Jinkaku Radio
Jinkaku Radio is an indie (independent, not signed to a major label) rock band from Japan, Chubu region. They're self-produced. They started as a band with three members, singer/guitarist Yuuki, bassist Naoki, and guitarist Maya in December 2000. Maya left the band a year later, and now it's Yuuki and Naoki as the two 'official' members. The support members are called 'Half-radio'. They are often linked to the visual kei genre, but do not see themselves as such.
Please stop copying my texts without permission. The amount of copies of this page around the internet is insane, please write your own or include an excerpt only and a link to Kairo!
Members
Yuuki: Vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, lyricist.
Naoki: Bassist, arranger, producer.
John: Half-radio guitarist.
Shin: Half-radio drummer.
Rai: Former Half-radio guitarist.
Maya: Former guitarist & former Half-radio guitarist.
Mai: Former Half-radio drummer.
Taro: (former) Manager.
Oningyousan: Mascot.
(Click on their names for more information)
Name
'Jinkaku Radio', written as 人格ラヂオ in kanji. It can be romanized in different ways, Jinkaku or Zinkaku and Radio or Rajio and even Redio is used sometimes. From the band's merchandise, the correct way seems to be 'Jinkaku Radio'. After using the website url 'zinkaku.net', it has changed to 'jinkakuradio.com', leaving out any doubt.
In English it means 'Personality Radio'. "The essence of human" is their concept, so it fits quite nicely. Their fans are often referred to as 'listeners'.
Music
Their music style is very unique, and pretty hard to describe. Intriguing melodies are woven together with catchy guitar riffs. The communication between the band members is really strong and their parts are joined together perfectly. In interviews, the band members explain that they complement each other and seem to know what the other is thinking in regards to new material.
In general their songs are rock, not too heavy and most of them have a melancholic hint. On their management website they're described as 'UK guitar pop', which sounds kind of funny, but if you think of Britpop bands, Muse for example, then that term sounds quite suitable. Japanese Brit pop? Yuuki is a big fan of Radiohead, Naoki likes The Beatles and by listening closely you might find some influences of these bands. Next to being compared to the British bands, they've also been compared to MUCC or Kalimero, but in a much more mellow way.
Yuuki's voice is very beautiful, often stretching notes very long and possesses the ability to sing flawlessly during lives as well. The guitars work together with the bass in a great way; complicated yet catchy guitar riffs and a stunning bass line. When listening carefully, you might hear that Naoki plays almost complete solos on his bass, while other bassists keep it simple. But then again, he mixes all the sounds together carefully in his arrangements, resulting in a perfect balance.
Appearance
The members are always wearing a black suit, white shirt, black tie, and a Jinkaku Radio patch around their upper arms (Naoki a red one on the right, Yuuki a white one on the left). They seem to like (fedora) hats once in a while as well. In the past they used to be more visual, and they still wear make-up (especially Naoki), but it's less than it used to be.
For the song Bangyaru Shoukougun, they will wear lolita-like costumes. Please keep in mind that this is solely for the purpose to make fun of it and that it's not their usual style.
History
2000
Jinkaku Radio was started in December 2000 by Yuuki, Maya and Naoki. Back then they hadn't decided on the black suits outfit, but looked like an average visual kei band, although not that extreme. Yuuki says he started Jinkaku Radio because his former band disbanded, Naoki says he was threatened to join the band, and Maya says he liked the band parenthesis (?).
However, in an interview Naoki explained how he wanted to start a new band, and was invited by a friend to join his band. Naoki went to listen to them and was impressed with the vocalist, which turned out to be Yuuki, but had no interest in working with the other band members. A year later, this band disbanded and Naoki persuaded Yuuki to start a band with him.
