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Zettaimu's BIO/MEMBERS

1988 Yoshihiro Orii
1988 Hisashi Furue
1989 Zettaimu's Live
1999 Hisashi Furue
2000 Zettaimu Members
2000 Zettaimu Members
2000 Yoshihiro Orii
2000 Mika Nohara
2001 Shigeharu Toyooka
2001 Michinobu Matsuhashi
2000 Keiichi Shimizu
Flyer for Live
2000 Zettaimu's Live
2000 Zettaimu's Live
2001 Zettaimu's Live
2001 Zettaimu's Live
Flyer for Live
2001 Zettaimu's Live
2002 Zettaimu's Live
2002 Zettaimu's Live
Flyer for Live
Jul. 4, 2002 at McREDS  (LA, USA)

act
​1

1983~1991

Zettaimu's early period, origin

1989 Zettaimu's live, Tokyo

In 1981, Hisashi Furue formed a VELVET UNDERGROUND copy band called "Artgaous" with his best friend Hidefumi Nakamura of high school days and others, and appeared at "Mita Festival" while attending Keio University. After that, he started producing original songs and played with some progressive rock bands outside the university. He was pursuing an avant-garde sound based on British rock.

However, Furue who was a college student, suddenly began to question his origin as a Japanese, became a neurose due to conflicts in his daily life, dropped out of college, and he was absorbed in "Zen Buddhism".

In 1982, drummer Yoshihiro Orii and others joined as members. Furue formed "Neutral News" to work only with original songs. It based on British rock, the lyrics were mainly in English.

In 1983, Hisashi Furue had some doubts about his own originality. Because he liked not only rock music but old Japanese roots music, melody and "Ma" (the term for a specific Japanese concept of negative space).

He formed Zettaimu for mixing together many styles of music, from Japanese roots music, the psychedelic sounds of the 60's and 70's, to more modern gothic styles.

In 1989, the first album My Grandma Says... (Vinyl) was released by Garando Records.

As Japan floated into the bubble economy, music critic "Yoichi Shibuya" said about the album, "This darkness is rare nowadays. The band is a unique newcomer group aiming for indigenous rock in Japan".

In 1991, live recording Zettaimu Live! (cassette) was released by Garando Records.

Furue was tired of the live performance in Japan and suspended it. And act 1 ended with it.

1989 My Grandma Says...

1989

My Grandma Says...

1st album​

(Vinyl) 

1991 Zettaimu Live!

1991

Zettaimu Live!

live recording

(Casette) 

discography

  • Yoshihiro Orii (1983~2001) - Drums, Background Vocals

  • Hisashi Furue (1983~) - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Pianos, Lyrics, Composer...

  • Shin Sato (1983~1984) - Bass

  • Tomoaki Nagasaki (1983~1984) - Keyboards

  • Osamu Nakamura (1986) - Bass

  • Masakazu Yokoyama (1985~1989) - Keyboards, Pianos, Background Vocals

musicians

  • Wed., October 29, 1986 - Mandala (Kichijyoji, Tokyo)

  • Mon., Nov. 24, 1986 - Wako University (Machida, Tokyo)

  • Sat., May 13, 1989 - Chocolate City (Yoyogi, Tokyo)

  • Sun., Jul., 23, 1989 - Lazy Ways (Koenji, Tokyo)

  • 1989 - LIVE STATION (Meguro, Tokyo)

w/ LIBIDO

and many more

1989 Chorolate City

past shows/tours

BIO-ACT1
BIO-ACT2

act
​2

1996~2002

Dawn of Zettaimu's sound

2002 US Live @Los Angels

In 1997, once Hisashi Furue put his new song clips (unfinished)  on his website, some labels, music critics, musicians in various countries, such as Europe and America appreciated his stuff. Some labels asked for him to give some of his tracks.

In 1998, Zettaimu joined the compilation cd COWBOYS IN TOKYO by US label TWIN BHUDDA RECORDS with some indie bands from Texas.

