Takoyaki All Stars: who they are, what they do and reasons to fangirl them
This is a pimp post for the Takoyaki All Stars. Since the Takoyaki All Stars are not idols or even public figures, I couldn't find information on everyone, but there is still more than enough to make an introduction. No facebooks were stalked in the making of this post, and none are linked that the musicians don't openly link to themselves.
Off we go!
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
left to right: Sato (keyboard), Maehara (bass), Peach (guitar), Hamazaki (drums), Fujii (trombone), Sato (sax)
front: Ohnishi (guitar), Yokan (trumpet)
who are these people and why should I care: preface
The Takoyaki All Stars are the guys behind Kanjani8, and I mean that literally: they are the live band who've backed Kanjani in their concerts ever since JUKE BOX and are with Subaru on his solo live tour right now. The members also compose and arrange songs for Kanjani, record backing tracks and teach them how to play their instruments. If you like the music side of Kanjani, you like these people, even if you didn't know it yet. The Takoyaki All Stars are professional musicians, like working with each other, have fun in rehearsals and on stage and are all around awesome and worth knowing.
Kanjani's backing bands: a history
The EightxEighter concert tour was the first time Kanjani had a backing band, a live band that plays their songs, instead of having karaoke tracks played over the sound system. Why not earlier? Because live bands are a luxury. With band and strings, they're an additional 20-30 people that you have to pay not only for the hours they clock at the concert, but also for rehearsal time. They also need space on stage, sound system set ups, soundchecks, dressing rooms, altogether to be managed - and all that effort only to have them play exactly what's on the karaoke track anyway. So if it's so expensive, complicated and ultimately unneccessary, why have a band in the first place? Because it's way cooler. A good live band will always sound better than a pre-recorded track, and since Kanjani's concerts had gotten more opulent in all aspects - stage set-up, special effects and so on - I guess management thought it was time to up their game in terms of sound as well. (I think it feels weird that 8UPPERS, for example, didn't have a live band. Such a big production yet the music pre-recorded? Weird discrepancy.)
The EightxEighter backing band and strings were credited as "Monjai Orchestra" in the concert DVD end credits, without listing individuals. Shame on you, Teichiku. Hina thanks them at the end of the concert and they get some camera time (around the 1:16:00 mark on disc 2 of the ExE concert DVDs).
This is a cap of the credits from the 8EST concert DVD. The band got individual credit under the header "support band", the strings were credited as a whole as "8EST strings". Hina thanks "all orchestra member" at the end of the concert (01:11:20), and again they get camera time, only it's hard to see anything because of the rain and the plastic sheets they hung in front of the band to keep them dry. No idea whether they're the same people as in ExE. None of them are in the Takoyaki All Stars later.
Then we have JUKE BOX, which features the band formation this post is about for the first time and in which finally everyone gets their names immortalized in the credits under the header of "TAKOYAKI all stars". Takoyaki All Stars is also what Hina calls them as he thanks them (01:10:50), and we get some great shots of the band.
Jussai credits are half-assing it again and cut it down to a short "TAKOYAKI all stars", which is also what Hina thanks them as (52:40). They obviously learned from 8EST, the plastic sheets were pulled aside this time and cameras filmed close-ups of the band.
The Kanjanism tour is just over and the DVD yet to come, but the Takoyaki All Stars were backing again:
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
And finally, currently going on is Subaru's solo tour, sparked by his movie Misono Universe. He also has a backing band. As far as I know they're only referred to as "the band" but they're basically the Takoyaki All Stars again. Yokan called them TAKOYAKI&More on his instagramm.
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
the nature of the Takoyaki All Stars: a Q&A
What's their origin story?
The Takoyaki All Stars did not exist before JUKE BOX. Though some of them have worked together before, they were a random selection of professional musicians who were hired for the tour.
Why did Teichiku/J&A hire these particular people for JUKE BOX?
Kanjani had worked with some of the musicians before when recording albums, other musicians had backed other J&A groups in lives, some musicians had worked with each other. I suspect a lot of "I know a guy".
Are the Takoyaki All Stars a fixed group with the same members every time or is there fluctuation?
There are eight members I consider the core of the Takoyaki All Stars. They're the ones in the picture at the top of this post and have been regulars since the beginning. There seems to be a roster of musicians they call when they need substitutes or additional players. Example: the JUKE BOX credits (the only official listing of Takoyaki All Stars members) lists four trumpet players. One is a core member and permament fixture in the band, while the other three turn up sporadically time and again. I wouldn't call them regular band members but maybe regular substitutes.