2001
It seems their looks have been decided around this time. They had a lot of concerts and already had a lot of material because Yuuki wrote a number of their songs before. On May 13, they released their first demo-tape, Nejimakidori. It was only available at lives. On December 14, they had their first one-man live at the live house Rock May Kan in Meguro, Tokyo. Not much later, on December 30, Maya decided to leave the band. He does stay for quite some time as a support guitarist.
2002
They released their first videotape, Moody Radio Theatre in April. It features 30 minutes of concert footage. Also this release was distributed at their concerts only. In the following month, the song Gogo no rakka was released on the indie compilation album Yougenkyou II, with which they gained quite some attention. In June, Mai, the former drummer of LUV'ra-doll joined the band as a support member. In the same month they released the maxi-single Kairo. Due to its success, a second press was released in September.
In October the song Kayoubi no shoukyakuro was released on the compilation Shock Edge 2002, with a small video clip of the band performing the song live. In December they released their second video tape, called Local Listener x Jinkaku Shuuyuuki. Again, it was only available for sale at their concerts, and is even rarer than Moody Radio Theatre nowadays.
2003
In April they released their first full album, Shouko. The first press came in A5 sized packaging and with a poster. A second press in a normal jewel case followed in June.
In June, they also found a new support guitarist, Rai (former Falcioune and Isolation). Maya left the band for real then, after having been a support guitarist for one and a half year. Rai worked with Jinkaku Radio before, he had been involved in recording Shouko and he and Yuuki were both part of the project Isolation. In December they released their second single, called Yuuhodou.
In addition to Jinkaku Radio, Yuuki released a single under the name Kasu with his friend Shinichirou from Hotaru (later Jully). Naoki started the A Clockwork Orange inspired project Anny's Ltd with his friends from other bands.
2004
In January a previously unreleased track and an acoustic version of the song Kirifuda was released on the compilation album Kiwamono no Kajitsu. In February, Mai decided to leave the band as a support member for unknown reasons. The band has a short hiatus then, although they do release their first PV, of Yuuhodou, in May as part of a magazine. In June a new drummer joined them, named Shin. He worked with Naoki before in the band Lemon-glass. In the summer they performed often at events.
In December they were very active again. They performed at several events, held a one-man tour, and a short two-man tour with the band deadman. They appeared in magazines again, and they confirmed in an interview that they had started to work on a new album...
2005
Apparently Yuuki didn't want to rush the album, but instead he wanted to tour a lot and that's exactly what the band was doing this year. However, in May they announced the release of a new single; Ubasuteyama which was released on July 31st. It was quite a surprise when they announced to be releasing another single, Akui, on December 4th. Akui was released on the label Danger Crue, which is a sub label of Sony. However, it seemed that Danger Crue only did the distribution and therefore it was not a sign they had turned major.
2006
This year was full of concerts again. Yuuki released a book with a collection of columns he wrote for the magazine Hevn in September. In November, they released two new singles, a live-only with their parody song Bangal shoukougun and a 'normal' one, Gakubuchi. In December, Rai left the band. Iwan/John, guitarist of the band Tokyo Heroes replaced him during their live concerts.
2007
Another year full of concerts and also the release of their first live DVD. Being a recording of a concert in 2006, Bangal Radio Theater was released in the summer of 2007. Next to that, a new single, Oborozuki came out in December which was to be their last release on the Danger Crue label. Despite being only sold at Tower Records in the first few months, the single ranked 5th on the Oricon indie charts. During this year, John joined the band as Half-radio, support member, officially.
2008
In 2008, the band announced to be taking a break, in order to "work on the new album." Except for a handful of performances at events and a tour with Heidi in April and May, it was quiet around the band.
2009
Their break unfortunately continued in 2009, with only two performances in July together with Heidi again.
2010
In 2010 things seemed to be looking up, with a few more performances in January, May and September. They also changed managements, from Enter Brain to Human Dock. In April, they released something new, not the long awaited second album but the single Taiyou. The single also featured the PV of the title-track. Yuuki announced in his blog that their new album will be released on November 3rd.