camino

The concept of camino started in 1999. Following the disbandment of his major label band, Misty Eyes, KIKU (guitar), who has composed for Ayumi Hamasaki, as well as other artists, came together with JUN (vocals) and formed camino in Tokyo in 2002. Joining them was Morrisey (bass), Tetsu (drums), and Ai (keyboard).

Under the KISMET Records label, camino released their first album, arise, on April 22, 2003. The album was an immediate success, selling out in Japan during its pre-sale and in less than a month in some American shops. Shortly after, Morrisey, Tetsu and Ai left for unknown reasons.

TAKA (bass), Noriaki (drums), and RYOSUKE (keyboard) joined camino just prior to their first performance overseas, a show at the anime convention A-Kon 14 in Dallas, Texas, positive reactions from fans causing the band to receive a flood of invitations to perform at other overseas events.

For unknown reasons, Noriaki decided to leave the band as well, being replaced by REHIT. Around the same time, two of camino's songs, truth or lie and Going on were used in television commercials. The band also assisted in the recording of Double Standard, the image song for the main character of "Kamen Rider 555", which was included on the November release of Kame Rider 555 Song Collection by Avex. Amidst various shows and activities in Japan, camino returned to the states to play at the convention Fanime in San Jose, California and again at A-Kon in Dallas, Texas in the first half of 2004. Their second album, IC brain, with a set release date of June 24th, was sold in advance to fans attending the concert at A-Kon, which saw the band sharing the stage with Do As Infinity and Psycho le Cemu.

With several overseas performances under their belts, camino went home to their fans in Japan. In August of that year, Jun announced that he would be leaving to pursue a solo career. Only a month later, two new members, HAYATO on vocals and DJ KKiDD, became part of the group. The introduction of the new vocalist was made in October at Nansou Bunka Hall before another return to the states to perform at AnimeUSA in Washington D.C. and Oni-con in Houston, Texas, each show drawing in over 1,000 attendees for the, still independent, band.

Between their shows in the states in October and the announcement of more stateside dates scheduled for February 2005, camino was busy working on new music and performing for their Japanese fans.

In January of 2005, DJ KKiDD was removed from the band’s roster; no explanation was given for his leaving. In February, camino were guests at Numa Rei no Con in New Orleans and also had gigs scheduled for several small venues in Texas following their convention appearance. However, the band was involved in a car accident on their trip from New Orleans and was forced to cancel their remaining shows before heading back to Japan.

After nearly a year void of releases, camino released their first single, Lovin' moon in June, performed throughout the following months at events like Born to be ROCK 1 at Yokohama BLITZ, and ended the year with a self-organized event on December 18th at Shibuya RUIDO K2.

The following year started off quietly for camino. Their website was undergoing a re-design and there was no news of upcoming releases or live shows. Finally, in March 2006, the band came to the USA once again for Sakura Con in Seattle, Washington. August saw KIKU and TAKA performing as support members for MCU of KICK THE CAN CREW.

In September, the band was featured in the Konami game "GIRL'S SIDE STORY 2" as well as on the game's soundtrack. Along with their first national tour in October, alongside Avex-release group Dakota Star, camino released Lovin' moon 2006, which included a new recording of Lovin’ Moon and two new songs.

2007 started off busy for camino. They released a new single, Nostalgia, in May, the title track for which is used as an opening theme for the anime "Koutetsu Sangokushi". The band also went on their Nostalgia tour 2007, starting on June 5th and taking them through to the start of July. The members appeared as guests on various programs including the net radio show "All Neet Nippon" during the later part of the year.

In 2008 the band signed on with the Avex sub-label, tearbridge records, and released STORY, which is used as the opening theme for the "TOMIKAHIRO RESUKYUFOSU" TV program, on June 25th. They also held shows at Tokyo Big Sight, Omotesando FAB and RUIDO K4.

In November, camino performed in Toronto, Canada and made special appearances at Dot Con. To close out 2008, the band released The Life on December 17th and took part in a countdown live at ZEPP Fukuoka to ring in the new year.

camino has stayed busy for the first half of 2009, performing at various venues and sharing the stage with bands and artists such as Sugar, Kaya and boogieman. The band held their first one-man live on March 27th at Shinjuku RUIDO K4.

New Life, the band's first full-length album following their move to tearbridge records, was released on April 8th and was followed by the band's participation in several more live events, which included opening for IZAM's project alcali-5 at an event on April 25th.

From May 29th to 31st, camino once again appeared as guests of A-Kon for the convention's 20th anniversary. They received a warm reception for their third time performing at the convention.

Even though the band hasn't released anything new since 2009, they continue to perform throughout Japan, making their own brand of rock music and moving ever closer to the top.