Why did they keep the name, why not call them Omoidama Orchestra for Jussai and Coaster Band for Kanjanism?
Tactical decision by the management, I guess. It fits Kanjani's image to always use the same trusted band, so they made sure the name had recognition value. As for the unfortunate name "Takoyaki All Stars", I highly doubt the band had any say in it. I'd love to leave their dignity intact and call them something else but I don't really know what; "the band" is too vague and I haven't seen them refer to themselves as anything else, so Takoyaki All Stars it is.
Are they are band in their own right?
No, the Takoyaki All Stars are not active as a band outside of Kanjani concerts. They all have other projects and are active musicians, but this particular group of people works together only for Kanjani.
Do the Takoyaki All Stars work with Kanjani outside of live shows?
Yes. Members of the band were involved in composing or arranging 12 of the 24 songs Kanjani have released under Infinity Records so far. They have worked together long before that though, and the Takoyaki All Stars don't just compose and arrange songs for Kanjani, they also (part-)own the recording studios in which singles and albums are produced, and of course record tons of backing tracks.
When I started compiling info for this post, I was quickly derailed by the network of companies, studios and people that are behind the music of Kanjani. I tried to make sense of it until I realised I was getting side-tracked. I want to make a post about the whole music production side of Kanjani some day, with composers, arrangers, studio musicians and production companies and how they all fit together, but for now I'll focus on the live performance aspect of the Takoyaki All Stars.
You keep talking about the band, what about the strings?
I'm pretty much ignoring them here simply because I don't care as much. >___< From the pictures (see below) they seem fun and really pretty, and I'm sure each one is an excellent musician with their own interesting backstory. I'm just not that interested in strings though, and it doesn't help that they're a big group of girls and matching names to faces would be tedious. If anyone knows more, I'd love to hear about them, but I'll keep my research and this post to the band.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: the band
Ohnishi Shogo
大西省吾
guitar, band leader
instruments: guitars
easy to recognize by: his cheekbones
day job: song writer and arranger at big Jpop song manufactory agehasprings (profile)
blog: none I know of
If you pay attention to the credits on Kanjani's CD releases, you'll recognize the name. Ohnishi wrote 413man and Hitotsu no Uta, arranged dozens of Kanjani songs and recorded guitar and digital instrument tracks for even more. If you like Kanjani's sound, you can thank him, he's responsible for a large chunk of it.
Ohnishi is the Takoyaki All Stars band leader. The creative part of Ohnishi's job is probably mostly deciding on adjustments in song arrangements, the administrative part is motivating, reprimanding, organising, informing and generally herding the musicians. Keyboarder Sato praised Ohnishi on his blog, saying that he did an amazing job managing the 21 people that made up the band and "string ladies" backing in Jussai, and that the teamwork was impressive.
Peach
guitar
instruments: guitars
easy to recognise by: his keeping out of the spot light, his goatee
day job: song writer and arranger at small Jpop song manufactory B.B.コネクション (B. B. connection) (mini profile)
blog: HAHAHA no, hence the crappy crop above
Peach is another old friend from Kanjani's song credits. He didn't do quite as much as Ohnishi yet more people know him, probably because of the romanji name. Peach wrote West Side!! and Gamushara Kyoushinkyoku, and arranged and recorded lots of other songs.
It seems he likes to keep a low profile. "Peach" is not just a stage name, it's a pseudonym that doesn't appear outside his work with Kanjani. When fans first Googled him, they couldn't find anything about him (B. B. connection was founded only in 2013) and theorised "Peach" might be a pseudonym by Yasu and/or Ryo.
Maehara Toshitsugu
前原利次
bass
instruments: bass
easy to recognise by: his rakish hair
day job: song writer and arranger at B.B.コネクション (mini profile), part owner (?) of studio Quatre Sounds
blog: ameblo
Quatre Sounds is a small, two person studio and has done one song for Kanjani so far: This Moment, B-side on Hesomagari. Since that's one of my favourite arrangements I'd love it if they worked together again one day.
Maehara has released a few albums with his rock band Denial, in which he plays the same red Fender bass he plays seemingly everywhere. I find that funny because amateur Maru has at least four basses and switches according to song and then pro Maehara is like, one for all! He does own more basses, like this electronic double bass thing, but I seem to only ever see him play the red one.
