), appeared in several episodes of the NHK drama 『植物男子ベランダー』 (2015-2016) and the final episode of Fuji TV's 『恋仲』 (2015), collaborated again with director 田口トモロヲ on the film 『ピース オブ ケイク』 (2015), and finally, played the lead on the TV drama 『奇跡の人』 (2016). Mineta's first recording under the 銀杏BOYZ name after the departure of the other members was a cover of THE BLUE HEARTS' 「TOO MUCH PAIN」, which was featured on a tribute album accompanying some editions of THE BLUE HEARTS' 30th anniversary greatest hits album 『ALL TIME MEMORIALS ~SUPER SELECTED SONGS~』. Aside from 銀杏BOYZ's music, Mineta worked as the supervisor of the 2014 compilation album 『どついたるねん BEST HITS』 by the band どついたるねん, and was featured on the song 「ポコロンチャ」 from the album. As part of his role in the film 『ピース オブ ケイク』, Mineta contributed to the film's original soundtrack and was featured on the 大友良英-written theme song for the film 「ピース オブ ケイク -愛を叫ぼう-」 alongside pop star 加藤ミリヤ, for which he performed in a music video. Mineta also wrote, played on, acted in the music video for, and participated in live performances of the song 「骨」 from 安藤裕子's 2016 album 『頂き物』. Mineta recorded his own version of the song for the closing credits of 『奇跡の人』 (2016), and has since added the song to the setlist for 銀杏BOYZ live performances. Additionally, Mineta was one of the writers of the song 「言ったじゃないか」 by male idol group 関ジャニ∞, released as a single in 2014. A 銀杏BOYZ photobook entitled 『純血』 was released on 15 January 2015--the tenth anniversary of the band's first two albums--featuring photos taken of the band by 村井香 from 2003 to 2014.
For their performance at RUSH BALL 2015 on 30 August 2015, 銀杏BOYZ appeared for the first time as a full band since the departure of Nakamura, Abiko and Murai, with Mineta being backed by support musicians 藤原寛 (Fujiwara Hiroshi) and 後藤大樹 (Goto Hiroki), both from the bands Andymori and AL, as well as 菊地椋介 (Kikuchi Keisuke) from さよなら、また今度ね. In January of 2016, 銀杏BOYZ (Mineta performing solo) embarked on their first tour since 2011, with two new releases following in March and April: the first of them was a DVD/Blu-ray set, 『愛地獄』 (Ai Jigoku), which includes footage from the band's performance at the 2008 Rising Sun Rock Festival, one of Mineta's solo sets in Fukushima in 2015, and the final live appearance of the four original members at the end of the 2011 「スメルズ・ライク・ア・ヴァージン」 Tour. 『愛地獄』 also had a limited run in theaters, and the DVD/Blu-ray release features commentary by Mineta and Murai. 銀杏BOYZ then released the 「生きたい」 ("Ikitai") single which is intended to act as the third part in a trilogy consisting of the band's previous songs 「人間」 and 「光」. Mineta was backed on the single by Fujiwara, Goto and 山本幹宗 (Yamamoto Kanji) from The Cigavettes, replacing Kikuchi. 銀杏BOYZ's festival appearances in mid-2016 at the Arabaki Rock Fest, Viva La Rock and the 「こんがりおんがく祭」 further utilised the support band of Fujiwara, Goto and Yamamoto, prefacing the 「世界平和祈願ツアー」 ("Sekai Heiwa Kigan Tour") which began on June 22 and marked the band's first tour with the new lineup. The tour culminated in a special performance on August 17 entitled 「東京の銀杏好きの集まり」 at Sun Plaza in Nakano. A song Mineta contributed to the radio show 『エレ片のコント太郎』 entitled 「キラキラいいにおい」 (which has been used as the show's ending theme from 2006 up until 2014) was featured as a bonus track on DJやついいちろう's album 『YATSUI MATOME』, released on June 8. As a bonus CD single, 銀杏BOYZ's song 「骨」 accompanied the first pressing of the DVD box set of 『奇跡の人』, released on October 26.
In September of 2016, Mineta was announced as part of the cast of NHK's new weekday morning drama 『ひよっこ』 ("Hiyokko"). Three new titles from 銀杏BOYZ were released on 7 December 2016. Among them was a tribute album entitled 『きれいなひとりぼっちたち』 ("Kireina Hitori Bocchitachi", or "Beautiful Lonely People"), consisting of 13 different artists covering 銀杏BOYZ songs including YUKI, GOING UNDER GROUND, THE COLLECTORS, サンボマスター (Sambomaster), ミツメ (Mitsume), and others. 『ファーストアルバム』 ("First Album"), a photobook, was also released; it compiles photos from the "girl portrait" shoots by photographer 川島小鳥 (Kawashima Kotori) from which the cover and booklet artwork of almost every 銀杏BOYZ release since the 2007 「あいどんわなだい」 ("I Don't Wanna Die") single were sourced. Finally, also available from December 7 was a 「ムック」 ("mook", or magazine-book hybrid) entitled 『銀杏BOYZぴあ』 ("Ging Nang Boyz Pia"), documenting the activities of 銀杏BOYZ since January of 2014.
On 15 February 2017, 銀杏BOYZ released a singles collection cassette tape entitled 『ラストラーダ』 ("La Strada"). After announcing three tour dates across May and June, 銀杏BOYZ revealed that they would be holding a live event on 13 October 2017 under the title 「日本の銀杏好きの集まり」 at the legendary Nippon Budokan arena. In the lead-up to the event, 銀杏BOYZ released three singles across July, August and September: 「エンジェルベイビー」 ("Angel Baby") on 26 July; 「骨」 ("Hone") on August 30; and 「恋は永遠」 ("Koi wa Eien") on September 27. 『ひよっこ』 ("Hiyokko") began its 156-episode long run on 3 April, with Mineta in a prominent supporting role as 小祝宗男, the uncle of the protagonist. 銀杏BOYZ's Tokyo date on 28 May saw the band debuting a new support lineup, with 加藤綾太 (Katou Ryouta) from ポニーテールスクライム and 2 playing guitar (in addition to Mineta and Yamamoto), and 岡山健二 (Okayama Kenji) from classicus and andymori replacing 後藤大樹 (Hiroki Goto) on drums (as he had, coincidentally, done previously in andymori). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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