Quruli
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Quruli (くるり, kururi) is a popular Japanese music group formed in 1996. The lineup as of January 2006 is Masashi Satoh (佐藤征史 Satō Masashi, bass), Tasshin Ohmura (大村達身 Ōmura Tasshin, guitar) and Shigeru Kishida (岸田繁 Kishida Shigeru, vocals, guitar). Their music is produced and distributed by Victor Entertainment.
[edit] Members
- Shigeru Kishida (April 27, 1976 - , vocals, electric guitar), was born in Kyōto, Japan and is Quruli's primary songwriter and leader of the band. He is particularly famous for singing his own song, Harukaze at his own wedding.
- Equipment He is known as a Fender Telecaster player, but has played various guitars over the years. As Kishida chooses never to use an effects pedal, he has used guitars besides the Telecaster to achieve desired sounds. Currently he uses a Rickenbacker guitar and a Vox amplifier.
- Image Kishida's image was for several years built around his wearing glasses; recently, though, he has chosen to appear without them, outraging many longtime fans. He says his glasses were broken and cannot wear them.
- Masashi Satō (February 1, 1977 - , bass guitar, was born in Kameoka city, Kyōto Prefecture. Besides his musical duties, he also serves as the president of Quruli's label, Noise McCartney Records. In his junior high school days, he belonged to the soccer club. For most of his career, Satō used a Fender Jazz Bass, but during the recording of Quruli's "Antenna" album, switched to a Fender Precision Bass.
- Tasshin Ōmura (December 17, 1975 - , electric guitar), is from Hyōgo prefecture. He uses a Flying-V guitar. Before joining Quruli, Ōmura worked daily at a famous ramen shop in Kyōto. Also, he was asked to join Quruli on two separate occasions; the first time, he refused.
[edit] Career Summary
- Meeting at Ritsumeikan University's music club, "Rock Commune," Shigeru Kishida (a 2000 graduate of the College of Social Sciences), Masashi Satō (a 1999 College of Law graduate), and Noboyuki Mori (a 1999 College of Social Sciences graduate), formed the three-piece band. Their name, "Quruli," was taken from an information sign in the Kyōto subway.
- In October 1998, Quruli's major label debut, "Tokyo", was released. The song is a first-person nostalgic narrative set to a hard rock backing track.
- Using the talents of producer Jim O'Rourke, Quruli released its "Zukan" album in 2001 and later put out "TEAM ROCK" in 2001.
- Around the time of the production of their "THE WORLD IS MINE" album, Quruli added guitarist Tasshin Ōmura to its lineup in 2001. In 2002, Mori left the band.
- After a long hiatus that worried many fans (the band explained that they had been in England), Quruli returned with a single, "How to Go," and contributed the soundtrack to the film "Joze to Tora to Sakana-tachi" in 2003.
- As a result of using countless session drummers for their recordings, Quruli added drummer Christopher McGuire to their lineup in November of 2003.
- In 2003, HMV Records Japan rated them #74 in their "Top 100 Japanese pops Artists".
- The reborn Quruli charged in a new direction again in 2004 with the release of "Antenna." The album showed a groovier brand of rock than the band had previously written. After the tour for the album was completed, Christopher McGuire left the group, making the band a three-piece outfit again.
- 2005 saw the release of several Quruli singles along with a new album, "Nikki," released in December of that year. Quruli's popularity has swelled to the point where almost all of their concerts for their 2005-2006 tour have been sold out.
Since their debut, Quruli had appeared once on a music television broadcast, performing "Aoi Sora" on NHK. Since then, they had decided not to appear on television. However, on September 9, 2005, Quruli appeared on the popular "Music Station" program and performed their song, "Akai Densha," which means "red train." The song was also featured as the theme song to a Keihin Electric Express Railway commercial. Popular television personality Tamori, himself a train enthusiast (like Kishida) became quite animated when he addressed the new commercial and hummed a bit of "Akai Densha" on his program.
