One Ok Rock (band)
| ONE OK ROCK | |
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ONE OK ROCK performing in London, 2014.
From left to right: Ryota, Taka, Tomoya, Toru. |
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| Background information | |
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| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2005–present |
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| Associated acts | |
| Website | oneokrock |
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| Past members |
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One Ok Rock, stylized as ONE OK ROCK (pronounced in Japanese as "one o'clock"), is a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo, Japan in 2005. The band currently consists of Takahiro Moriuchi (vocals), Toru Yamashita (guitar/leader), Ryota Kohama (bass), and Tomoya Kanki (drums).
The band's name, ONE OK ROCK, comes from "one o'clock", the time that the band used to practice on weekends. They chose to play at one o'clock in the morning because it was cheaper to use the rehearsal space during such hours. However, noticing that the Japanese language made no distinction between R's and L's, they changed "O'CLOCK" to "O'CROCK" (or "O'KROCK"), which was then separated to become "OK ROCK". In addition, ONE OK ROCK's name can be expressed as "10969" (one-o-ku-ro(ku)-ku).
The foundation for ONE OK ROCK began when Toru Yamashita, then a high school student, wanted to start a band. He told his friend Ryota Kohama, a fellow member of the hip hop dance group Heads, to learn the bass and asked Alex Onizawa, who was their senior in school to join. He asked his classmate, Yu, to play drums. At that time, Taka Moriuchi was playing with another band named Chivalry of Music; however, Taka didn't enjoy playing with them, so Toru insisted that he join ONE OK ROCK instead. After signing with Amuse, Inc. Yu left the band to pursue an acting career and his parents didn't want their son to pursue that line of work. Tomoya Kanki had been teaching at ESP (Musical Academy) and was already in a band that wasn't going well. He then joined ONE OK ROCK in 2006, but only became an official member when they debuted in 2007.
Their debut single, "Naihishinsho", reached number 48 on the Oricon Charts and sold 15,000 copies. Their second single, Yume Yume, followed that success and charted at number 43. After those singles, they released their debut album Zeitakubyō in 2007 and had their first tour, the Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya Quattro Tour. They released their second album Beam of Light in May 2008. In an interview with Rockin'On Japan magazine in June 2012, ONE OK ROCK said they didn't count this album as an album, but rather as a part of growing up as a band. When they made the album, they hadn't been in the right mood, but felt that they had to make it to grow as a band. The band came up with many sound sources and ended up making a punk album. The album's confused origins were the reason why they wouldn't play any songs from Beam of Light in live performances until now. Shortly after releasing Beam of Light, they performed a gig at Shibuya AX.
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