In 1998, Zettaimu joined the compilation cd Pop Goes The World by US label RPM (USA) with some famous indie bands from Europe, US and Oceania.

In 1998, their second album In The Decadent Times was released abroad earlier than in Japan by Garando Records. It was highly regarded abroad, especially in Europe and US as an alternative rock music. The band expressed their originality in the various and different styles of music, alternative, psychedelic, progressive rock, pops.

In 2000, the band resumed live with the new members for the first time in 10 years. And vocalist Mika Nohara and keyboardist Shigeharu Toyooka joined the band.

The band performed live at the music club MANDA-LA2 (Kichijyoji, Tokyo) on April 20, 2001 with the famous band Katsurei in the Japanese indie scene. Furue was so touched with the drumming of Michinobu Matsuhashi, the drummer of Katsurei.

In July 2001,  after the drummer Yoshihiro Orii left the band, Furue invited the drummer Michinobu Matsuhashi to Zettaimu and he immediately joined the band.

On November 8, 2001 Eugene La Branch (US producer) visited their live, which was the first for Michinobu Matsuhashi as Zettaimu drummer. Eugene liked Zettaimu sound so much and offered US tour, recording in Miami, Europe tour to the band.

In 2002, the band signed a three-year contract with Eugene's company for the recording etc. Their first US tour mainly on the West Coast, thanks to Eugene's kind help and his financial support. But the contract was canceled because of some troubles on the tour. And act 2 ended with it.

1998 In The Decadent Times

1998

In The Decadent TImes

2nd album​

(CD)

1998 COWBOYS IN TOKYO

1998

COWBOYS IN TOKYO

*Compilation CD

​(USA)

1998 Pop Goes The World

1998

Pop Goes The World

*Compilation CD

(USA) 

discography

  • Yoshihiro Orii (1983~2001) - Drums, Lyrics

  • MIka Nohara (2000~2001) - Vocals, Background Vocals, Guitars

  • Shigeharu Toyooka (2000~2004) - Keyboards
  • Michinobu Matsuhashi (2001~) - Drums

  • Hisashi Furue (1983~) - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Pianos, Lyrics, Composer...

  • Shingo Suzuki (1999~2000) - Bass

  • Keiichi Shimizu (2000~2001) - Bass

  • Hiromitsu Nakamura (2002) - Bass

  • Eiko Kudo (2002) - Vocals, Background Vocals

musicians

  • Thu., Jan. 27, 2000 - CLUB APICA (Asagaya, Tokyo)

  • Sat., Feb. 26, 2000 - Silver Elephant (Kichijyoji, Tokyo)

  • Wed., Apr. 26, 2000 - MANDA-LA2 (Kichijyoji, Tokyo)

  • Wed., May 31, 2000 - BEARS (Nanba, Osaka)

  • Thu., Jun. 1, 2000 - Jittoku (Kyoto)

  • Fri., Jul. 7, 2000 - LOFT (Shinjuku, Tokyo)

  • Tue., Dec. 12, 2000 - GOODMAN (Akihabara, Tokyo)

  • Fri., Apr. 20, 2001 - MANDA-LA2 (Kichijyoji, Tokyo)

  • Sun., Jun. 3, 2001 - club asia (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Sat., Jun. 23, 2001 - Aoi Heya (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Thu., Nov., 8, 2001 - club asia (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Sat., Nov., 24, 2001 - Aoi Heya (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Sat., Jan. 19, 2002 - 'CRY BABY CRY' club asia (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • San., Jan. 27, 2002 - Hotshot (Okubo, Tokyo)

  • Tue., Mar. 12, 2002 - Higashimatsuyama Citizen's Cultural Center (Higashimatsuyama, Saitama)

  • Wed., Apr. 10, 2002 - FANDANGO (Juso, Osaka)

  • Thu., Apr. 11, 2002 - club metro (Kyoto)

w/ Sano Shiro Band

  • Jun.~Jul. 2002 - US Tour (SF, LA)

