Flumpool (stylized as flumpool) are a Japanese

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band. The band, originally from

Osaka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture ...

, was formed in January 2007. The band's name is a portmanteau of the words ''four'' (from the number of members in the band), ''lump'', and ''pool''. Thus, the name could be interpreted to mean "collective mass of four" or a "quartet". On 1 October 2008, the band released a

download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

named . Their debut

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A ...

(though its length is over 48 minutes), ''

Unreal Unreal may refer to: Books and TV * ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings * ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime Computing and games * ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...

'' was released on 10 November 2008. ''Unreal'' served Platinum certification from the

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

for its shipment of 250,000 copies.

History

2002: cube

In 2002, Yamamura, along with his childhood friends, Sakai and Amakawa, formed an acoustic unit named 309. Later, when a support drummer joined them, they formed a band.''flumpool Official Site''
Biography
/ref> From then, they changed their name to cube. Yamamura plays acoustic guitar as well as does most vocals. Sakai also plays acoustic guitar while Amakawa plays bass guitar. Furthermore, they issued four independent CD productions.

2007: flumpool

In January 2007, Ogura joined the band as the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

. On 13 January, the band's name was changed to ''flumpool''. They held live gigs in

Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Kyōbashi area of Osaka, Japan. The hall opened in 1983 and can seat up to 16,000 people. Built on a site area of 36,351 square meters, part of its form uses stone walls, modeled after those of the Cast ...

and "live houses" around Osaka. On 24 July, the production of an independent single titled was announced.

2008: Debut

On 25 June, "Mirai Kanai" went up for sale on indiesmusic.com. In July, the promotional video of "labo" was made. The video was ranked number one on Access Rankings. On 27 August, both

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...

and Tsutaya held the 5,000 limited copies of the independent trial single, "labo". On 1 September, they became the Campaign Song Artist for the telephone service, au

KDDI () is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed on October 1, 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp. (Daini-Denden Inc.), KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) Corp. (itself a former listed state-owned enterprise privatized in 1998), and IDO Corp. It h ...

LISMO LISMO is an online music service provided by au, a Japanese mobile phone brand run by KDDI, a Japanese telecommunication company. This service uses a mobile phone as a music player. This service was introduced on January 19, 2006, and the service ...

". On September 20, their song, "Hana ni Nare" was used for the campaign. On 5 September, the band was featured on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

's ''

Mezamashi TV is a Japanese news magazine show broadcast every weekday on Fuji TV from 4:55 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. ''Mezamashi'' is a form of the Japanese verb mezamasu (to wake up). Mezamashi TV has several spin-off shows such as (replacing Meza News w ...

'' and performed on television for the first time. On October 1, they released as their first digital single with

Amuse, Inc. is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management services. The artists include idols, musicians, and so on. Amuse produces TV and radio programs, commercial films, and movies. Other interests are in publication, music software ...

under the newly created sub-label A-Sketch. In just ten days, the song reached 1,000,000 downloads (now 2,000,000). On November 5, they released their second digital single, . The song was used as the theme song of TBS drama, ''Bloody Monday''. On the same month, they released their first mini-album, ''

'' on the 19th. It reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly albums chart.

2009: ''What's flumpool!?''

On 19 February, the band launched their first nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2009『UNREAL』" with seven performances in six cities. Later in that month, the band released their first major single, and reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart. Their second single was released on 1 July, entitled and reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly singles chart. On the same day, their first Live DVD, "『How did we feel then?~flumpool tour 2009 "Unreal" Live at Shibuya Club Quattro~』" was released and reached No. 1 on Oricon weekly Music DVD Chart. A week after the releases, the band began their second nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2009 "Unclose"" at 18 venues. The tour comprised a total of 19 performances. On 14 October, the band released their third digital single, "Frame". On 18 November, they released yet another digital single, "Mitsumeteitai". The band released their first full album, '' What's flumpool!?'' on 23 December and reached No. 2 on the Oricon weekly albums chart.

