Two New Projects from Chiba Yusuke

Chiba Yusuke, frontman of garage rock band The Birthday, will release a solo album this fall. Chiba first rose to fame as the vocalist of the legendary punk band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant and he has remained active in a variety of other groups throughout his twenty-one year career, but this will be his first solo venture. The project will be called SNAKE ON THE BEACH, and a movie inspired by the album will also be released.

The movie, "Akai Kisetsu", will be directed by Yoshino Tetsuhiko, who recently handled the planning for Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's THEE MOVIE documentary. The plot will revolve around a hitman who attempts to leave his former life behind by working in a bike shop, only to have his peaceful new life begin to unravel. It will star Arai Hirofumi. The movie will be screened for the first time at the Human Trust Cinema Shibuya on October 13th, with other theatres to be announced at a later date.

Chiba has also begun fronting a supergroup formed by director Toyoda Toshiaki to record the theme for his latest movie, "I'M FLASH!." This is not the first collaboration between the two, as Toyoda's 2002 cult film "Blue Spring" prominently featured Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's music in its soundtrack.

The group's other members include drummer Nakamura Tatsuya of BLANKEY JET CITY, who has acted in two of Toyoda's films, dip guitarist Yamaji Kazuhide and RIZE bassist KenKen, who recently played a part in Toyoda's "Monsters Club." The group is called the I'M FLASH! BAND, and it will release its debut album, I'M FLASH on August 22.

The trailer for the movie "I'M FLASH!" can be found here.

In addition to these new projects, The Birthday are also set to release a new single. Titled Sayonara Saishuuheiki, it is scheduled for release on June 13th. It will be followed by an album called VISION on July 18th.