Shugo Tokumaru
| Shugo Tokumaru | |
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Shugo Tokumaru at the Bowery Ballroom.
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| Background information | |
| Born | 29 May 1980 |
| Origin | Tokyo |
| Genres | Bedroom pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Compare Notes (2004-2005) Music Related (2004) Active Suspension (2006) Lil' Chief Records (2006) P-Vine Records (2007-present) Almost Gold Recordings (2008-present) Polyvinyl Record Co. (2011-present) |
| Associated acts | Gellers, Deerhoof, David Fenech, I Am Robot and Proud, Mesomeso, Moools, Oorutaichi, Tenniscoats, Unicorn |
| Website | shugotokumaru.com |
Shugo Tokumaru (トクマルシューゴ Tokumaru Shūgo?, born May 29, 1980) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who debuted in May 2004 in America with his album Night Piece. He creates every aspect of his music, including the lyrics, music, arrangements, recording and mixing. He is known for the variety of instruments he uses in his music, using over 100 different traditional and non-traditional instruments in his recordings. Tokumaru is also a member of the Japanese rock band Gellers. Tokumaru's 2010 album Port Entropy was his most commercially successful album in Japan, breaking into the top 40.
Shugo Tokumaru was born and raised in Tokyo. His first instrument was the piano, which he started between 5–6 years old after seeing a friend playing it. Much later on in junior high school, Tokumaru started playing the electric guitar, originally only playing songs by The Clash. He joined a band called Gellers, made up of people he had known throughout his childhood. The band formed around 1994 and at the very beginning, Tokumaru was not a member. He started writing songs at 17 for the band, however had not had much of a need to earlier, as the other guitarist of the band was the chief songwriter. At this point, Tokumaru developed an interest with multi-instrumentalization, thinking that just the guitar/bass/drum set of a standard band wasn't enough.
After finishing high school, Tokumaru traveled overseas for 2 and a half years, spending most of his time living in Los Angeles. While staying in America, he was a part of a jazz band, and recorded songs in his home.
After returning to Japan in 2003, Tokumaru finished recording a 10 track demo album called Fragment. He gave this demo CD to a friend who was an acquaintance of Trevor Sias, owner of the US independent record label Music Related. The label was impressed with the CD, and wanted to release the demo album just as it was; however, Tokumaru did not like the idea. He created an entirely new album, which was released under the label in the United States on May 11, 2004. Night Piece originally planned to be just an American only release, but due to strong sales on internet sites, it was released in other countries. It was released in Japan in August 2004 through the independent label Compare Notes.
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