2010: Vocalist's polypectomy and year-end arena lives

On 3 February, the band released their third single, "Zanzō" and reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly singles chart. The song was used as the theme song of the second season of TBS drama, ''Bloody Monday''. On the same month, they released their second live DVD, "flumpool tour 2009『Unclose』Special!! LIVE at

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

". It also reached No. 1 on Oricon weekly Music DVD chart. On 5 March, the band started their third nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2010「What's flumpool!?~Love&Piiiis Kids Show!!~」" at 40 venues and 46 performances in total. The tour lasted three months. On 14 March, the band released their first artist photobook, "fourbond". It was made known on 29 April that flumpool's vocalist, Ryuta Yamamura would undergo

polypectomy In medicine, a polypectomy is the removal of an abnormal growth of tissue called a polyp. Polypectomy can be performed by excision if the polyp is external (on the skin). See also * Colonic polypectomy * Non-lifting sign The non-lifting sign i ...

in June. On 5 May, Ryuta Yamamura announced on "flumpool ROCKS!", flumpool's corner of the radio program TOKYO FM's SCHOOL OF ROCK!, that he will undergo polypectomy after their last concert of the third tour in Okinawa and spend about a month resting. The band released their fourth major single entitled on 23 June. It reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart. The song, "reboot~Akiramenai Uta~" was used as a support song of Japanese television network NTV's coverage of the FIFA World Cup. As of 7 July, Yamamura made a ''

Tanabata , also known as the Star Festival ( 星祭り, ''Hoshimatsuri''), is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair res ...

'' return after surgery at "flumpool ROCKS!". On 1 August, flumpool performed at "SETSTOCK'10" which was held in Hiroshima. It was their first live after the return of their vocalist. It was announced on 14 July that the band would sing the theme song entitled of the movie ''

Kimi ni Todoke is a Japanese '' shōjo'' romance manga by Karuho Shiina. It was published by Shueisha in ''Bessatsu Margaret'' from 2005 to 2017 and collected in 30 ''tankōbon'' volumes. In 2008, it won the Best Shōjo Manga award in the 32nd Annual ...

''. The song "Kimi ni Todoke" was released as a single on 29 September. It debuted at No. 2 on the Oricon weekly singles chart. All five major single releases to date have made it to top three on the Oricon weekly singles chart. The band released a Christmas DVD single entitled . The release is limited to the members of POOLSIDE, the band's mobile fan club. This first time ever members limited release is a premium package which includes a Special DVD encompassing flumpool's "gratitude" and an original calendar (2011). The song "Snowy Nights Serenade～心までも繋ぎたい～(Xmas ver.)" was the main theme of their year-end arena lives which were held on December 18 and 19 at

and on 25 and 26 December at

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

. They expressed their gratitude to their fans for staying with them in the year since the opening of POOLSIDE by turning the words they can't convey very well into this song. On 31 December, flumpool attended the

61st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen The , referred to from hereon as "Kōhaku", aired on December 31, 2010 from NHK Hall in Japan. This was the last time the Kōhaku was broadcast in analog television transmission. As of July 24, 2011 the digital television switchover throughout ...

, performing on the show for the second time.

2011–2012: ''Fantasia of Life Stripe''

flumpool held a live tour with rock band,

Nico Touches the Walls Nico Touches the Walls (stylized as NICO Touches the Walls) was a Japanese rock band formed in 2004. The band members were: Mitsumura Tatsuya, Sakakura Shingo, Furumura Daisuke & Tsushima Shotaro. In the same year, they won the Lotte Prize at the ...

in January in 3 cities. The band released their second full album on 26 January. The title of the album, ''

Fantasia of Life Stripe ''Fantasia of Life Stripe'' is the second full album by Japanese rock band Flumpool. The album was released on January 26, 2011 in Japan under their record label A-Sketch is a Japanese entertainment company that provides artist management servic ...