2002 club metro

2002 club metro

2001 Aoi Heya

2001 Aoi Heya

past shows/tours

BIO-ACT3

act
3

2003~2007

Building up Zettaimu's sound

2003 Photo for the 3rd.album, What Can I Do @Caretta Shiodome  Tokyo, JAPAN

2003 @Caretta Shiodome

Tokyo, JAPAN

In March 2003, Furue and Matsuhashi were making a new album. And singer Kanako as a key person of act 3 joined the band and immediately participated in the recording. And in May bassist May joined the band and immediately participated in the recording too.

In Oct. 2003, the 3rd album What Can I Do was released in Japan after an interval of five years. In 2004, the song CLASS V (five) recorded in the album was selected on Japanese compilation cd J-Indies Archive Secret famous tune from JAPAN by Japanese label ACCESS ENTERTAINMENT. By the way, the jacket image is a Zettaimu's live photo at Neverland (Nara).

In 2004,  after the bassist May left the band.

In 2005, the 4th album Oiran was released in Japan. In 2006 Oiran, the title track of the album was selected as the opening track on the compilation cd ROCK IN ASIA by a Singapore label ​Kingsworld Management.

In May 2005,  Tomoyuki Ohnishi joined the band.

In 2007, the 5th album Miroque was released from MUSEA (the progressive rock label globally, from France) and POSEIDON (Japanese label for progressive rock). The band had some promotional shows in JAPAN (Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo) and US (the West Coast).

The band appeared on the Japanese BS-NihonTV program "MIT Revolutions" in April 2007.

The singer Kanako left the band after performing live at Sanctuary (Tokyo) in September 2007. Kanako left for India to practice music. And act 3 ended with it.

2003 What Can I Do

2003

What Can I Do

3rd album​

2004 J-Indies Archive Secret famous tune

2004

J-Indies Archive

Secret famous tune

*Compilation CD

​(JAPAN)

2005 Oiran

2005

Oiran

4th album

2006 ROCK IN ASIA

2006

ROCK IN ASIA

*Compilation CD

​(Singapore)

2007 Miroque

2007

Miroque

5th album​

MUSEA (France)

discography

  • Kanako (2003~2007) - Vocals, Background Vocals

  • May (2003~2004) - Bass, Background Vocals

  • Shigeharu Toyooka (2000~2004) - Keyboards

  • Tomoyuki Ohnishi (2005~2008) - Bass

  • Michinobu Matsuhashi (2001~) - Drums

  • Hisashi Furue (1983~) - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Pianos, Lyrics, Composer...

musicians

  • Thu., Oct. 2, 2003 - ShowBoat (Koenji, Tokyo)

  • Sun., Oct. 12, 2003 - CROGODILE (Harajuku, Tokyo)

  • Sat., Oct. 25, 2003 - club metro (Kyoto)

  • San., Oct. 26, 2003 - Neverland (Nara)

  • Mon., Oct. 27, 2003 - BEARS (Nanba, Osaka)

  • Thu., Nov. 6, 2003 - MANDA-LA2 (kichijyoji, Tokyo)

  • Mon., Nov. 17, 2003 - RATTAN (Maebashi, Gunma)

  • Sat., Nov. 22, 2003 - Bar Rengetsu (Meguro, Tokyo)

  • San., Dec. 14, 2003 - Jittoku (Kyoto)

  • Mon., Dec. 15, 2003 - STAR CLUB (Kobe)

  • Tue., Dec. 16, 2003 - FANDANGO (Juso, Osaka)

  • Wed., Dec. 17, 2003 - NEVERLAND (Nara)

  • Thu., Dec. 18, 2003 - TOKUZO (Nagoya)

  • Sat., Dec. 27, 2003 - Aoi Heya (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Tue., Jan. 20, 2004 - Lamama (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Fri., Feb. 27, 2004 - Bad Lands (Hiroshima)

