Birds of Tokyo
| Birds of Tokyo | |
|---|---|
_(3296334471).jpg) Birds of Tokyo vocalist Ian Kenny performing at the Fly by Night Club in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
| Genres | Alternative rock |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | EMI |
| Associated acts | Karnivool, Sons of Rico |
| Website | Official website |
| Members |
Ian Kenny Adam Spark Adam Weston Glenn Sarangapany Ian Berney |
| Past members | Anthony Jackson |
Birds of Tokyo is a five-piece alternative rock band from Perth, Western Australia. Their debut album Day One, gained them domestic success with it reaching No. 3 on the AIR Independent Album charts, spending a total of 36 consecutive weeks in the top 10.
In 2008, the band released Universes, which made it to No. 3 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. 2010 saw the band's self-titled third studio release Birds of Tokyo spend over eight months in the Australian top 20, peaking at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The double platinum album received the 2010 ARIA Award for Best Rock Album and in early 2011 the band's breakthrough hit "Plans" ranked No. 4 on Triple J's Hottest 100. The album's follow-up single, "Wild at Heart", reached No. 1 on the country's national airplay chart and won the band an APRA Award.
Most recently, in 2013 the band released their fourth studio album March Fires. Supported by the album's first two singles "This Fire" and "Lanterns", March Fires debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart—the band's first ever No. 1 record. The album was certified gold within four weeks of release and the triple platinum single "Lanterns" was the most played song on Australia radio for the first six months of 2013.
History
Early years
Birds of Tokyo formed in 2004 from a collaboration between members of another Perth act Tragic Delicate and Karnivool, from which Ian Kenny came.
The band formed when guitarist Adam Spark asked Kenny to sing on some demos intended to be sold for publication rights. The results were so good, they decided to form a band and release the songs themselves. They took their name from an article one member had read about the absence of birds in Tokyo's high-density CBD due to pollution and overcrowding. "We thought that was interesting, no birds in Tokyo — we thought, we'll be the birds of Tokyo", he says.[1]
In 2005, Birds of Tokyo released two EPs. The first was released in January as a demo and the songs received airplay on Triple J, 96fm, RTRFM, Base FM, FBi and PBS. The second, a double A side single recorded in Melbourne with acclaimed producer Forrester Savell (Helmet, Full Scale, Karnivool).
Day One (2006–2007)
2006 saw the band touring regional WA on a three-week tour in January, before returning to Melbourne to finish working on their debut album, Day One. The album was released on 3 February 2007 and debuted at No. 88 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 3 on the AIR albums chart.
Directly following the release, the band embarked on extensive touring, starting with their "Day One" tour, playing in five capital cities around Australia. Birds of Tokyo also performed at the Perth leg of the 2007 Big Day Out and the at Blackjack 2007 (the relocated Rock-It festival).
Birds of Tokyo were nominated for two awards in the 2007 AIR Awards (Australian Independent Record Association) for Best Performing Independent Album[2] and Most Outstanding New Independent Artist.[3] "Wayside" was voted in at No. 61 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2007.[4]
They were also recognized in Rolling Stone magazine as 'Artists to Watch' in 2007.[5]
Universes (2008–2009)
The band recorded their second album Universes in Margaret River, Western Australia, which was mixed in Los Angeles by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, Porcupine Tree). The debut single from the album, "Silhouettic", was released as a free download on 14 April 2008. The album was released 5 July 2008 and debuted at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart[6] and at No. 1 on the AIR albums chart.[7] The album reached gold status in Australia in January 2009.
The band played all Australian shows at the Big Day Out in 2009. "Broken Bones", "Silhouettic" and "Wild Eyed Boy" were voted in at No. 20, No. 22 and No. 51 respectively in the Hottest 100 of 2008.[8]
In late 2009 the band embarked on the Broken Strings tour, which featured acoustic interpretations of a selection of their work to date, accompanied by a string quartet and grand piano arranged by producer Anthony Cormican. The supporting artist was Glenn Richards (lead singer of Augie March). A CD and DVD featuring recordings from the tour was available to preorder at the shows, and was released in early 2010. Birds of Tokyo were nominated for the 2009 Channel V Oz Artist of the Year.
Birds of Tokyo (2010–2011)
In early 2010 the band returned to the studio to work on their self-titled third album. In March 2010 the band released the single "The Saddest Thing I Know" and announced an Australian tour by the same name. They are touring with the New Zealand-based band Midnight Youth. The second single "Plans" was premiered on Sunday 20 June. The album was released on 23 July 2010. They toured with Silversun Pickups in September and October 2010. Birds of Tokyo received six 2010 ARIA Music Awards nominations.[9] "Wild at Heart" was the album's third single. "Plans" was voted at No. 4 in the Hottest 100 of 2010, while "Wild at Heart" and "The Saddest Thing I Know" also appeared at No. 47 and No. 87, respectively. The band also played at the Big Day Out in 2011 for their third time.
