Chatmonchy
| chatmonchy | |
|---|---|
Kumiko Takahashi, Akiko Fukuoka & Eriko Hashimoto performing live in Texas, 2010.
|
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Tokushima, Japan |
| Genres | Indie rock, power pop |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Ki/oon Records (2005-present) |
| Website | chatmonchy.com |
| Members |
Eriko Hashimoto - Guitar, Vocals October 17, 1983 Akiko Fukuoka - Drums. Bass, Chorus April 16, 1983 |
| Past members |
Kumiko Takahashi - Drums, Chorus April 10, 1982 |
chatmonchy (チャットモンチー chattomonchī?) is a two-piece all-female rock band which consists of Eriko Hashimoto (guitar, vocals), Akiko Fukuoka (bass, chorus), and formerly Kumiko Takahashi (drums, chorus) who are from Tokushima Prefecture on the island of Shikoku, Japan.
Since 2005, they have been signed to Sony Music Japan's Ki/oon Records record label.
In 2000, Hashimoto formed chatmonchy in the city of Tokushima, Tokushima Prefecture. Having been to see her brother perform at the first concert she attended, she became keen on forming a trio. Although part of a brass band throughout junior high and high school, her brother began teaching her guitar.
Hashimoto formed her first trio in high school, and it was then that the name chatmonchy came about. According to Hashimoto, "one of the members insisted on using the word 'monchi,' like 'monkey'." The name derived from an image of a cute monkey doll named "Monchhichi", from the Hiroshi Jinsenji-directed animation series Futago no Monchhichi, which ran 130 episodes through 1980. The group then picked the word "chat" randomly from a dictionary to make the name. However, after graduation, the three members went their separate ways.
Fukuoka, then in the same grade and at the same high school as Hashimoto, joined as an acoustic duo, and performed one show when a male drummer pulled out right before a concert in April 2004. Takahashi sat in the audience of the show and at the time was in another band, but was known to the duo via the Light Music Club of their university in Tokushima, Shikoku.
The band independently produced an album, entitled chatmonchy ni Naritai (チャットモンチーになりたい?) (out of distribution) and sold it themselves, chiefly by hand in the Tokushima area, achieving as many as 1500 sales and record label solicitations.
...
Wikipedia