  • Sat., Feb. 28, 2004 -  VIVRE HALL (Fukuoka)

  • San., Feb. 29, 2004 - MUSHROOM (Himeji, Hyogo)

  • Tue., Aug. 24, 2004 - Club Lizard (Yokohama)

  • Mon., Feb. 21, 2005 - RAG (Sanjo, Kyoto)

  • Tue., Feb. 22, 2005 - TOKUZO (Nagoya)

  • Wed., Feb. 23, 2005 - AZ (Kanazawa, Ishikawa)

  • Thu., Feb. 24, 2005 - JUNKBOX (Nagano)

  • Sat., Mar. 19, 2005 - CROGODILE (Harajuku, Tokyo)

  • Sat., Mar. 26, 2005 - Aoi Heya (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • Sat., May 14, 2005-05-14 - 'DESIGN FESTA' Tokyo Big Sight (Ariake, Tokyo)

  • Wed., Jun. 1, 2005 - CROGODILE (Harajuku, Tokyo)

  • Thu., Jun. 30, 2005 - MACANA (Sendai, Miyagi)

  • Mon., Aug. 8, 2005 - 'NPO Charity' HEADPOWER (Shinjuku, Tokyo)

  • San., Nov. 13, 2005 - dress TOKYO (Akihabara, Tokyo)

  • Tue., Feb. 20, 2007 - Bottom of the hill (San Francisco)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • Wed., Feb. 21, 2007 - KZSU (FM radio station from Stanford University, California, US)

  • Thu., Feb. 22, 2007 - Gingerbread House (San Jose, California, US)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • Fri., Feb. 23, 2007 - KFJC (FM radio station from FOOTHILL COLLEGE, California, US)

  • Sat., Feb. 24, 2007 - IL Corral (Los Angeles, California, US)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • Mon., Mar. 26, 2007 - RAG (Sanjo, Kyoto)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • Tue., Mar. 27, 2007 - FANDANGO (Juso, Osaka)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • Wed., Mar. 28, 2007 - TOKUZO (Nagoya)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • Sun., Apr. 1, 2007 - dress TOKYO (Akihabara, Tokyo)

w/ HANS KELLER (SF)

  • San., Sep. 16, 2007 - Sanctuary (Numabukuro, Tokyo)

2007 MIROQUE tour

2007 MIROQUE tour

2004 West Japan tour

2004 West Japan tour

past shows/tours

BIO-ACT4

act

​4

2008~2014

Mature period of Zettaimu sound

2011 Zettaimu's Live, Tokyo

2011 Zettaimu's live, Tokyo

ELTON JOHN

“The music sounds great!!

I would gladly work with the band"

 

—  Stuart Epps, UK Producer For

ELTON JOHN, LED ZEPPELIN... 

“Very creative !!

I look forward to working with you soon. I took the Cd's with me to listen in the car and the plane I really enjoyed them. It's nice to listen to something different for a change!!!


Great Work!!!"

"Create a whole new sound that neither Japan or the US has heard as a collaboration."

 

—  Andre Betts,

Madonna's

Record Producer 

In 2008, Zettaimu joined the compilation cd Jap's Progre by Japanese label YggrDrasill Records with some famous progressive rock bands from JAPAN. The band featured the new unique song On Sowaka. The lyrics are mostly written in Sanskrit, and the others are written in Japanese, English, French, German and Russian. They made an ironic remark in the song about the bad digital era of deadlock.

A new bassist Hiroaki Horiuchi and female singer Mariko joined the band and they performed some shows in Tokyo.

In 2009, a world-famous producer STUART EPPS contacted Zettaimu. He has been producing many of the world-famous artists including ELTON JOHN, LED ZEPPELIN and more) in the UK. He is so interested to work with Zettaimu.

In 2009, Madonna's Record Producer Andre Betts contacted Zettaimu. He wants to create a whole new sound that neither Japan or the US has heard as a collaboration with Zettaimu.

