Folks (band)

Folks (フォークス^[2], Fōkusu, stylised as FOLKS) is a Japanese rock band that formed in 2013 in Eniwa, Hokkaido. It was formed after members Fumito Iwai and Kazumasa Noguchi left the band Galileo Galilei. The band self-released their first extended play, Take Off, in March 2013, and made their major label debut under Ki/oon Music in 2014.

The band consists of Fumito Iwai (岩井郁人) (vocals, guitar), his older brother Katsutoshi Iwai (岩井豪利) (guitar, vocals), Kazumasa Noguchi (野口一雅) (bass, chorus), Yoshitomo Kobayashi (小林禄与) (guitar, percussion, synthesisers, chorus) and Masatsugu Takahashi (高橋正嗣) (programming, synthesisers, chorus).^[4]

Biography

Guild, work with Galileo Galilei

Guild photographed for Senkō Riot in 2009. (from left) Kazumasa Noguchi, Fumito Iwai, Yoshitomo Kobayashi and Fumiya Kamo

Folks evolved from an earlier band called Guild that formed in Eniwa, Hokkaido in 2007.^[5] From 2007 to 2008 the band was initially known as Apple Seed, a name they took from the Appleseed manga.^[6][7] The band was renamed The Guild in 2008, and simply as Guild from mid 2009.^{[8][9][10][6]} The band consisted of classmates Fumito Iwai (guitar, vocals and songwriter), Kazumasa Noguchi (bass), Fumiya Kamo (加茂史也) (drums), and later Yoshitomo Kobayashi was added as a guitarist in 2009.^[11][12]

The group performed at rock events in Sapporo from 2007 onwards, and self-produced an extended play, Shinzō (心臓, "Heart"), in August 2008, followed by a self-released single called "Tsubasa" (ツバサ, "Wings") in February 2009.^{[13][6][14][15]} The band entered the School of Lock! national teenage rock contest, Senkō Riot, in 2008, and performed at the round three Sapporo semi-finals.^[16] The band did not make it to the national finals, but met the semi-final winner, Galileo Galilei. Iwai wanted Guild to have a sound like Galileo Galilei, and began exchanging emails with the band.^[17] Galileo Galilei eventually won the grand prize at the national finals.^[17]

In 2009, band activities continued, and Guild competed in Senkō Riot a second time.^[18] At the time, Iwai was umemployed, and wanted to do focus more on band activities. However Kamo and Kobayashi were going to university and Noguchi started attending a music vocational school.^[17] Galileo Galilei vocalist Yūki Osaki told Iwai to come to Wakkanai, Hokkaido, where Galileo Galilei members were going to high school, as their guitarist, Sōhei Funaya, had left. Iwai accepted, and lived at the house of band's bassist, Hitoshi Sakō.^[17][19] Iwai joined the band on August 31, 2009 as a support member. Guild announced a hiatus in November 2009, and Iwai became an official band member.^[10]

Galileo Galilei made their major debut with SME Records in 2010, moving to Tokyo. Their debut full-length album, Parade, reached number five on Oricon's album charts.^[20] In March 2011, the band relocated to Sapporo, and the bandmates started living together, calling their home Galileo House (ガリレオ・ハウス).^[21] Noguchi from Guild also started living with the band.^[2][22] Noguchi helped the band in the studio and at lives, and became an official member on December 13, 2011 as a keyboardist and synthesiser user, before the release of their second album Portal.^[23][24][22] Noguchi, originally a bass player, found it difficult to get better at using synthesisers.^[25]

In Galileo Galilei, Yūki Osaki was the main lyricist songwriter, and would give ideas to Iwai and other band members to work on further.^[2] Iwai did not feel confident in his ideas and lyrics, however wrote the music for their 2009 single "Ashita e," and worked on many of the songs on Portal (2012), including most of the work on the instrumental song "Blue River Side Alone." Iwai started to feel like he wanted to influence the Japanese music scene more by himself, and in July 2012, during the demo sessions for Baby, It's Cold Outside, told Osaki that he wanted to be the front man of his own band.^[2][26]

On September 13, 2012, it was officially announced that Iwai and Noguchi would leave the band, so that Iwai could challenge himself with something new musically, and so that Noguchi could work as a bassist.^[26]

Return to Eniwa, formation

In 2012, Iwai and Noguchi returned to Eniwa, Hokkaido to set up their own band. They asked Iwai's older brother Katsutoshi Iwai, along with former Guild member Yoshitomo Kobayashi to join. Katsutoshi Iwai asked his friend Masatsugu Takahashi if he was interested in joining, and he also accepted.^[27] The name Folks was chosen to represent the band being a community of creators, where all members take part in song production. It was originally a name that Katsutoshi Iwai and Takahashi had come up with for a band they wanted to create, before being asked to join Folks.^[28] The band was officially formed in January 2013, and based themselves at the Iwai household in Megumino.^[27][2] They recorded songs in Fumito Iwai's bedroom, and self-released their first extended play, Take Off, digitally on March 29, 2013. Their first live was held at Sapporo Sound Lab Mole on April 6, 2013.^[2] The band made their first festival performance, at the Rising Sun Rock Festival, on August 17, 2013.^[29]

In late 2013, Folks were signed to Ki/oon Music, and will make their major label debut in 2014 with the extended play Newtown.^[27] The release has a Megumino motif, and the leading track "Everything Is Alone" was shot in Eniwa by Yoshiharu Ota.^[30][29] They performed their first live outside of Hokkaido at the Tokyo Tsutaya O-West on January 20, 2014.^[29]

Artistry

While Fumito Iwai is the band front man, main songwiter and vocalist, many of these roles are shared. Katsutoshi Iwai also performs vocals, and all members contribute to song creation and songwriting.^[2][29] As Fumito Iwai wanted to create a community of people who could create things, all members of the band were encouraged to learn how to produce songs. Not all members could write music when Folks first formed in 2013, but learnt to after months of sharing ideas.^[28] Fumito Iwai considers the songs' arrangements to be the central part of the songs Folks create.^[28]

Folks' sound has been influenced by Oasis, and English indie rock musicians such as James Blake and Bombay Bicycle Club.^[2] Iwai feels influenced by Yūki Ozaki's lyrical style, and by Galileo Galilei's music after spending two years living with the members.^[2]

Saori Kishiba, a refiewer for Skream!, likened the band to Animal Collective and Arcade Fire, praising the band's "dreamy pop sound" and polished arrangements of songs.^[3]

Discography

Extended plays

Promotional singles

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Facebook
• Folks on Twitter