'' was revealed through a CM, aired on 28 November 2010. Details of the album were disclosed on 29 November 2010 on their official website. The album reached No. 2 on the Oricon weekly albums chart. The band were in charge of the set piece for the Junior High School section of the 78th

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

National Music Contest. A choral composition of the set piece was scheduled to be announced in March. The theme of the contest is "Companions". The title was later announced as . "Akashi" was NHK's "Minna no Uta" music broadcast in August to September. The band released their third Live DVD entitled on April 6. The DVD reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly Music DVD chart. The band started their fourth nationwide tour entitled from April in 10 major cities and 19 performances. Due to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, the band kicked off their tour on 9 April in Fukuoka instead of Yokosuga, Kanagawa on 4 April. The two shows which were scheduled in Yokosuga, Kanagawa are replaced by concerts at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Kanagawa on 3 and 4 June. The concerts scheduled 7 and 8 May in Sendai, Miyagi was cancelled. The band will hold a live at Zepp Sendai on 12 August instead. The title of the live is "4th tour 2011 "Fantasia of Life Stripe ～僕達はここにいる～" Zepp Sendai Special Live". In the aftermath of the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the band's members and their record label A-Sketch made a donation of 10 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross as part of the fund raising campaign by their agency Amuse. The band will also donate some of the revenue from sales of concert tickets and official goods. They also set up donation boxes at each concert and encourage donations from the crowds. In May, it was announced that the band would sing the theme song for the "Rugby World Cup 2011". In June, flumpool's vocalist, Ryuta Yamamura appeared solo in the CM for the mobile game site "Mobage". The song used in the CM is the band's new song which will be released as a double a-side single entitled . The song "Touch" is used as the tie-up song for "au AQUOS PHONE IS11SH" commercial. The single was released on 27 July.

2012–''present'': ''experience''

On December, flumpool released an album titled ''experience''. With the album they made a debut into Taiwan. With a Chinese cover 証明 written by

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...

Ashin Chen Hsin-hung (); Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chhîn Sìn-fên, nicknamed Ashin (;Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: A-sìn), born 6 December 1975, is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, author, and the vocalist of the Taiwanese band Mayday. Ashin majored in art in college, whe ...

. On April 17, a concert EARTH X HEART was performed along with Mayday in Japan. In September 2014, Flumpool makes a Single for Indonesian Tokusatsu Series

Satria Garuda BIMA-X ''Satria Garuda BIMA-X'' ("Garuda Knight BIMA-X") is an Indonesian tokusatsu series formed from the cooperation between MNC Media initiated by Reino Barack with Ishimori Productions, maker of the Kamen Rider series. This series marks the Second ...

titled 'Let Tomorrow be'. On December 6, flumpool announced that it was going on indefinite hiatus. Vocalist Ryuta Yamamura was diagnosed with functional vocal disorder, forcing him to stop his activities and seek treatment. On January 13 of 2019, Yamamura announced that he had recovered and flumpool would be resuming activities. They released the single HELP on May 22, and announced their ninth concert tour ''Command Shift Z'' would start in September and include Hong Kong tour dates.

Band members

* (born January 21, 1985,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

)—

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* (born February 26, 1985, Osaka) —

* (born November 27, 1984, Osaka) —

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* (born February 27, 1984, Hyōgo) —

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

Singles

DVDs

Books

Radio

*SPEAK OUT! (''J-WAVE'') (2009.01.02 - ) *
SCHOOL OF LOCK! Hana no Keibiin flumpool LOCKS!
' (SCHOOL OF LOCK! ハナの警備員 flumpool LOCKS!) (''Tokyo FM'', Wednesdays 23:05-23:30) (2009.10.07 - Present)

Awards and nominations

;

Billboard Japan Music Awards ''Billboard Japan'' Music Awards are an annual set of music awards, founded by ''Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hans ...

, - , 2010 , ''

'' , King of the Year 2009 , ;

MTV Video Music Awards Japan The MTV Video Music Awards Japan (MTV VMAJ for short) are the Japanese version of the MTV Video Music Awards. Like the MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, in this event artists are awarded for their songs and videos through online votin ...

, - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, ''Dear Mr. & Ms. Picaresque'' (from MW film) ,

Best Video from a Film The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks beca ...

, , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, ''Kimi ni Todoke'' (from

film) ,

References

External links

Official website
(in English)
Official website
(in Japanese) {{Authority control Japanese rock music groups Japanese pop rock music groups Musical groups from Osaka Musical quartets Musical groups established in 2007 A-Sketch artists