DMBQ

Last updated
DMBQ
DMBQ at AS220 (2989647998).jpg
Shinji Masuko of DMBQ at AS220 in Providence, Rhode Island, 2008
Background information
Origin Tokyo, Japan
Genres
Years active1989 – present
LabelsGod?/Drag City
MembersShinji Masuko
Shinji Wada
Maki
Past membersYuka Yoshimura
Mana Nishiura
Toru Mastui
Ryuichi Watanabe
Website http://www.dmbq.net/

DMBQ is a Japanese rock band from Tokyo, whose name stands for Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet. [1] They are influenced by British and American rock music of the early 1970s, especially bands like The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin.

Contents

History

DMBQ was formed in Hokkaido in 1989. The founding members were Shinji Masuko (vocals/guitar), Ryuuichi Watanabe (bass), and Yuka Yoshimura (drums). Shinji Masuko is a well-known journalist in Japan who has regular columns in several music, pornography and subculture magazines. He is a younger brother of Naozumi Masuko, who is a member of Dohatsuten. Yuka Yoshimura was also a member of OOIOO and Hatsuiku Status.

DMBQ began performing in Tokyo in early 1990 and quickly gained notoriety for their psychedelic live performances.In 1995, their debut album Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet was released. In 1997, Toru Matsui (guitar) became a member of the band. In 1999, they contracted with PARCO/Columbia and made their major label debut. In 2002, they contracted with avex trax.

In June 2004, they were supposed to start their first American tour, but Yoshimura left the band just before embarking, and Mana Nishiura (also a member of Shonen Knife) became her replacement. In 2005, they contracted with the American label Estrus/Touch and Go, and toured in the United States.

On November 4, 2005, while driving to a show at New York City's Club Exit, Mana Nishiura died when another vehicle crossed lanes and struck the band's van in southern New Jersey. [2] After recovering from their injuries, DMBQ decided to go back to the US (west coast only) for another mini-tour. In February, 2006, Shinji Wada formally assumed DMBQ's drummer duties.

By 2014, Toru Matsui and Ryuichi Watanabe left DMBQ and Maki (formerly of OOIOO) assumed bass duties. They have continued as a three-piece since then. In February 2018, they released their first new album in 13 years, Keeenly, in Japan. After a Japan tour in March 2018 with Ty Segall and the Freedom band, Segall re-released Keeenly on his own label in the United States. Ty Segall said, "There is no band like DMBQ. They are unique destroyers of sound, and lovers of sonic beauty, existing in the places between. Masters of harsh tone and psychotic rhythm. Keeenly is an alien planet type record, evoking images of landscapes and weather patterns found in other galaxies. Purple wind and green fire.” [3]

Former members of DMBQ have formed the bands Tompei & Bishop and Hydro-Guru. Shinji Masuko has also been a member of Boredoms since 2004 and has also served as an instrument designer and live sound technician for Yamantaka Eye. Masuko also formed a solo project called Moan. [4]

Personnel

Current members

Former members

Partial discography

YearTitleLabel + catalog number
1995 Dynamite Masters Blues QuartetLess Than TV
1996 EXPLess Than TV ch-24
1997COG
1998Fable of ThinnerlemonNanophonica MKCL-2002
1999I Know Your Sweet
2000Jinni
2001Annular Music
2001Resonated (remix album)
2002Phalanges
2003The Cold One
2004 Esoteric Black HairFake Chapter Records
2004DMBQ vs. Hysteric Glamour
2004Hercules Hits (DMBQ Best)
2004You Must Be Psychic (promo one-song EP from 2004 tour)released by the band as a CDR
2005 The Essential Sounds from the Far East Estrus Records
2018 KeeenlyTsukumogami Co. Ltd. on CD in Japan; Drag City/God? on 2xLP in the US

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shonen Knife</span> Japanese band

Shonen Knife is a Japanese pop-punk band formed in Osaka in 1981. Influenced by 1960s girl groups, pop bands, the Beach Boys, and early punk rock bands such as the Ramones, the band crafts stripped-down songs with simple yet unconventional lyrics sung both in Japanese and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boredoms</span> Japanese rock band

Boredoms is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise, though their more recent records have moved toward repetitive psychedelic rock, ambient soundscapes, and tribal drumming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OOIOO</span> Japanese experimental rock band

OOIOO is a Japanese experimental rock band. The four-piece ensemble was founded by Yoshimi P-We, the drummer and occasional trumpeter for Boredoms. The band's origin lie in a photo shoot that Yoshimi was asked to do for a magazine. She invited a few of her friends to join her, and they created a fake band for the shoot, which they later decided to make real. The band quickly gained attention by being the opening act for Sonic Youth in 1997 on their Japan tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoshimi P-We</span> Japanese musician

Yoshimi is a Japanese musician best known for her role as the longest consistent drummer in the Japanese rock band Boredoms.

