GOING UNDER GROUND

Biography

GOING UNDER GROUND is comprised of five members from the Saitama prefecture of Okegawa. They are a rock band with a soft, melodic tone that incorporates many styles, including rock and roll, ska, reggae, and more. Profile from Aqua Music: Inspired by The Blue Hearts, the band was formed when Sou Matsumoto (vocals), Hiroki Nakazawa (guitar), Satoru Ishihara (bass), and Yoichi Itoh (drums at the time) were only first years in junior high. Several members have come and gone since their inception;...

GOING UNDER GROUND is comprised of five members from the Saitama prefecture of Okegawa. They are a rock band with a soft, melodic tone that incorporates many styles, including rock and roll, ska, reggae, and more.

Profile from Aqua Music:
Inspired by The Blue Hearts, the band was formed when Sou Matsumoto (vocals), Hiroki Nakazawa (guitar), Satoru Ishihara (bass), and Yoichi Itoh (drums at the time) were only first years in junior high. Several members have come and gone since their inception; eventually, Yoichi switched from drums to keyboard while Takehiro Kohno took up the position for drums. They graduated from high school with the five members seen today.

They performed in the capital's live house in the spring of 1998 for the first time. Afterwards, they steadily gained support and signed onto the indies label, DNA CUPSULES, in December of 1998, and they released their first mini-album "Cello" in the same month.

In the spring of 1999, the band toured the country twice and gained much popularity. Eventually, their name was widespread enough to reach out to various events across the country. On September 23rd, their first sound producer Kenji Ueda of the label "John?" worked together with the band. Their second mini-album, "思春期のブルース (Shishunki no Blues)", was released in October on "Aqua Music Products", the label that founded "sunnyside."

Their first maxi single, "桜が咲いたら (Sakura ga Saitara)" was released on April 12, 2000, with their first full album, "GOING UNDER GROUND" to follow on May 24th. Afterwards, they released "ロマンチック街道 (Romantic Kaidou)" on September 23rd. The next year, while working on their next single, "アロー (Arrow)" the band went through a period of energetic activity such as the release and execution of a live tour in metropolises across Japan. Their next single "グラフティー (Graffiti)" was released on June 21, 2001 and is considered as their major debut single.

Their third major single "ミラージュ (Mirage)" saw release on April 17, 2002 and marked their first appearance in the top 30 on the Oricon charts. After the release, they began their long-awaited nationwide one-man "hocus pocus" tour, where they played in 10 cities. Their next single "ランブル (Rumble)" was sold on July 10th to favorable reviews due to their many performances around the country in the summer. In the fall of 2002, they released their album "ホーム (Home)", which was their second major album but third album overall. Their next tour "kodama" was also completed, with high attendance levels at each live.

With 2003 beginning, the band had already completed recording new songs and began yet another tour in March called "iroha." On May 7th, their latest tune "ダイアリー (Diary)" was released. The band members invited their personal friends as guests for the PV; filming revolved around showing the "springtime of life", culminating in a scene where the band and their friends spray each other with beer at a party. In June, at the Akasaka BLITZ in Osaka, the tour "iroha" ended with the success of Hatch, and they rushed to record new works. In order to shorten the downtime, they performed at the nationwide summer event in 2003, gathering many new fans. Their single "ハートビート (Heartbeat)" was released on September 24th. The PV for "Heartbeat" was shot as a short film, and it gained popularity enough to mark GOING UNDER GROUND's first top 20 Oricon ranking. The 3rd album "ハートビート (Heartbeat)" reached a peak of #17 on the Oricon charts, their highest ranking yet. Each venue on the "every breath" tour was quickly sold out, with the venue in Shibuya selling out in just 20 minutes.

In January 2004, the single "Heartbeat" became the theme for the Vodafone TVCF. After that came the announcement of their first DVD release, "every breath", on March 24th. Their spring tour "every place" was energetically completed. The single "Twilight" became the theme song for "Ashita wo tsukame" on NHK education television. "Diary" was used for the Marudai Food Co., Ltd. Athenian Olympic support theme. In the spring after the end of their tour, they were thrust into recording, which resulted in the single "サンキュー (Thank You)" releasing on September 22nd. On December 8th came the release of "同じ月を見てた (Onaji tsuki wo miteta)", with its PV starring bassist Satoru Ishihara.

In 2005, a quiet period opened the year due to a self-produced album, "h.o.p.s." which was released in February. They began a tour in March also called "h.o.p.s." which included 24 venues. They followed suit with an original CM song for Mitsuya Cider, "STAND BY ME" on May 18th, and they suddenly received a large amount of attention. Then they performed live at the first open-air concert hall in Hibiya, which sold out completely. In 2006, they released their 5th major album "TUTTI" in February. They played at the Nippon Budokan that following July.

In March 2007, the single "Mune Ippai" became the theme song for World Table Tennis 2007, almost simultaneously coinciding with the start of "tour2007 TWISTER". They have continued to evolve with increasing awareness of singing and music, and they are aiming towards a new stage. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.