Anza, the vocalist of HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT, started off as a Japanese teenage idol, doing everything from the "Sailor Moon" musicals and modeling to idol groups and solo projects. During this time she worked with guitarist, Hiro, and met his brother, Mar. Eventually, she agreed to join a different kind of band. Together they formed Deep Blue and soon found bassist Kawady and drummer Okaji. In 2000 they changed their name to HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT and released their first single.
escapism managed to hit the number one spot on the Shibuya Tower Records Charts within three days of its release. They had a celebration that same day, having a free in-store live with over 300 people in attendance.
In 2000 Kawady dropped out not too long after and so their second single Crap head was recorded without a bass. He was replaced by Take in 2002, who lasted only a short time. The long absence of a bassist didn’t repeat itself however, as a guitarist named Narumi joined the band and switched instruments.
Playing in small clubs all over Japan, they started to gain more popularity; fans even gave them the nickname HPP. Even other bands whom they played with were impressed by their powerful sound.
In 2002 they went from a national to their first international tour, visiting New York in the fall. Although it was their first time performing there, it was a huge success. This led to their attempt to return every year, which is something fans are greatly appreciative of. This overseas tour opened doors to fans not only in the USA, but also all over the world; the band began to receive letters from people expressing their wish to see them in their home countries, too.
Their first album, VARY, in 2003 also managed to hit the number one spot at Tower Records, but this time for the Indies Charts.
In 2004 Okaji played a solo live and decided to leave the band immediately after, wanting to make music that was of a different style than HPP's. Although he left before completion of the de ja dub album, the band decided to still give him full credit. Batch, a drummer with a nearly polar opposite style from the former, took over the reins in 2005. Although he remained with the band up till now, he didn’t become an official member until 2009.
They released the single, WhitErRor in 2005 which would be their last enhanced release and footage from a live they held at Light Hours in Mito was used for a PV as well as their first live DVD, Toy's box.
The band wanted to reach a new limit; they wanted to go to Europe. In February 2007, they went to Sweden for two shows which were both well-received. All the merchandise quickly sold out, and the band returned home pleased with even more fans supporting them.
HPP held a one-man performance at Shinjuku Marz in June 2007 and a month later participated in Taiwan’s FORMOZ FESTIVAL 2007 in July. A lot of well-known artists such as LM.C, Anna Tsuchiya and BACK-ON performed there as well.
In February 2008, they performed in Shibuya alongside American metalcore band In This Moment, which is also fronted by a female vocalist, and later accompanied them on a tour through China. Later that year, they performed at Japan’s enormous metal festival, LOUD PARK 08, and tickets for their one-man at Shibuya’s Club Asia immediately sold out. They reunited with In This Moment for The Dream Tour in Japan 2009.
The year 2009 was meant to be filled with international activity for the band. They performed at the Asia Metal Festival in Seoul, returned to Taiwan for the third time, but their first South American tour was postponed due to the outbreak of swine flu.
In October the long overdue mini-album entitled PRODIGIUM, Latin for “miracle,” was released through their new label Spiritual Beast. HPP then ended the year with a live at Ikebukuro’s BlackHole.
In 2010 they toured the country starting from Soma in Osaka, with Canadian band The Agonist, another female-fronted metal band. The tour was a huge success with the tour’s final live at UNIT in Daitenyama selling out, despite being same-day tickets. That year they also finally completed their long-awaited South American tour.
Metal fans have always been one of the most accepting fan bases when it comes to foreign bands. Because of this it should come as no surprise that HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT carries such a vast legion of fans from around the world. But all the credit can’t be given to the fans of course, HPP isn’t just endowed with extraordinary talent, but is one of the hardest working bands out there. They might be an indie band, but the success they’ve achieved is great and they’re only promising more.
