The blog returns with a bang after our short break in the West Country. Today we feature the Wagakki Band from Japan. They are a group of musicians who play rock music on traditional japanese instruments (Wagakki). Singer Suzuhana Yuko (who had been elected Miss Nico Nama in 2011), shakuhachi player (wooden flute) Kaminaga Daisuke, and koto player (plucked zither), Ibukuro Kiyoshi formed the band Hanafugetsu in February 2012. Suzuhana also played piano at this time. Suzuhana then conceived a band that fused the traditional and modern sides of Japanese culture, leading to the formation of Wagakki Band.
In August 2012 the members of Hanafugetsu met guitarist Machiya, who was a notable session musician with a reputation for fast playing Around this time, Suzuhana also met drummer Wasabi of the band Nico Nico Douga. Wasabi, Kaminaga, and Ibukuro had all previously worked with wadaiko (drum) player Kurona, who was invited to join the new ensemble. Bassist Asa, a popular Vocaloid producer and creator of the hit song “Yoshiwara Lament”, then joined the band. During a gig, the band was approached by shamisen player (three stringed guitar) Ninagawa Beni, who became the final addition to the band. The formation of the new band was officially announced in March 2013. They initially operated under the name Suzuhana Yuko with Wagakki Band, but by early 2014 the name was shortened to simply Wagakki Band.
A video for the first song recorded by all eight current members of Wagakki Band, “Six Trillion Years and Overnight Story” (六兆年と一夜物語), was released in April 2013. In August of that year they played their first live concert at Nico Nico Music Master 2. The music video for “Tengaku” (天樂) was released in October 2013; this video marked the first time guitarist Machiya revealed his face. They then performed at the 10th Tokyo International Music Market (TIMM) for three nights in October.
At the end of January 2014, Wagakki Band released the music video for “Senbonzakura” which instantly became a hit on both Nico Nico Douga and YouTube, expanding their international exposure. Wagakki Band covered Vocaloid songs for their first full-length album Vocalo Zanmai, released in April 2014. The album reached no. 5 in the weekly Oricon rankings and stayed in the top 100 for 22 consecutive weeks. After their early Vocaloid works, Wagakki Band has composed original music for their subsequent albums.
The band’s first hall concert, Wagakki Band Dai Shinnen Kai 2015 was held at Shibuya Public Hall in January 2015. Their first independent overseas concert, Taipei Dayanchanghui (台北大演唱会), was held in Taiwan in May of that year. Also in 2015, Wagakki Band headlined a sold-out concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles in conjunction with Anime Expo. They appeared in their first television commercial that year, for Kirin Mets. The album Yasou Emaki as released in September 2015 and reached number one on the weekly Oricon chart.
Our final selection was only released in September 2020 and shows how their sound has found a crossover with western music. They play the Evanescence track ‘Bring Me To Life’ with Amy Lee the lead singer of Evanescence and a full orchestra.
