Founded in 1989 with Sawao Yamanaka on vocals, Shinichiro Sato on drums, Kenji Ueda on bass and Yoshiaki Manabe on guitar, the pillows first toured under the name The Coinlocker Babies until they signed with the indie label Captain Records and released their debut album in 1990.
Their first full-length album, Moon Gold, was released the following year under the Pony Canyon label and Ueda left the band shortly after the completion of their second full-length album, White Incarnation, in pursuit of a solo career and work in production. Taking his place was Tetsuya Kishima, who was featured as a "support member" in respect for the original line-up, and the pillows made another label change after a short break. Their major debut album, Kool Spice was then released on King Records in 1994.
In 1996 they began organizing live events called "Delicious Bump Show" and their commercial breakthrough came with the release of several hit singles the following year. Their style changed, swapping their often jazz-influenced songs for heavier sounds and they introduced a mascot, Buster-kun, who resembles a mix between a dog and a teddy bear, causing their followers to be known as "little busters." Sawao founded his own label, Delicious Label, in 1999 where alternative rock bands like noodles and monokuro were featured. That same year, Kashima left the band and was replaced by Jun Suzuki on bass.
One of the most important events in the band's history is Studio Gainax's licensing of the pillows's last three albums for the anime series "FLCL (furikuri)." Additionally, the band produced two new singles, Ride on the shooting star and I think I can, for the anime, thus extending their reach outside of Japan and ensuring international recognition.
In the following three years, Sawao continued work on his label and released solo works while Manabe released two solo albums as well. In 2003, the pillows's album, Penalty Life, was released in the United States almost two years later.
Celebrating their 15th anniversary in 2004, a tribute album for the pillows was recorded and featured artists such as Ellegarden, noodles, Straightener, Bump of Chicken, and Mr. Children. This year also turned out to be one of the band's busiest. Their first live in the USA was held at the famous SXSW (South by Southwest) Festival in Austin, Texas in March of 2005. They played among other Japanese artists such as noodles and Bonnie Pink and followed their performance at the festival with a tour through several big cities in the United States. In 2005 Sawao began work with GLAY's bassist, Jiro and Straightener's drummer, Shinpei, on the project The Predators.
the pillows kicked off 2006 with the release of an album entitled My Foot in January followed by two-date concert in Mexico that summer and, just a few months later, they made another trip to Mexico and toured the USA. That year had been a productive one for this prolific band. Their DVD, LOSTMAN GO TO AMERICA, which contained footage from their sold-out US tour, as well as some from their lives in Mexico, hit stores in February 2007 and the title track from their first single of the year, Scarecrow, was used as the ending theme for the anime "MOONLIGHT MILE." Ever steady, the pillows released another full-length album and single by the summer. Additionally, their 5-CD singles collection, LOSTMAN GO TO YESTERDAY hit shelves that November.
2008 started off well for the band. They attended Anime Boston as the musical guests in March after four other US tour dates, including the SXSW music festival. Through the summer months, the pillows released a new full album and single, and closed out the year with a DVD, Lostman Go To Yesterday & Pied Piper Tour, which included footage from both tours on two DVDs.
With a brand new year ahead of them, fans can only eagerly await what new and enjoyable sounds the pillows will have in store for them.
