MUCC was formed in May 1997 with TATOO on vocals, Miya on guitar, Hiro on bass, and SATOchi on drums. After catching the attention of Ao, leader of cali≠gari, they were signed by the label Misshitsu Neurose.
Wasting little time, they released their first demo tapes within a few months of each other. NO!, released December 1997, and Aika, released March 1998, were both distributed at their live performances. At the end of 1998, they released their third demo, which was limited to only 100 copies and given away for free at the end of a live.
At the beginning of 1999, MUCC had their first one-man live at the Mito lighthouse in Ibaraki and released their fourth demo Shuuka. Around this time, Hiro decided to leave the band. However, he was quickly replaced by YUKKE. In December, they released their first album, Antique.
In 2000, MUCC began receiving much more attention from the press, making their first appearances in magazines such as Fool's Mate and SHOXX. That August also saw TATOO change his name to Tatsuro—his real name—claiming that TATOO was dead. The band went through a name change as well around that time, deciding to write their name as “Mukku” in katakana from that point on.
The next two years were very busy for the band, as they had several releases and were featured on TV shows such as "Hot wave" and "Jee jee trap." In 2002, their album Homura uta sold out so fast that a second pressing was released just a month later. That year also saw the band leave Misshitsu Neurose and start up their own record label, Shu, under Danger Crue, Inc.
In 2003, MUCC signed a contract with UNIVERSAL MUSIC and made their major debut with the release of an album called Zekuu. However, although the band began distributing their releases through UNIVERSAL, they remained on their own label. The final concert of their tour to promote Zekuu took place at Tokyo Bay NK Hall and was later released on DVD. At the end of the year, MUCC participated in the Beautifool's festival, which was organized by Fool's Mate, alongside bands such as the GazettE, deadman, and MIYAVI.
2004 started off successfully with a ten-concert tour of the Tokyo area. By the end of the year they had released two singles, three albums, and a DVD entitled MUCC history DVD the worst.
In August 2005, MUCC were invited to perform in Germany and France, with one of the performances in Germany being Wacken Open Air, the largest heavy metal music festival in the world. They also released three singles and an album.
In 2006, MUCC stayed busy with the release of the single Gerbera in February, and toured Germany and France that spring. That year, they traveled even further to perform at Otakon, an American anime convention. They also found time to release the album Gokusai.
In 2008, MUCC received the opportunity to perform in the US again with the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour alongside peers D'espairsRay and THE UNDERNEATH. The band continued to steadily pump out releases that year, with a single, album, and a live DVD. The single Ageha was the first produced by ken of L'Arc~en~Ciel, who has since gone on to produce many of their subsequent releases.
2009 was one of the most productive years yet for MUCC. Not only did they tour Europe, including Russia for the first time, but they also made their first appearances in Central and South America. Amongst the touring, the band also had a plethora of releases: two singles, one new album, two collection albums, and two DVDs.
2010 was equally busy, with the band releasing a live DVD, an album and two singles. They also returned to Europe for a six-date tour that took them to Hungary, Germany, Russia, Finland and France. December 14, 2010 saw the band taking even greater strides to increase their accessibility to international fans, as they streamed one of the concerts from their Chemical Parade tour live on USTREAM. They also opened English Twitter and Facebook accounts, making it much easier for foreign fans to keep up-to-date with the band’s activities.
In 2011, MUCC released a charity single called Akatsuki, all proceeds of which went to the victims of the March 11th Japan earthquake. In May, during their MUCC history GIGS 97～11 concert at Nippon Budokan, the band announced that they would be changing labels from DANGER CRUE RECORDS to Sony Music Associated Records.
The next year also saw the band continue to use technology to accommodate their growing fanbase, as they streamed their Maniac Parade 97～11 live worldwide via USTREAM’s paid service on June 9th. This was especially helpful, as tickets for the actual live sold out within six minutes. They performed at the V-ROCK FESTIVAL '11 in October and rocked the stage at the same event in 2012.
Constantly moving forward with performances in and out of Japan and a remarkably fast-paced release schedule, MUCC's activities have yet to cease or slow down. This incredible work ethic and their clear desire to explore the world has earned them both a loyal following and impressively consistent commercial success.