It's very likely that Maehara is Maru's go-to guy for all things bass.
Hamazaki Daichi
浜崎大地
drums
instruments: drums, percussion
easy to recognise by: his height (183 cm according to his profile, and I believe it)
day job: freelance drummer and percussionist, composer, arranger (website)
blog: on his website
Hamazaki learned piano as a child, started on drums at 16 and went on to study drums and percussion ("everything from congas to marimba") at Nihon University. And let me tell you, despite what you may think when you see Yoko, percussion is nothing to laugh at. It includes a wide range of vastly different instruments like woodblock, cymbals, bongos, timpani and marimbaphone, to name just a few, and playing each of them is a science on its own. It seems he mostly plays live shows for various artists, both drums and percussion. He also writes songs.
I love watching him play. He's relaxed, self-assuredly competent and makes playing the drums look effortless. I got to meet Hamazaki in Rotterdam and he was really nice and easygoing and just seems like an all around great guy.
Sato Shingo
佐藤真吾
keyboard
instruments: keyboard
easy to recognise by: his flat cap, his cute face
day job: freelance keyboarder, composer, arranger (probably)
blog: Sato Shingo's Diary (warning: a lot of pictures, seriously, I put that in italics for a reason)
Since I haven't found anything like an official profile, I don't know about his professional background. Judging by his blog he's a freelance keyboarder. He may have his own band, I'm not sure. Like drummer Hamazaki, he backs various artists in their lives and on TV, which may also be how they met - Hamazaki and he have worked together before the Takoyaki All Stars.
Sato's blog is a delight. He posts about his bands, rehearsals, food, and his three little daughters, and he's usually in the middle of the picture wearing a flat cap and looking cute. I'll definitely keep an eye on it.
YOKAN
trumpet
instruments: ALL OF THEM - trumpet, sax, trombone, flute, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, percussion, ...
easy to recognise by: his long blond hair, his colourful clothes, his platform heels
day job: ALL OF THEM - has his own tiny colourful studio where he writes, arranges and records
blog: ALL OF THEM - twitter, instagramm, facebook, ameblo, ...
Yokan is an amazingly talented musician and knows how to do everything you might need to when making a song - he can write, arrange, play, record, mix and perform. While he plays a lot of instruments, Yokan's focus are wind instruments and his main instrument is the trumpet. He has been Kanjani's go-to guy for anything wind instrument related ever since Kanjani discovered what they're good for; he arranges almost all and records a lot of the wind instrument parts on Kanjani's CDs. He's also Yoko's trumpet teacher.
Yokan is the best known Kanjani music support staff, maybe the best known Kanjani staff period. You can't parade a musician with wild hair and colourful outfits in front of Kanjani fans and expect them to ignore him. Fan interest is fuelled even more by him being an avid blogger. Yokan chats regularly with his over 8.5k followers on twitter, and he posts backstage and rehearsal pics on instagramm all the time. A lot of his followers are Kanjani fans, he knows it and he caters to them, but he's also a pro and doesn't release anything he could get in trouble with J&A for.
Fujii Hiroki
フジイ ヒロキ
trombone
instruments: trombone
easy to recognise by: his red glasses, his red shirts
day job: freelance trombone player and teacher, composer, arranger (website)
blog: on his website, facebook
Fujii has an English biography on his website! Kudos. From that and his website in general I understand that he studied trombone in the US, played in various professional bands in Japan (Disney World bands, among others), leads his own brass band Hero's Brass which he also arranges music for, does charity work and has (or is part of) a music school or studio where he teaches trombone.
My very sensible mum would say that out of all the Takoyaki All Stars members, he's the most "solid". From what I can tell, everyone else are either the archetypical artists, living from project to project, or are in the pop music industry, but in the school/studio, Fujii has his own down to earth business. Personally, I'm mostly very fond of the fact that he's not just playing the trombone for himself but spreads the love by teaching.
Random observation: I have this inkling that maybe his favourite colour might possibly be red. Just a feeling.
