folca to Go on Indefinite Hiatus

Rock band folca will be going on indefinite hiatus after their one-man live at Kobe PADOMA on March 9th, 2025.

The band explained in a written statement on their official website that their vocalist and guitarist Hideyuki Yamashita was born with a laryngeal anomaly, and due to fatigue he has accumulated throughout their career, he has also developed dysphonia, which has made performing in a band format difficult for him in recent years.

In an individual comment, Yamashita elaborated a bit more, stating that because his throat is shaped differently from that of the average person, singing in the kind of loud environment produced by a rock band puts a lot of strain on it, and it has become necessary to devote a considerable amount of time to recovering after each performance as a result. Due to this situation, he has tried to manage his condition with the cooperation of the other band members by slowing down the pace of their activities to less than half of what they were before. However, while the band has been active this way for the past few years, he has seen no improvement in his symptoms, so they have decided to suspend the group's activities to allow him to focus on his health.

However, Yamashita noted that performing quieter solo shows causes less strain for his throat and milder symptoms, so after consulting with his doctor, he has decided to continue his solo activities during the hiatus. He hopes that solo performances will provide hints on how he can work with his throat in the future and help him to monitor the progress of his recovery. He stated that if he recovers, he would like to sing with a band again one day.

Guitarist Yuuya Tamekawa stated that he could see that Yamashita came to this decision after a lot of thought and that he hopes he will rest and take care of his body. He noted that he will continue to work hard in his music career so that he can deliver even more polished guitar playing if the members are fortunate enough to meet their fans as folca again someday. Bassist Kenji Fujita simply gave his thanks to everyone and stated that he will do his best until March 9th.

folca was formed in Kobe when Yamashita and Tamekawa's previous band and a group featuring Fujita and the band's original drummer both disbanded at the same time. They played their first show at Kobe ART HOUSE in July 2008. While the band has performed with various support drummers since 2014, the rest of the line-up has remained unchanged throughout their 16-year career.

The music videos for 3:04 from folca's 2012 EP Late show and Strain from their 2017 album DOMINANT can be viewed below, followed by footage of a studio live the band streamed on YouTube in 2020.