Monkey Majik
Monkey Majik is a Canadian-Japanese pop rock band. It was founded in 2001 and consists of the Canadian brothers Maynard and Blaise Plant and two Japanese members (Tax and Dick).
Band profile
Since half of the members are of foreign origin and sing the lyrics in both Japanese and English, the band is sometimes referred to as a "hybrid band". Monkey Majik is gamanaged by Edward Limited. You are under contract with binyl records , a subsidiary of the Japanese entertainment group Avex . The live recordings are sold by Under Horse Records , where the band was signed before their major label debut. Despite the band's great success, their headquarters are in Sendai, about 350 km outside of Tokyo. This makes them very different from the majority of Japanese musicians who often move to Tokyo after being successful in the mainstream scene.
Band members
- Maynard Plant (born August 6, 1975 in Ottawa , Ontario , Canada): vocals and guitar. Maynard Plant, who has a degree from Queen's University, is the founder of the band. He is fluent in English, French and Japanese and is proficient in the Nambu dialect ( な ん ぶ べ ん , Nambu-ben ). While still in Canada, he wrote songs to pass the time, but only performed privately as a musician. He came to Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). Monkey Majik was originally founded in 2000 together with Thomas Pritchard, Chad Ivany and Misao Urushizaka. When Pritchard and Ivana left the band, Maynard invited his younger brother into the group. He has a lot of respect for the band Godiego, from whose song "Monkey Majik" the band name is derived. He even goes so far as to call them "gods". Other Japanese musicians he greatly admires include UA, Oda Masashi, and Spitz. Maynard's solo project blanc., Which was started in 2003, has earned him a lot of recognition in Asia. blanc.'s collaborations with freeTEMPO and other Japanese underground artists have given him special recognition in Korea and China. His father is also a professional musician who has played with Paul Anka in the past.
- Blaise Plant (born Blaise Joseph Anthony Plant in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 18, 1980): vocals and guitar. Maynard's younger brother is fluent in English, French and Japanese. Blaise plays for a local ice hockey team in Sendai. He was active as a singer and songwriter when he was in high school and performing in clubs. In Canada he studied at the University of Lethbridge and was a solo artist and actor. Blaise continued the band with Maynard in 2001. In 2007 he started his own label, daydream PRODUCTIONS, and put his official blog online. On March 3rd, 2008 he started his solo project "The Alphabet Project", in which every song landed at number 1 on the Syncl Download Charts. Thanks to the mix of English, Japanese and French, "The Alphabet Project" has made a name for itself in Canada, the USA, Europe and Asia. Blaise will release his first full album, Painting Music, this fall and is currently working on a film he is directing.
- tax tax (civil: Takuya Kikuchi ( 菊池 拓哉 ); born August 31, 1975 in Sendai , Miyagi Prefecture , Japan): drums. tax largely co-wrote the songs. He originally worked as a dental technician for 5 years and then became an office worker. He was introduced to Maynard and Blaise through a friend. Before he became the drummer for Monkey Majik, his experience with the instrument consisted of just two years in junior high school.
- DICK (born March 10, 1978 in Sapporo , Hokkaidō , Japan): bassist. He was previously a member of a funk soul band called Soul Addiction under the name Hideki Dick Mori. He was also a member of a jazz band called Private Kitchen. The three members invited DICK, who was well known as a bass player in Sendai, to a bar in Kokubun Cho. They got him to drink until he agreed to join Monkey Majik. He became a member and replaced Urushizaka with the release of the band's second indie album "eastview".
Discography
Albums
publication | title | Chart position ( Oricon ) | Sales (Japan) | Album type |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 13, 2002 | TIRED | - | 1,000 | 1st EP (self-distribution) |
September 24, 2003 | SPADE | 186 | - | 1st studio album (independent debut on Under Horse Records ) |
February 9, 2005 | Lily | 216 | - | 1st mini album |
April 13, 2005 | Get started | 124 | - | 2nd mini album |
September 21, 2005 | eastview | 114 | - | 2nd studio album |
March 8, 2006 | BEST 2000-2005 | 18th | 23,730 | 1. Best of album |
May 24, 2006 | Thank you | 5 | 83,810 | 3rd studio album (major debut on binyl records ) |
July 25, 2007 | Sora wa Maru de | 3 | 247,688 | 4th studio album |
September 3, 2008 | TIME | 2 | 110,668 | 5th studio album |
2013 | DNA | - | - | - |
Singles
publication | title | Chart position ( Oricon ) | Sales (Japan) | Album type |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 18, 2006 | fly | 19th | 22,214 | 1. Single |
February 22, 2006 | Around The World | 4th | 160,755 | 2nd single |
October 4, 2006 | Futari | 15th | 10,052 | 3. Single |
February 7, 2007 | Picture perfect | 23 | 5,527 | 4th single feat. m-flo |
March 14, 2007 | Sotsugyō, soshite mirai e. | 24 | 5,410 | 5th single feat. SEAMO |
April 25, 2007 | Change | 52 | - | 6. Single feat. Yoshida Brothers |
June 27, 2007 | MONKEY MAGIC | 20th | 26,788 | 7. Single |
April 23, 2008 | Together / Akari / Fall Back | 11 | 33,346 | 8. Single |
June 25, 2008 | Aitakute / MORNING-EVENING / goin 'places | 21st | 6,498 | 9. Single |
August 27, 2008 | Tada, arigato | 28 | 4,851 | 10. Single |
June 10, 2009 | Aishiteru | 13 | 7,686 | 11. Single |
Web links
- All the rage in Tokyo . The Ottawa Citizen
- East-end brothers hit the big time in Japanese music scene . eastottawa.ca; Retrieved November 9, 2008.
- monkeymajik.com (Shockwave Flash) Monkey Majik Official Web Site (Japanese); Retrieved February 7, 2007.
- Original Feature Program on Monkey Majik. Gyao.com (Japanese); Retrieved September 16, 2007.