Sato Kimihiko
佐藤公彦
tenor saxophone
instruments: saxophone family
easy to recognise by: his bowler or other slim-brimmed hat
day job: freelance saxophone player, composer, arranger; solo career as Sawanaka Kenzou (website)
blog: facebook as Sawanaka Kenzou
There isn't a lot of info on Sato Kimihiko, but there is on Sawanaka Kenzou (沢中 健三). I think Sato is his real name and Sawanaka the alias; there was a singer named Sato Kimihiko, so I guess Sato changed his name to avoid confusion. Anyway, Sawanaka is a musician in a genre he calls "mood tenor", enka songs played on tenor sax. He has released a few CDs and regularly appears on TV shows and events, which I think is pretty good for that kind of music.
I have to admit, the music snob in me was amused when I found out about Sawanaka Kenzou. I mean, mood tenor, really? Then I immediately felt bad. To each his own, after all. Sato seems to genuinely enjoy it and he managed to make a successful career from it. Not every musician can say that. You go, Sawanaka Kenzou!
And that's it for what I consider the core members of the Takoyaki All Stars band. Others listed in the JUKE BOX credits:
Nishimura Shinya (???)
2nd drummer in JUKE BOX credits. Haven't found anything.
Katsuya Takashi (???)
2nd keyboarder in JUKE BOX credits. Haven't found anything on him either.
Kohata Mitsukuni a.k.a. Kunizo (木幡光邦, website)
2nd trumpet in JUKE BOX credits. I've seen him in rehearsal photos but not on stage in the DVDs. He is a respected jazz musician with his own big band, famous enough that one of the members of Hero's Brass name drops Kohata as one of his teachers.
Yumoto Atsuki (湯本淳希, website)
3rd trumpet in JUKE BOX credits and visible in the JUKE BOX DVD next to Yokan. Here's a sourceless retweet of Yumoto announcing he's playing third trumpet for Kanjani in Kyocera dome (with bonus Yokan and Fujii).
Ozawa Atsushi (小澤篤士, profile)
4th trumpet in JUKE BOX credit and visible in the Jussai next to Yokan. He is in a big band called The Swingin' Devils.
the band in action: video
Since the Takoyaki All Stars are by definition not the main act, there's nothing really with them in the spotlight. Subaru's solo tour is promising; the band has been pretty visible throughout the promo so far, and if we get a making or even just any kind of back- or on-stage footage, chances are good the band members will get some screen time. [Edit: they do! I'll keep adding what I find in the list below.] The best Takoyaki All Stars footage I've found so far are fancams of Subaru's live in Rotterdam.
Watch as Subaru and band go from "foreign audience omg omg what to expect" over "whatever, this song grooves" through "they love us!" ...
... to "fuck yeah, this rocks!" (And then comes Kioku and as great a song as it is, there's just not much to rock in a ballad.)
Other video appearances:
another good Rotterdam fancam of Piano Man (same source as the second video above, so same angle)
JUKE BOX and Jussai DVD
Kyuu Jyou Show!! PV (spot Yokan, Fujii and Sato among the band, years before the Takoyaki All Stars were a thing)
Making of A, FIGHT bonus material (Yokan and Subaru work out the trumpet part of the song)
KavaxKora TV 140106 (that's the second KavaxKora, the one where Yoko plays the trumpet on TV for the first time; the backing band in the studio is mostly Takoyaki All Stars)
Sony CM: Subaru live tour rehearsal on sony.jp (rhythm section is there, brass section is a different one)
The Covers 150209 (with Subaru)
Kioku/Kokoro Odoreba LE bonus material: performance video
Kioku/Kokoro Odoreba promo: Music Station 150213, Count Down TV 150215
work hard, party hard: picspam!
[shingo-s-factory]
The original Takoyaki All Stars during the JUKE BOX tour.
[Kyuu Jyou Show!! PV]
Yokan, Fujii and Sato
[Jussai DVD]
Peach, Hamazaki and Ohkura's buttocks
[Jussai DVD]
Yokan and Maehara
[shingo-s-factory]
After a rainy Jussai performance.
[shingo-s-factory 1, 2]
Hamazaki and Sato
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
Brass Team!
[shingo-s-factory]
Rhythm section!
[shingo-s-factory]
Kanjanism rehearsals
[shingo-s-factory]
Takoyaki All Stars during Kanjanism
all good things must come to an: end
And with that beautiful picture we have reached the end of this pimp post. I hope you enjoyed it and now have warm fuzzy feelings for the Takoyaki All Stars.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to those who helped me put this post together. You know who you are. Thank you so much!
