Suck a Stew Dry

Suck a Stew Dry was formed in 2009 by a group of university friends. The founding line-up consisted of vocalist and guitarist Kosei Shinoyama, additional guitarists Hajio Kikuchi and Tatsuaki Fuse, bassist Suguru Mouri and drummer Hirochika Itabashi.

Shinoyama arrived at the band’s name when he spotted the expression “suck a ... dry” in a dictionary. The sample phrase the dictionary gave was “suck an orange dry”, which Shinoyama changed to “suck a stew dry”, thinking it sounded better. Suck a Stew Dry’s first live was held in May 2010, and the band participated in the RO69 contest later that year, which led to their song Apathy being included on that year's Jackman Records omnibus.

The band’s first mini-album Ningen asobi was released in November 2011. 2012 saw yet more firsts, including their first one-man live and debut nationwide tour.

Their next mini-album, Loveless Letter, went on sale in October 2012, and briefly snagged a place on the Oricon Weekly indie charts. Bassist Mouri departed in December, but Suck a Stew Dry marched on with support bassist Yuuki Suda . On the final date of their Loveless Letter Release Tour 2013, which took place at Shibuya O-Nest on April 13th, Suda was inaugurated as an official member.

It’s worth noting the band members have made substantial use of social media throughout their career to engage fans on a more personal level. Shinoyama in particular holds frequent TwitCasts where he’ll joke with fans, answer their questions, and occasionally perform acoustic or demonstrate how to play parts of songs he has written. These sessions have been known to last up to four hours. He and Fuse also hosted a radio show called “Alone in the World”, which takes its name from the English translation of their 2013 EP’s title Sekai ni hitoribocchi.

2014 was a big year for Suck a Stew Dry. One of their songs was featured on the fourth volume of the Aa, yoi ongaku koko ni arimasu compilation series organized by Good Morning America. In addition, the song “Anti Pleasure ~Kairakushugisha no yuuutsu~” from their Tower Records and iTunes-exclusive single I Don’t Love You was featured in the arcade game “GITADORA OverDrive”.

Most importantly, that year they made their debut appearance at the massive Rock in Japan Festival on August 9th, which was followed by the release of their first full-length album Jibun senki on September 3rd.