In March 2011 the band announced via their Facebook page that bass player Anthony Jackson was leaving the band. Ian Berney from Sugar Army later filled the position.[10][11]
In April 2011 they played alongside Art vs Science, The Jezabels and local Joshy Willo at the Triple J One Night Stand at Tumby Bay, South Australia.
The band were nominated in five different categories at the 2011 West Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMi), including Most Popular Act, Most Popular Album, Best Male Vocalist, Best Instrumentalist and Best Bassist.[12] The band won for Most Popular Album and Best Instrumentalist.
In late April/early May 2011, Birds of Tokyo played at the annual Groovin' the Moo music festival alongside other Australian artists like Gotye, Washington, Art vs Science and Architecture in Helsinki.[13]
The band toured through September and October 2011, their final national tour for the year. The tour was called the Closer Tour due to the fact that they opted to play smaller venues than they had played prior.
During an interview on Radar, Adam revealed that the band would be heading back in to the studio to record their new album over the summer.[14]
March Fires (2012–present)
On 1 February 2012, the band announced that they had finished writing their new album and would start recording the week after.[15] Creating the new album was a journey of "exploration and reinvention" for Birds of Tokyo, telling the story of burning down the old and coming together to build something new. In October 2012, the band released an EP titled This Fire, which featured two songs ("This Fire" and "Boy") from the album. On January 14, 2013, "Lanterns" was released as a single, with its video coming out on 8 February. After being available for preorder on iTunes for 3 months, March Fires was released on 1 March 2013.
Led by the first two singles, March Fires debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's first No. 1 record. The album was certified gold within four weeks of release and the triple platinum single "Lanterns" was the most played song on Australia radio in the first six months of 2013. "When the Night Falls Quiet" was later released as a single, with its video coming out on 22 April.
Birds of Tokyo completed a sell-out tour of Australia to accompany the release and received positive reviews for shows across their March Fires album tour. They also performed at Splendour in the Grass 2013 and were announced as the sole support for Muse on their national Australian tour across November and December.
Members
- Current members
- Ian Kenny – vocals (2004–present)
- Adam Spark – guitars, vocals, keyboards (2004–present)
- Adam Weston – drums, percussion (2004–present)
- Glenn Sarangapany – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals (2011–present)
- Ian Berney – bass (2011–present)
- Past members
- Anthony Jackson – bass (2004–2011)
Discography
| Releases | |
|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 4 |
| ↙Live albums | 1 |
| ↙EPs | 2 |
| ↙Singles | 16 |
| ↙Video albums | 1 |
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions AUS[16] |
Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Day One
|
88 | — |
| 2008 | Universes
|
3 | |
| 2010 | Birds of Tokyo
|
2 | |
| 2013 | March Fires
|
1 |
|
Live albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions AUS[16] |
Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Broken Strings Tour
|
11 | — |
EPs
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Birds of Tokyo
|
| 2012 | This Fire
|
| 2015 | Anchor
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | End of Year Charts |
Certifications[18] | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [20] |
AUS Artists [21] |
NZ [22] |
Triple J Hottest 100[23] |
ARIA Singles Chart [24] | ||||
| 2005 | "Birds of Tokyo" (Demo) | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "One Way/Stay" | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | ||
| 2006 | "Off Kilter" | — | — | — | — | — | Day One | |
| 2007 | "Black Sheets" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Wayside" | — | — | — | 61 | — | |||
| 2008 | "Silhouettic" | — | — | — | 22 | — | Universes | |
| "Broken Bones" | — | — | — | 20 | — | |||
| "Wild Eyed Boy" | — | — | — | 51 | — | |||
| 2009 | "Head in My Hands" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010 | "The Saddest Thing I Know" | 64 | 14 | — | 87 | — | Birds of Tokyo | |
| "Plans" | 11 | 1 | 32 | 4 | 47 |
| ||
| "Wild at Heart" | 50 | 4 | — | 47 | — |
| ||
| 2011 | "Circles" | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012 | "This Fire" | 32 | 5 | — | 51 | — |
|
March Fires |
| 2013 | "Lanterns" | 3 | 1 | — | 22 | 25 |
| |
| "When the Night Falls Quiet" | 43 | 8 | — | — | — | |||
DVDs
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions AUS |
Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The Broken Strings Tour
|
3 | — |
Awards and nominations
APRA Awards
The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".[25]
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Plans" (Anthony Jackson, Ian Kenny, Adam Spark, Adam Weston) | Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year[26] | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
| Most Played Australian Work[27] | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated | ||