If you have questions, corrections, or additional info, want to talk about the Takoyaki All Stars or just tell me you were here and read this, I'll be happy to hear from you in the comments. Anon is on for those of you without an lj.
Off we go!
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
left to right: Sato (keyboard), Maehara (bass), Peach (guitar), Hamazaki (drums), Fujii (trombone), Sato (sax)
front: Ohnishi (guitar), Yokan (trumpet)
who are these people and why should I care: preface
The Takoyaki All Stars are the guys behind Kanjani8, and I mean that literally: they are the live band who've backed Kanjani in their concerts ever since JUKE BOX and are with Subaru on his solo live tour right now. The members also compose and arrange songs for Kanjani, record backing tracks and teach them how to play their instruments. If you like the music side of Kanjani, you like these people, even if you didn't know it yet. The Takoyaki All Stars are professional musicians, like working with each other, have fun in rehearsals and on stage and are all around awesome and worth knowing.
Kanjani's backing bands: a history
The EightxEighter concert tour was the first time Kanjani had a backing band, a live band that plays their songs, instead of having karaoke tracks played over the sound system. Why not earlier? Because live bands are a luxury. With band and strings, they're an additional 20-30 people that you have to pay not only for the hours they clock at the concert, but also for rehearsal time. They also need space on stage, sound system set ups, soundchecks, dressing rooms, altogether to be managed - and all that effort only to have them play exactly what's on the karaoke track anyway. So if it's so expensive, complicated and ultimately unneccessary, why have a band in the first place? Because it's way cooler. A good live band will always sound better than a pre-recorded track, and since Kanjani's concerts had gotten more opulent in all aspects - stage set-up, special effects and so on - I guess management thought it was time to up their game in terms of sound as well. (I think it feels weird that 8UPPERS, for example, didn't have a live band. Such a big production yet the music pre-recorded? Weird discrepancy.)
The EightxEighter backing band and strings were credited as "Monjai Orchestra" in the concert DVD end credits, without listing individuals. Shame on you, Teichiku. Hina thanks them at the end of the concert and they get some camera time (around the 1:16:00 mark on disc 2 of the ExE concert DVDs).
This is a cap of the credits from the 8EST concert DVD. The band got individual credit under the header "support band", the strings were credited as a whole as "8EST strings". Hina thanks "all orchestra member" at the end of the concert (01:11:20), and again they get camera time, only it's hard to see anything because of the rain and the plastic sheets they hung in front of the band to keep them dry. No idea whether they're the same people as in ExE. None of them are in the Takoyaki All Stars later.
Then we have JUKE BOX, which features the band formation this post is about for the first time and in which finally everyone gets their names immortalized in the credits under the header of "TAKOYAKI all stars". Takoyaki All Stars is also what Hina calls them as he thanks them (01:10:50), and we get some great shots of the band.
Jussai credits are half-assing it again and cut it down to a short "TAKOYAKI all stars", which is also what Hina thanks them as (52:40). They obviously learned from 8EST, the plastic sheets were pulled aside this time and cameras filmed close-ups of the band.
The Kanjanism tour is just over and the DVD yet to come, but the Takoyaki All Stars were backing again:
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
And finally, currently going on is Subaru's solo tour, sparked by his movie Misono Universe. He also has a backing band. As far as I know they're only referred to as "the band" but they're basically the Takoyaki All Stars again. Yokan called them TAKOYAKI&More on his instagramm.
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
the nature of the Takoyaki All Stars: a Q&A
What's their origin story?
The Takoyaki All Stars did not exist before JUKE BOX. Though some of them have worked together before, they were a random selection of professional musicians who were hired for the tour.
Why did Teichiku/J&A hire these particular people for JUKE BOX?
Kanjani had worked with some of the musicians before when recording albums, other musicians had backed other J&A groups in lives, some musicians had worked with each other. I suspect a lot of "I know a guy".
Are the Takoyaki All Stars a fixed group with the same members every time or is there fluctuation?
There are eight members I consider the core of the Takoyaki All Stars. They're the ones in the picture at the top of this post and have been regulars since the beginning. There seems to be a roster of musicians they call when they need substitutes or additional players. Example: the JUKE BOX credits (the only official listing of Takoyaki All Stars members) lists four trumpet players. One is a core member and permament fixture in the band, while the other three turn up sporadically time and again. I wouldn't call them regular band members but maybe regular substitutes.
