|
|
In 1987, Natin and Hideki met and started a band. This one didn't go very far, so they broke up rather quickly. 2 years later (and after much persuasion) Hideki managed to convince Natin to join a new band of his called POWER. Whilst in this band, they met Kazuma at a concert. Two of POWER's members left in 1990, so Hideki and Natin spent some time searching for new members. They found Daita (who had met Natin a few years earlier) and he joined. However, Daita soon left the band and by 1991, Hideki and Natin gave up on finding members that would stick with them for a while. The two decided to form a new band, they called it ATEERU. Soon afterwards they met Junji at a studio in Odawara while he was a member of another band called NERVE. In 1991, ATEERU gained A (aka Ei) as their drummer, but they needed another guitarist. So Hideki sent a note to Kazuma asking if he was interested in joining the band. He accepted. ATEERU made a demo tape in May of 1993, but before it was released they decided to change the band name. And what name did they chose? Siam Shade, of course. Once again, they were in need of another guitarist. So Hideki and Natin went searching for Daita. They finally found him in July of of '93 and asked him to join Siam Shade. He agreed, but had no intent on staying for so long (because of different musical tastes) and stayed just as a session guitarist for one show. It's at that show that Junji's band NERVE happens to be playing as well. A little while later Daita decided he would officially join the band, but only in order to pay for new equipment. In 1994 NERVE disbanded and Siam Shade happened to be without a drummer. Hideki asked Junji if he wanted to join. He accepted and Siam Shade's lineup was complete. Over the next few years Siam Shade became one of the most popular indies bands in Japan (and are still one of the most popular indies bands ever to be in Japan.) Their indies album peaked at number 2 on the Oricon indies charts. They also served as a backing band for LUNA SEA and opened for a lot of their shows. In October of '95 Siam Shade were discovered and signed by Sony Records. They released their debut single, "RAIN". Although they were already a pretty big hit in Japan, Siam Shade's popularity didn't really boom until 1997 when they released the single "1/3 no junjou na kanjou" which was featured on the anime series Rurouni Kenshin. Having a song in an anime definitely helped their popularity and their next three albums all reached the top 10 on Oricon. Also, almost all of the singles (or one of the c/w tracks) they released afterwards were featured in TV programs (such as Super Soccer, Oni no Sumika, and Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling.) Throughout their 8 year history as a band together, Siam Shade had one dream; to play at the Nippon Budoukan. They finally did on December 28, 2001 and all the members agreed that it was their best show ever. Having reached their goal, Hideki, Kazuma, Daita, Natin and Junji decided that it would be best to disband, which came as a huge shock to fans, seeing as how they're popularity can be compared to bands like Malice Mizer, Dir en grey and even LUNA SEA. Their last (and 16th) single, LOVE, was to express their gratitude to all their fans for supporting them for so many years. A collection of their B-side tracks was released on January 29, 2002. The A-sides were just released on March 6. And also a DVD from their concert at Budokan will be on sale at the end of March. Currently, there's no news of a best-of album being released (although it's pretty much a given that they will release one.) March 10, 2002 marked the official end of Siam Shade. They stood together on the Budoukan stage for one last concert.
|