ULFULS

The members of ULFULS met and began working together in 1988. There is not much information known about their start or their first few years. The only information that is available is that some of the members worked part time together while doing band sessions together. It is also known that their first live was in June 1990 in Tokyo.

At the start of the 1990's, the band started to become well-known and earned themselves a contract with Toshiba EMI, which they signed with in Spring of 1992. In May, vocalist Matsumoto Tortoise, guitarist Ulful Keisuke, bassist John B Chopper and drummer Sankon Jr. debuted with the single yabure kabure. It was followed by their first album Bakuhatsu no Ballad in June 1992. The breakthrough they had hoped for, however, did not take place with these releases.

They released four singles in 1995 with still not much success. It wasn’t until January 1996, when their third album Banzai became a complete hit and catapulted them to the top. The album sold over 100,000 copies and at the end of the year they made their debut on “kohaku gassen no uta,” an extremely famous Japanese music show. However, there was some controversy regarding if the lyrics to their song gattsu daze!! was appropriate to sing on television. Finally, they ended up deciding to revise the lyrics to appear on the music show.

For the next few years, they released many hit singles and albums until ULFULS went through a big change when bassist Chopper left in 1999. They continued on as a three-man band until he later returned in 2002. It was also in 2002 when they celebrated their 10th year anniversary as a major band. The anniversary was celebrated with a five hour long concert, during which they played fifty of their songs. This concert was later released on CD, in a limited and normal versions. The band also celebrated the ten-year anniversary of their breakthrough album, Banzai! as well. They had released a new edition of Banzai! at the start of 2006, which was supplied with extra tracks for the anniversary.

In 2007, their single Jounetsu A Go-Go was the first release under their new label, Warner Music Japan. After this change, the band started to slow down on releases, releasing one more single and their eleventh full-length album, KEEP ON MOVING during 2007. Around this time the members focused more on their solo careers and other projects. In July 2009 it was announced ULFULS would go on indefinite hiatus after their concerts the following month. It was said the reason for the hiatus was for the members to go on their own path and give them some time to think about a future reunion.

In addition to being the vocalist for ULFULS, Matsumoto also has a solo career as well as a successful acting career. Matsumoto Tortoise began his solo-career in 2003 with his cover album TRAVELER.