GLIM SPANKY

Glim Spanky (Japanese: グリムスパンキー, Hepburn: Gurimu Supankī) is a Japanese rock band from Nagano Prefecture, consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Remi Matsuo and lead guitarist Hiroki Kamemoto. Originally formed by Matsuo as a quartet for a high school festival in 2007, the group became a duo when they moved to Tokyo to pursue music professionally in February 2010. Glim Spanky signed to Virgin Music in 2014, and released their first full-length album, Sunrise Journey, the following year. They have since released seven studio albums, with 2017's Bizarre Carnival being their highest-charting to date. Their retro sound, reminiscent of 1960s and 1970s rock bands, has received praise from musicians such as Keisuke Kuwata, Motoharu Sano, and Maki Nomiya. In addition to releasing material as Glim Spanky, Matsuo and Kamemoto frequently collaborate with and write songs for other artists. Glim Spanky was formed in Nagano Prefecture by vocalist and guitarist Remi Matsuo during her first year of high school to perform a cover of Bump of Chicken's "Arue" at Matsukawa High School's 2007 cultural festival. With the exception of the drummer, each member was a beginner musician. The band's name comes from Matsuo's interest in Celtic culture and fantasy literature; she read a book describing a goblin's "glim" and added "spank" to describe their aggressive drive towards the music industry. The bassist and other guitarist quit after the festival, but Matsuo wanted to play another live in a week and recruited an upperclassman to play bass as a three-piece. Eventually, the bassist assumed it was difficult for Matsuo to play all of the guitar by herself and recruited another guitarist into the band without her permission; Hiroki Kamemoto, another upperclassman, worked at the same part-time job as the bassist and joined the band. They then began writing their own material and started focusing on the band full time. On days off from school, they would practice from 8:00 in the morning, until 1:00 am at night. Glim Spanky won the Rock Banchō held by Sony Music in December 2008 and were finalists at the 2009 teenage artists-only festival Senko Riot held by Sony, Tokyo FM and au. They made their recording debut by contributing "Shōsō" to the Senko Riot 2009 omnibus. By 2009, Kamemoto was attending Aichi Gakuin University in Nagoya, but traveled back to Nagano once a week for band activities. When their bassist and drummer quit in February 2010, Matsuo decided to enroll in Nihon University's art department and Kamemoto transferred to the closer Dokkyo University so they could continue the band in Tokyo. The duo resumed activities in April 2010. They initially resisted recruiting support members, performing in an acoustic arrangement of just the two of them. After opening for Fozztone, the president of that band's agency saw a live video of Glim Spanky and asked to meet them. Matsuo and Kamemoto subsequently signed to Amnis Inc. Glim Spanky had their first release in December 2013 when Space Shower Music released the mini-album Music Freak nationwide. They went on their Freak on the Hill tour in March 2014. Matsuo stated that their first four years playing live houses in Tokyo as a duo were difficult, but because they were particular about their sound, stage presence, costumes and artwork, she was confident that the music industry would not leave behind a band with such a complete package. They had received offers from various offices, but waited until they found the right one. In June 2014 the band released their second mini-album and their major label debut, Shōsō, via EMI R (later renamed Virgin Music). Produced by Junji Ishiwatari, it includes covers of "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele and "Hikō-ki Gumo" by Yumi Arai. Ishiwatari worked with the duo from the songwriting stage, and Matsuo said Ishiwatari helped dispel her prejudice towards major record labels; he never rejected the band's ideas outright, and would spend hours talking about lyrics with her. They supported the mini-album with the Hello! Freaks Tour, which ended with the group's first one-man live at Chelsea Hotel on August 7. After Matsuo provided vocals to a cover of Janis Joplin's "Move Over" for a Suzuki commercial, Glim Spanky recorded their own version and released it as a 7-inch vinyl record limited to 300 copies on November 28. That year, Matsuo contributed guest vocals to the song "Nightfever" by Analogfish. Kamemoto would later cite 2015 as the turning point in the band's popularity, thanks to "Move Over" and their first single, "Homero yo". Used as the theme song of the TV show Taiko Mochi no Tatsujin ~Tadashii no Home-kata~, "Homero yo" was released in February 2015. The band then released a limited vinyl single for their song "Otona ni Nattara" in May 2015, which was used as the theme song of the film Children of Iron. In July 2015, they released their next single, "Real Onigokko", written as the theme song for the movie of the same name, and performed at that year's Fuji Rock Festival on the Red Marquee stage. Their first full-length album Sunrise Journey was produced by Ishiwatari and Seiji Kameda, and released in July 2015. It also includes "Wonder Alone", the ending theme of the Himitsu Kessha Taka no Tsume DO anime, for which Matsuo and Kamemoto voiced characters based on themselves. Glim Spanky performed a sold-out one-man concert at Akasaka Blitz on October 17, and they were one of the recipients of that year's Miura Jun Award and nominated for Next Break Artist at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards Japan. After their third mini-album Wild Side wo Ike in January 2016, Glim Spanky contributed a cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" for Hello Goodbye, a tribute album to The Beatles. Their second album Next One followed on July 20 and its tour began in September. "Ikari o Kure yo" was used as the theme song for One Piece Film: Gold, "Hanashi o Shiyō" is the second ending theme of Kyōkai no Rinne, while "Yami ni me o Koraseba" is the theme song of the film Shōjo. I Stand Alone, their fourth mini-album, was released on April 12, 2017. Their third album Bizarre Carnival was released on September 13, 2017, and the band embarked on its tour in October. They played their first overseas concert in Shanghai on December 16 and another in Taiwan on January 20, 2018. Bizarre Carnival was nominated for the 2018 CD Shop Awards. The duo's third single, "Orokamono-tachi", was released on January 31 and is the theme song of the Funōhan live-action film adaptation. It includes a cover of Carole King's "I Feel the Earth Move". They also wrote the song "The Flowers" for the Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings film 2018 Hanabanasai Wild Flowers ~Hana o Aisuru Hitobito. In a collaboration for the project, the band performed a concert on top of a building in Shinjuku on February 25 which was broadcast live. "The Flowers" is included as a b-side on their fourth single "All of Us", released on May 9. If ordered on certain websites, the single includes their cover of The Brilliant Green's "There Will Be Love There (Ai no Aru Basho)" from the February 17, 2018 episode of the BS-TBS TV show Sound Inn "S". Glim Spanky performed at the Nippon Budokan for the first time on May 12. They also performed at Makuhari Messe on June 23 as part of Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest. 2018, where they were joined onstage by Sugizo for "Orokamono-tachi", and on June 30 as part of SiM's Dead Pop Festival 2018. The band returned to Fuji Rock Festival on July 27, this time playing the main stage, and played the Rock in Japan Festival on August 12. Glim Spanky were nominated for Best Japan Act at the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards. They released their fourth album Looking for the Magic on November 21 and began its tour in March 2019, which continued into June and included shows in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The song "TV Show" was recorded in Los Angeles and features Jack White support members Jack Lawrence and Carla Azar on bass and drums respectively.