ORESKABAND

A teen sextet from Osaka, ORESKABAND (オレスカバンド) brings a new variety to Japanese music with the usual guitar, bass and drums sounds, but also with the addition of instruments from the brass and sax families. Their music is upbeat and spunky, their own take on ska rock. ORESKABAND have already performed in the USA as part of the Japan Nite Tour in March 2007, and are currently performing across the United States on the Vans Warped Tour. BIOGRAPHY Before ORESKABAND's formation in 2003, TOMI, TAE-SAN and SAKI formed a band with other friends. Upon leaving that band, TAE-SAN,along with IKASU formed a new band. It wasn’t too long, during their middle school years, before they became the teen girl sextet ORESKABAND. They began performing at local clubs and quickly built a following with their energetic live shows and colorful personalities. They started recording their own material and released their first album PENPAL in 2005. To show how determined they were for their band to succeed, each 15 year-old pitched in about $200 and created their first album themselves, selling it at the live houses where they performed. It was this album, along with live shows and appearances, which helped to expand their fan base outside of their hometown. Having caught the attention of A&R reps, ORESKABAND signed to Sony Music Japan in 2006 while still in high school. In 2006, the sextet made an exceptional move when, not only was their song Hana no Ska Dance used for a TV commercial for POCKY, but the girls were also filmed performing on a moving train for the commercial. This helped gain national recognition for ORESKABAND, showing off their fresh ska-pop sound along with their lively personalities. While juggling the lives of high school students and music artists, they completed their debut mini album, Ore, in March of the same year. As they continued to record, they had the opportunity to work with trombone player and Ska legend Rico Rodriguez for his tribute session album JAPARICO~RICO RODRIGUEZ MEETS JAPAN on a cover of the Ska classic MONKEY MAN. In July, ORESKABAND’s debut album, Ore, was released and quickly received massive critical acclaim. Following the album’s release, they performed at the prestigious annual FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL where they attracted 1000 attendees, a record for new artists. Their popularity is still growing in Japan, but the band doesn’t want to stop there. In March 2007, ORESKABAND participated in the Japan Nite Tour which included performances at Austin’s SXSW Music Festival and in Los Angeles and San Francisco. This overseas tour was treated at the kickoff of their Japanese tour. In such a short time this ska rock band has achieved much success and popularity, but this is only the beginning of their musical journey. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.