Why did they keep the name, why not call them Omoidama Orchestra for Jussai and Coaster Band for Kanjanism?
Tactical decision by the management, I guess. It fits Kanjani's image to always use the same trusted band, so they made sure the name had recognition value. As for the unfortunate name "Takoyaki All Stars", I highly doubt the band had any say in it. I'd love to leave their dignity intact and call them something else but I don't really know what; "the band" is too vague and I haven't seen them refer to themselves as anything else, so Takoyaki All Stars it is.
Are they are band in their own right?
No, the Takoyaki All Stars are not active as a band outside of Kanjani concerts. They all have other projects and are active musicians, but this particular group of people works together only for Kanjani.
Do the Takoyaki All Stars work with Kanjani outside of live shows?
Yes. Members of the band were involved in composing or arranging 12 of the 24 songs Kanjani have released under Infinity Records so far. They have worked together long before that though, and the Takoyaki All Stars don't just compose and arrange songs for Kanjani, they also (part-)own the recording studios in which singles and albums are produced, and of course record tons of backing tracks.
When I started compiling info for this post, I was quickly derailed by the network of companies, studios and people that are behind the music of Kanjani. I tried to make sense of it until I realised I was getting side-tracked. I want to make a post about the whole music production side of Kanjani some day, with composers, arrangers, studio musicians and production companies and how they all fit together, but for now I'll focus on the live performance aspect of the Takoyaki All Stars.
You keep talking about the band, what about the strings?
I'm pretty much ignoring them here simply because I don't care as much. >___< From the pictures (see below) they seem fun and really pretty, and I'm sure each one is an excellent musician with their own interesting backstory. I'm just not that interested in strings though, and it doesn't help that they're a big group of girls and matching names to faces would be tedious. If anyone knows more, I'd love to hear about them, but I'll keep my research and this post to the band.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: the band
Ohnishi Shogo
大西省吾
guitar, band leader
instruments: guitars
easy to recognize by: his cheekbones
day job: song writer and arranger at big Jpop song manufactory agehasprings (profile)
blog: none I know of
If you pay attention to the credits on Kanjani's CD releases, you'll recognize the name. Ohnishi wrote 413man and Hitotsu no Uta, arranged dozens of Kanjani songs and recorded guitar and digital instrument tracks for even more. If you like Kanjani's sound, you can thank him, he's responsible for a large chunk of it.
Ohnishi is the Takoyaki All Stars band leader. The creative part of Ohnishi's job is probably mostly deciding on adjustments in song arrangements, the administrative part is motivating, reprimanding, organising, informing and generally herding the musicians. Keyboarder Sato praised Ohnishi on his blog, saying that he did an amazing job managing the 21 people that made up the band and "string ladies" backing in Jussai, and that the teamwork was impressive.
Peach
guitar
instruments: guitars
easy to recognise by: his keeping out of the spot light, his goatee
day job: song writer and arranger at small Jpop song manufactory B.B.コネクション (B. B. connection) (mini profile)
blog: HAHAHA no, hence the crappy crop above
Peach is another old friend from Kanjani's song credits. He didn't do quite as much as Ohnishi yet more people know him, probably because of the romanji name. Peach wrote West Side!! and Gamushara Kyoushinkyoku, and arranged and recorded lots of other songs.
It seems he likes to keep a low profile. "Peach" is not just a stage name, it's a pseudonym that doesn't appear outside his work with Kanjani. When fans first Googled him, they couldn't find anything about him (B. B. connection was founded only in 2013) and theorised "Peach" might be a pseudonym by Yasu and/or Ryo.
Maehara Toshitsugu
前原利次
bass
instruments: bass
easy to recognise by: his rakish hair
day job: song writer and arranger at B.B.コネクション (mini profile), part owner (?) of studio Quatre Sounds
blog: ameblo
Quatre Sounds is a small, two person studio and has done one song for Kanjani so far: This Moment, B-side on Hesomagari. Since that's one of my favourite arrangements I'd love it if they worked together again one day.
Maehara has released a few albums with his rock band Denial, in which he plays the same red Fender bass he plays seemingly everywhere. I find that funny because amateur Maru has at least four basses and switches according to song and then pro Maehara is like, one for all! He does own more basses, like this electronic double bass thing, but I seem to only ever see him play the red one.
It's very likely that Maehara is Maru's go-to guy for all things bass.