<i>Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi</i> (album) 2004 compilation album/soundtrack album by Puffy AmiYumi

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is a compilation album by pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, released in 2004. It was compiled to tie in with the group's animated series of the same name. There is also a Japanese version of this CD, of which contains the subtitle, "Happy Fun Rock Music from the Series" and includes two additional "TV Mix" tracks. The album peaked at #49 on the Japanese Albums Chart.

<i>Kila Kila Kila</i> 2003 studio album by OOIOO

Kila Kila Kila is the fourth studio album from the Japanese rock band OOIOO, originally released in 2003 in Japan. It was later released in America on February 17, 2004, the band's first album released on Thrill Jockey.

Mana "China" Nishiura was a drummer for Japanese alternative rock bands Shonen Knife and DMBQ. She died in a car accident in 2005.

<i>Ze-Chyou Syuu</i> 2000 EP by Ringo Sheena

Ze-Chyou Syuu, also known as The Acme Collection, is an EP by Japanese singer and songwriter Ringo Sheena. Composed of both live and studio recordings, it was released on September 13, 2000 by Toshiba EMI / Virgin Music. The RIAJ certified Ze-Chyou Syuu as a gold certified album for 200,000 copies shipped.

<i>Hatsuiku Status: Gokiritsu Japon</i>

"Hatsuiku Status Gokiritsu Japon" is the secret rock bar tour which Shiina Ringo performed in a band in 2000, or is the live video with the same title as this tour by Shiina Ringo released on December 7, 2000. This video was released with the video of "Gekokujou Xstasy". The distributor is Toshiba EMI.

<i>Eye Remix</i> 2007 remix album by OOIOO

Eye Remix is EP of remixes by the Japanese band OOIOO by Boredoms member Yamantaka Eye. Originally handed out while touring in the US for the Taiga album, the EP contains two remixes by EYヨ using two Taiga tracks as source material.

Metalchicks are a Japanese rock duo supergroup. Their second album, St. Wonder, was the soundtrack to the 2006 film Warau Michael. Metalchicks also composed the soundtrack of anime series Heroman. The group regularly performs in Japan, and played at SXSW 2007 in the United States.

<i>Gold and Green</i> (OOIOO album) 2000 studio album by OOIOO

Gold and Green is the third album by the Japanese band OOIOO, a side-project of Boredoms member Yoshimi P-We.

Sōtaisei Riron is a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo in September 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan at the 2010 Asian Games</span> Sporting event delegation

Japan participated in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China on 12–27 November 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmett Kelly (musician)</span> American musician

Emmett Kelly is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the primary songwriter and recording artist of The Cairo Gang, one half of The Double alongside drummer Jim White, one third of The CIA and a founding member of Clinamen. He has contributed vocal and instrumental work to a variety of international musical projects, appearing on recordings by the likes of Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ty Segall, Angel Olsen, Azita, Joan of Arc, Edith Frost, Women and Children, John Webster Johns, Jeff Harms, Chicago poet/singer Marvin Tate, Matteah Baim, Japanese musician Takuma Watanabe, Earth Girl Helen Brown, Joshua Abrams and Rob Mazurek. Kelly has toured in several of the aforementioned acts in addition to with Baby Dee, CFM, Mikal Cronin, Sonny Smith, Beth Orton, and Terry Reid; and in other instances, performed live with Chan Marshall, Scott Tuma, Joan of Arc, and Pillars and Tongues. He is also one half of the band The Surf, The Sundried, and a founding member of Chicago's Psychojail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Give Me Five!</span> 2012 single by AKB48

"Give Me Five!" is the 25th single by the Japanese girl idol group AKB48. It is also AKB48's fifth sakura-themed single, and their first single of 2012. This single was released in Japan on February 15, 2012.

<i>98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare</i> 1999 live album by Fishmans

98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare is the third and final live album by Japanese dub band Fishmans. It documents the band's final live performance with frontman Shinji Sato. The show was recorded and filmed at Akasaka Blitz on December 28, 1998, and was first released on September 29, 1999, by Polydor Records in Japan. The album title roughly translates to "A Farewell of Men: December 28th, 1998", a reference to the tour name, and to bassist Yuzuru Kashiwabara's departure from the band and the end of the band's three-piece era. The performance was released on DVD under the name Otokotachi no Wakare 98.12.28 @ Akasaka Blitz in 2005.

References

  1. ↑ MKCL-002 Fable of Thinnerlemon
  2. ↑ "NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN - issue 1: DMBQ FATAL VAN ACCIDENT". Newyorknighttrain.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "DRAG CITY/GOD? RECORDS KEEENLY PRESS RELEASE". Dragcity.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. ↑ "MOAN Shinji Masuko (DMBQ, Boredoms)". Lightning-usa.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.