| Rock Work of the Year[28] | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated | ||
| Song of the Year[29] | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated | ||
| 2012 | "Wild at Heart" (Anthony Jackson, Ian Kenny, Adam Spark, Adam Weston) | Rock Work of the Year[30] | style="background: #99FF99; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="yes table-yes2"|Won |
| Most Played Australian Work[31] | style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |
Other awards
| Year | Type | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | WAMi Award | Rock Song of the Year – "Stay" | Won |
| 2007 | WAMi Award | Favourite Newcomer | Won |
| Best Male Vocalist – Ian Kenny | Won | ||
| 2008 | WAMi Award | Most Popular Album – Day One[32] | Won |
| 2008 WAMi Award – Best Rock Act[32] | Won | ||
| Best Guitarist – Adam Spark[32] | Nominated | ||
| Best Male Vocalist – Ian Kenny[32] | Nominated | ||
| Best Drummer – Adam Weston[32] | Nominated | ||
| Best Instrumentalist – Glenn Sarangapany[32] | Nominated | ||
| AIR Awards | Best Rock Act | Nominated | |
| Best Independent Artist | Nominated | ||
| J Award | Best Album - Universes | Nominated | |
| 2009 | WAMi Award | Most Popular Act[33] | Won |
| Most Popular Album - Universes[33] | Won | ||
| Most Popular Live Act[33] | Won | ||
| Best Male Vocalist - Ian Kenny[33] | Won | ||
| Best Rock Act[33] | Won | ||
| 2010 | ARIA Music Awards | "Best Rock Album" - Birds Of Tokyo[9] | Won |
| "Album of the Year" - Birds Of Tokyo[9] | Nominated | ||
| "Single of the Year" - "Plans"[9] | Nominated | ||
| "Best Group"[9] | Nominated | ||
| "Best Music DVD" - The Broken Strings Tour DVD[9] | Nominated | ||
| "Most Popular Australian Artist"[9] | Nominated |
References
- ↑ "Birds of Tokyo Interview". Apollo Magazine. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
- ↑ "Best Performing Independent Album (2007 nominees)". AIR. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ↑ "Most Outstanding New Independent Artist (2007 nominees)". AIR. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ↑ "hottest 100 2007". Triple J. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
- ↑ Hanna, Jay (12 May 2007). "Driven to succeed". PerthNow.com. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ↑ "Universes - Birds of Tokyo". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ↑ "AIR Charts". Australian Music Office. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
- ↑ McCabe, Kathy (26 January 2009). "Kings of Leon win Triple J Hottest 100 with Sex on Fire". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 2010 ARIA Nominations Announced Take40 Australia (mcm entertainment). Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ↑ "Birds of Tokyo bassist flies the coop". Triple J. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ Smith, Barnaby (21 March 2011). "Birds of Tokyo split with bassist". Music Feeds. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ Cook, Morgan (15 April 2011). "Birds of Tokyo nominated at WAMi". Valleyarm. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
- ↑ "Birds of Tokyo & Gotye to play Groovin’ The Moo". Valleyarm. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
- ↑ Radar Radio Interview
- ↑ "Birds Of Tokyo Finished Writing". Facebook. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-01.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Birds of Tokyo albums chart peaks australian-charts.com - Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- ↑ ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2009 Albums Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2010 Albums Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 2010-09-30.
- ↑ BOT GO PLATINUM - WATCH NEW VID HERE Access All Areas.net.au. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
- ↑ Steffen Hung (2012-03-19). "Birds Of Tokyo". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ↑ //www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_home.htm
- ↑ "Discography Birds Of Tokyo". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ↑ "Hottest 100 - 2010 | triple j". Abc.net.au. 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ↑ "ARIA Top 100 Singles 2010". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ↑ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Retrieved 17 January 2011.
- ↑ "Nominations > Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ↑ "Nominations > Most Played Australian Work – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ↑ "Nominations > Rock Work of the Year – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ↑ "Nominations > Song of the Year – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ↑ "Winners for the 2012 APRA Music Awards Announced". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 19 June 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
- ↑ "Nominations > Most Played Australian Work – 2012". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 32.5 "Perth Music » Blog Archive » 2008 WAMi Award Winners". Perthmusic.norg.com.au. 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 2009 WAMi Awards Retrieved 2010-09-29.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birds of Tokyo. |
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