Hamazaki Daichi
浜崎大地
drums
instruments: drums, percussion
easy to recognise by: his height (183 cm according to his profile, and I believe it)
day job: freelance drummer and percussionist, composer, arranger (website)
blog: on his website
Hamazaki learned piano as a child, started on drums at 16 and went on to study drums and percussion ("everything from congas to marimba") at Nihon University. And let me tell you, despite what you may think when you see Yoko, percussion is nothing to laugh at. It includes a wide range of vastly different instruments like woodblock, cymbals, bongos, timpani and marimbaphone, to name just a few, and playing each of them is a science on its own. It seems he mostly plays live shows for various artists, both drums and percussion. He also writes songs.
I love watching him play. He's relaxed, self-assuredly competent and makes playing the drums look effortless. I got to meet Hamazaki in Rotterdam and he was really nice and easygoing and just seems like an all around great guy.
Sato Shingo
佐藤真吾
keyboard
instruments: keyboard
easy to recognise by: his flat cap, his cute face
day job: freelance keyboarder, composer, arranger (probably)
blog: Sato Shingo's Diary (warning: a lot of pictures, seriously, I put that in italics for a reason)
Since I haven't found anything like an official profile, I don't know about his professional background. Judging by his blog he's a freelance keyboarder. He may have his own band, I'm not sure. Like drummer Hamazaki, he backs various artists in their lives and on TV, which may also be how they met - Hamazaki and he have worked together before the Takoyaki All Stars.
Sato's blog is a delight. He posts about his bands, rehearsals, food, and his three little daughters, and he's usually in the middle of the picture wearing a flat cap and looking cute. I'll definitely keep an eye on it.
YOKAN
trumpet
instruments: ALL OF THEM - trumpet, sax, trombone, flute, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, percussion, ...
easy to recognise by: his long blond hair, his colourful clothes, his platform heels
day job: ALL OF THEM - has his own tiny colourful studio where he writes, arranges and records
blog: ALL OF THEM - twitter, instagramm, facebook, ameblo, ...
Yokan is an amazingly talented musician and knows how to do everything you might need to when making a song - he can write, arrange, play, record, mix and perform. While he plays a lot of instruments, Yokan's focus are wind instruments and his main instrument is the trumpet. He has been Kanjani's go-to guy for anything wind instrument related ever since Kanjani discovered what they're good for; he arranges almost all and records a lot of the wind instrument parts on Kanjani's CDs. He's also Yoko's trumpet teacher.
Yokan is the best known Kanjani music support staff, maybe the best known Kanjani staff period. You can't parade a musician with wild hair and colourful outfits in front of Kanjani fans and expect them to ignore him. Fan interest is fuelled even more by him being an avid blogger. Yokan chats regularly with his over 8.5k followers on twitter, and he posts backstage and rehearsal pics on instagramm all the time. A lot of his followers are Kanjani fans, he knows it and he caters to them, but he's also a pro and doesn't release anything he could get in trouble with J&A for.
Fujii Hiroki
フジイ ヒロキ
trombone
instruments: trombone
easy to recognise by: his red glasses, his red shirts
day job: freelance trombone player and teacher, composer, arranger (website)
blog: on his website, facebook
Fujii has an English biography on his website! Kudos. From that and his website in general I understand that he studied trombone in the US, played in various professional bands in Japan (Disney World bands, among others), leads his own brass band Hero's Brass which he also arranges music for, does charity work and has (or is part of) a music school or studio where he teaches trombone.
My very sensible mum would say that out of all the Takoyaki All Stars members, he's the most "solid". From what I can tell, everyone else are either the archetypical artists, living from project to project, or are in the pop music industry, but in the school/studio, Fujii has his own down to earth business. Personally, I'm mostly very fond of the fact that he's not just playing the trombone for himself but spreads the love by teaching.
Random observation: I have this inkling that maybe his favourite colour might possibly be red. Just a feeling.
Sato Kimihiko
佐藤公彦
tenor saxophone
instruments: saxophone family
easy to recognise by: his bowler or other slim-brimmed hat
day job: freelance saxophone player, composer, arranger; solo career as Sawanaka Kenzou (website)
blog: facebook as Sawanaka Kenzou
There isn't a lot of info on Sato Kimihiko, but there is on Sawanaka Kenzou (沢中 健三). I think Sato is his real name and Sawanaka the alias; there was a singer named Sato Kimihiko, so I guess Sato changed his name to avoid confusion. Anyway, Sawanaka is a musician in a genre he calls "mood tenor", enka songs played on tenor sax. He has released a few CDs and regularly appears on TV shows and events, which I think is pretty good for that kind of music.