In 2011, Zettaimu joined international charity CD Under A Big Red Sun with the song On Sowaka. The CD was proceeded by UK organisation OxFam International and produced by US label Zos Kia Sound Recordings.

In 2012, the single Class Five (unplugged version) was released by Garando Records.

In 2013, the singles Kuroi Tenshi, Black Angel were released by Garando Records.

In 2014, the single Que Sera Sera  was released by Garando Records.

Furue wanted to have more freedom in making different types of music while having fun and relaxed. And act 4 ended naturally.

2008 Jap's Progre

2008

Jap's Progre

*Compilation CD

(JAPAN)

2011 Under A Big Red Sun

2011

Under A Big Red Sun

*Compilation CD

(USA)

2012 Class Five

2012

CLASS FIVE

single

2013 Kuroi Tenshi

2013

Kuroi Tenshi

single

2014 Que Sera Sera

2014

Que Sera Sera

single

discography

  • Mayumi Kotani (2008) - Vocals

  • Jeft (2009~2010, Mexico) - Keyboards

  • Hiroaki Horiuchi (2009~2013) - Bass

  • Mariko (2009~2013) - Vocals, Background Vocals

  • Michinobu Matsuhashi (2001~) - Drums

  • Hisashi Furue (1983~) - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Pianos, Lyrics, Composer...

musicians

  • San., May 9, 2010 - Sanctuary (Numabukuro, Tokyo)

  • Mon., May 24, 2010 - Turning (Nishi- Ogikubo, Tokyo)

  • Wed., Aug. 18, 2010 - ShowBoat (Koenji, Tokyo)

  • San., Oct. 31, 2010 - Silver Elephant (Kichijyoji, Tokyo)

  • Tue., Jan. 18, 2011 - Lamama (Shibuya, Tokyo)

  • San., Feb. 6, 2011 - UFO CLUB (Koenji, Tokyo)

2010 Sanctuary
2010 Sanctuary
2011 UFO CLUB

2011 UFO CLUB

past shows/tours

Madonna
BIO-ACT5

act
​5

2015~

Returning to the origin of Zettaimu

2014 PV for the single, Carry On Till Tomorrow

2015 Carry On Till Tomorrow

In 2014 Furue visited the Moulin Rouge in Paris, he felt the smell and shadow of Lautrec in every corner of the cabaret, and soon after returning to Japan he wrote some Moulin Rouge-themed songs. Lautrec is an artist that he has fallen in love with since he was young. Also he composed some songs in French with his French friend Neven.

In 2015 Furue released the cover version of Badfinger's masterpiece Carry On Till Tomorrow as a single suddenly. That is the first cover for Zettaimu.

In 2016 the single Reality was released. Kanako (act 3 key person) who went to India for music training returned to Japan and recorded it for the band.

in 2017 a new version On Sowaka were released and also a new album new Clear( ); after ten years from the last one.

In November 2019, a new French singer Jérémy joined the recording of the single Soldat De Plomb, the first song written in French was released by Garando Records.

In 2021, the single Moulin Rouge~L'ombre de Lautrece (Furue sang the first song written in French) and also the single My Grandma Says 2021  was released by Garando Records.

In 2022, Putin's invasion of Ukraine began and Furue couldn't stand his crazy cruelty and composed a new song Naked King Is Back In The U.S.S.R !?. That is a serious parody that has Beatles songs motif.

2015 Carry On Till Tomorrow
2016 Reality

2016

Reality

single

2017 On Sowaka

2017

On Sowaka

single

2017 new Clear( );

2017

new Clear( );

6th album​

2019 Soldat De Plomb

2019

Soldat De Plomb

single

2021 Moulin Rouge~L'ombre de Lautrec
2021 My Grandma Says 2021
NK_4_3500x3500.png

discography

  • Jérémy (2019~2020, France) - Vocals

  • Michinobu Matsuhashi (2001~) - Drums

  • Hisashi Furue (1983~) - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Pianos, Lyrics, Composer...

musicians

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