andymori

Vocalist and guitarist Souhei Oyamada, bassist Hiroshi Fujiwara and drummer Hiroki Gotou founded andymori in autumn 2007 in Nishi Ogikubo, Tokyo.

In the same year, they recorded their first demo tape everything is my guitar and began playing in small local clubs. In 2008, they were able to release their first mini-album andy to rock to bengaru tora to whisky. andymori kept travelling around the Japanese indie scene and started to gain more attention.

Their first full-length album andymori was released in early 2009, and in the summer, the band played at several major festivals, including Rock in Japan Festival in July and Summer Sonic in August. These events were good opportunities for andymori to reach more people and to increase their fanbase. At the end of July, they performed their first one-man live, which was completely sold out. In October, a second one-man was held at Ebisu Liquidroom.

andymori's second full-length album Fanfare to nekkyou was released on February 3, 2010 and made it up to second place on the Oricon Weekly Indie Album Charts. The album attracted critical acclaim, and the band set out on their first nationwide one-man tour soon after. After all of the dates sold out, extra performances were added to the schedule. That May, the band had the opportunity to perform abroad, hitting both coasts of Canada on the Next Music from TOKYO tour, which featured various other Japanese indie acts.

Rapidly gaining popularity, andymori had a busy summer, with performances at numerous festivals and events. Unfortunately, during the last show of their fall Bokutachi andymori tour, Gotou announced that he would depart from the group. His last live with andymori took place on November 27th, and new drummer Kenji Okayama took over the position starting from their show at Shimokitazawa SHELTER on December 2nd.

Spring 2011 brought another nationwide one-man tour, and June 8th saw the release of the first album to feature their new line-up, Kakumei.

The members kept busy with touring and recording the next year, but fans were in for a shock in 2013. On May 27th, andymori suddenly announced that they would disband after their tour final at the Nippon Budokan on September 24th.

In the months leading up to their last live together, andymori released their fifth and final album of original material, Uchuu no hate wa kono me no mae ni, and hit a number of summer festivals. Unfortunately, the summer had another nasty surprise in store. In a shocking turn of events, it was reported that on July 4th, Oyamada had jumped into a river for reasons unknown, sustaining several serious injuries. As Oyamada’s recovery was predicted to take several months, the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates of their final tour, including the farewell live at the Budokan.

For a while, the future of andymori remained uncertain. Would the band still break up on September 24th without a final show? Later that summer, a message was posted on andymori’s official website stating that Oyamada’s recovery was progressing well and that he was discharged from the hospital on July 31st, hoping to make his return to the stage as soon as possible.

In the meantime, the band put out a number of live releases, including their third live DVD FUN! FUN! FUN! and two live albums ANDYSHANTY and Aishite yamanai ongaku o, which all went on sale in November. In 2014, andymori made their return to the live scene. The members announced that they were still planning to go their separate ways, but that their final live would become their performance at SWEET LOVE SHOWER 2014 on August 29th.

While it seemed like andymori would finally be able to say goodbye, on September 2nd, it was announced that the members had decided to postpone their disbandment once again. A message on their website stated that after SWEET LOVE SHOWER, they all felt that they would like to perform together just one more time. They gave their time together as andymori the send-off it deserved with a final performance at the Nippon Budokan on October 15th.

Since andymori’s disbandment Oyamada has begun performing solo and has established his own indie label, Sparkling Records, hoping to play and create music with more freedom. Also, in a happy surprise for fans, both Gotou and Okayama are contributing their talents and ideas to the label as well.

Only time will tell where the members of andymori go from here, but they have already shown that they have what it takes to make it to the top tier of the Japanese indie rock scene, and the future looks bright for these talented men.