I have to admit, the music snob in me was amused when I found out about Sawanaka Kenzou. I mean, mood tenor, really? Then I immediately felt bad. To each his own, after all. Sato seems to genuinely enjoy it and he managed to make a successful career from it. Not every musician can say that. You go, Sawanaka Kenzou!
And that's it for what I consider the core members of the Takoyaki All Stars band. Others listed in the JUKE BOX credits:
Nishimura Shinya (???)
2nd drummer in JUKE BOX credits. Haven't found anything.
Katsuya Takashi (???)
2nd keyboarder in JUKE BOX credits. Haven't found anything on him either.
Kohata Mitsukuni a.k.a. Kunizo (木幡光邦, website)
2nd trumpet in JUKE BOX credits. I've seen him in rehearsal photos but not on stage in the DVDs. He is a respected jazz musician with his own big band, famous enough that one of the members of Hero's Brass name drops Kohata as one of his teachers.
Yumoto Atsuki (湯本淳希, website)
3rd trumpet in JUKE BOX credits and visible in the JUKE BOX DVD next to Yokan. Here's a sourceless retweet of Yumoto announcing he's playing third trumpet for Kanjani in Kyocera dome (with bonus Yokan and Fujii).
Ozawa Atsushi (小澤篤士, profile)
4th trumpet in JUKE BOX credit and visible in the Jussai next to Yokan. He is in a big band called The Swingin' Devils.
the band in action: video
Since the Takoyaki All Stars are by definition not the main act, there's nothing really with them in the spotlight. Subaru's solo tour is promising; the band has been pretty visible throughout the promo so far, and if we get a making or even just any kind of back- or on-stage footage, chances are good the band members will get some screen time. [Edit: they do! I'll keep adding what I find in the list below.] The best Takoyaki All Stars footage I've found so far are fancams of Subaru's live in Rotterdam.
Click to viewWatch as Subaru and band go from "foreign audience omg omg what to expect" over "whatever, this song grooves" through "they love us!" ...
... to "fuck yeah, this rocks!" (And then comes Kioku and as great a song as it is, there's just not much to rock in a ballad.)
Other video appearances:
another good Rotterdam fancam of Piano Man (same source as the second video above, so same angle)
JUKE BOX and Jussai DVD
Kyuu Jyou Show!! PV (spot Yokan, Fujii and Sato among the band, years before the Takoyaki All Stars were a thing)
Making of A, FIGHT bonus material (Yokan and Subaru work out the trumpet part of the song)
KavaxKora TV 140106 (that's the second KavaxKora, the one where Yoko plays the trumpet on TV for the first time; the backing band in the studio is mostly Takoyaki All Stars)
Sony CM: Subaru live tour rehearsal on sony.jp (rhythm section is there, brass section is a different one)
The Covers 150209 (with Subaru)
Kioku/Kokoro Odoreba LE bonus material: performance video
Kioku/Kokoro Odoreba promo: Music Station 150213, Count Down TV 150215
work hard, party hard: picspam!
[shingo-s-factory]
The original Takoyaki All Stars during the JUKE BOX tour.
[Kyuu Jyou Show!! PV]
Yokan, Fujii and Sato
[Jussai DVD]
Peach, Hamazaki and Ohkura's buttocks
[Jussai DVD]
Yokan and Maehara
[shingo-s-factory]
After a rainy Jussai performance.
[shingo-s-factory 1, 2]
Hamazaki and Sato
[yokanstudio@instagramm]
Brass Team!
[shingo-s-factory]
Rhythm section!
[shingo-s-factory]
Kanjanism rehearsals
[shingo-s-factory]
Takoyaki All Stars during Kanjanism
all good things must come to an: end
And with that beautiful picture we have reached the end of this pimp post. I hope you enjoyed it and now have warm fuzzy feelings for the Takoyaki All Stars.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to those who helped me put this post together. You know who you are. Thank you so much!
If you have questions, corrections, or additional info, want to talk about the Takoyaki All Stars or just tell me you were here and read this, I'll be happy to hear from you in the comments. Anon is on for those of you without an lj.