OKAMOTO'S Release New Single 'Band Music'

Japanese Funk-Rock Band
OKAMOTO'S
Release “Band Music”, 4th New Single of the Year

Japanese funk-rock band OKAMOTO'S released “Band Music”, their 4th new single of 2021, on Wednesday, May 19th. The band have been extremely busy this year, having released 3 new songs starting with “Young Japanese” in January, followed by “Complication” in February and most recently “M” in April. The band also released English versions of “Young Japanese” and “Complication” in March. In the meantime, Koki Okamoto (Guitar) launched a new project with Hiroshi Fujiwara ‘ORDER of THINGS’, releasing double single “Mind Roaming/Sixth” in March, while Shō Okamoto (Vocals) released his first solo album CULTICA last month, on April 28th, featuring collaborations with Pecori (ODD Footworks), AAAMYYY (Tempalay), and Australian band Last Dinosaurs.

Click here to listen to a Spotify playlist featuring the all latest from the OKAMOTO'S members.

“Band Music” is a rock and disco track inspired by the likes of Iggy Pop, ABBA, and Dua Lipa. Vocalist, lyricist, and co-writer (with Koki), Sho says of the track “It is a love song to ‘band music’, exploring how I feel about the current music scene, and about wanting to be the kind of rock band that inspired me and that I looked up to growing up for the next generation.”

The artwork for both “Band Muic” was created by Japanese designer MA1LL, who also designed the artwork for all other OKAMOTO'S releases so far in 2021.

[Bio]

Dubbed “the Japanese Red Hot Chili Peppers” by Japanese media and fans alike, OKAMOTO'S is an energetic funk-rock four-piece from Tokyo, Japan, formed by a group of friends from junior high school: Shō Okamoto (vocals), Koki Okamoto (guitar), Hama Okamoto (bass), and Reiji Okamoto (drums). Their name is a tribute to the avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto and the legendary punk band Ramones, whom they both highly respect. The band burst onto the scene in 2010, making their debut age 18 years old, and have since released 9 singles and 8 albums to date.

The band themselves site RHCP as an important influence, along with The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Stooges, and of course The Ramones. They've also performed with legendary rock acts such as The Verbs and Paul Weller for their Japan tours, and continue to merge generations and music genres by collaborating with a wide range of artists, including writing songs for DISH//, Kanjani8, and more recently working with rappers Gottz, Tohji, and Shurkn Pap on the OBKR/Yaffle remix of their song “ART(FCO2811)” off of their 2019 record BOY.

In 2020, the quartet released their first “best of” compilation 10'S BEST in April, followed by the 6 track EP Welcome My Friend, featuring the titular hit song, in August. Most recently, they kicked off the new year with the release of their latest single “Young Japanese”, and completed a short tour in Japan in February and March, with venue capacities limited at 50%, and audiences not permitted to speak. While the band was excited to get back on stage, they look forward to performing with audiences singing along again hopefully in the near future.

Each of the members is highly active outside of their work as a band as well, Koki having released his solo debut album GIRL in 2019, and Sho releasing his first solo album CULTICA last month.