Mika Bomb (sometimes spelled Mikabomb) is a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band.

History

Lead singer Mika Handa arrived in London in 1998, with the goal of playing in a punk band. Recruitment for the band began with the arrival in London of the guitarist Agi (Chinese: 龙宽 Long Kuan), who later gained broad fame in the electronic duo 龙宽九段 Longkuan Jiuduan. Another Mika (Mika Kanayama) on bass introduced an element of musicality to the bass department while a

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

boy, Ergi, provided the drums. Mika has a husband and a daughter, and Ergi has a wife and two daughters. In 2000, they signed with the

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...

' label

Grand Royal Grand Royal was the Los Angeles, California-based vanity record label set up in 1992 by rap group Beastie Boys in conjunction with Capitol Records after the group left Def Jam Recordings. ''Grand Royal'' was also the name of a magazine written a ...

. Mika Bomb performed in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

plugging their singles "Super Sexy Razor Happy Girls" and "Heart Attack". They fused

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, New York punk, 1950s

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

and Japanese pop to form a distinctive,

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

-heavy pop sound. 2001 saw the release of their debut album ''The Fake Fake Sound of Mikabomb'' on the

Damaged Goods Damaged goods or Damaged Goods may refer to: * Goods that have been damaged, where goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility * A person considered to be less than perfect psychologically, as a result of a traumatic experience ...

label after Grand Royal went bust. Through their career they have played with

At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...

The Donnas The Donnas were an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1993. The band consisted of Brett Anderson (lead vocals), Allison Robertson (guitar, backing vocals), Maya Ford (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Torry Castellano (drums ...

Snuff Snuff may refer to: Tobacco * Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose ** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco ** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste Media and entertainment * Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder Literat ...

, Bis,

The Datsuns The Datsuns are a hard rock band from Cambridge, New Zealand, formed in 1998. Founding mainstays are Rudolf "Dolf" de Borst on vocals and bass guitar, and Christian Livingstone and Phil Somervell, both on guitar. They have released seven albu ...

The D4 The D4 was a rock band from Auckland, New Zealand. Their music was released by Hollywood Records in the U.S., Flying Nun Records in New Zealand and by Infectious Records in the UK. The group was assembled by vocalist/ guitarists Dion Palmer ...

Ten Benson Ten Benson are a Rock (music), rock band from London, United Kingdom formed in 1997. Their early releases saw them described as "psychedelic hillbillies",Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, but they ...

and Rosita. In 2005, they released their second album, ''Hellcats'', which featured a cover of Holly Golightly's "Won't Go Out", with Mika and Holly herself performing a duet on lead vocals. On 10 December 2005, drummer Ergi fell ill and was rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed as having

septicaemia Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

. He survived a week-long, near-fatal

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

, but had both his legs amputated below the knee. There were several fundraising events in 2006 to help Ergi cope with the changes in his life, the highlight being a benefit gig at The Garage, Highbury Corner,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London on 15 May 2006. After making appearance at Rock My Ass festival,

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

, Germany in September 2006, the band ceased recording or live activities. When it seemed to be totally over, they reformed in October 2010 for an exclusive show at Camara Japan festival,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands, then had more or less “once-a-year” reunion in 2011 and 2012. In 2013 more shows are planned in UK and Germany.

Band members

The current line-up is: *Mika Handa –

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

*Mel Roxy –

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 ...

*Emiko (Wataru Idol) –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Debbie –

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 ...

References

External links

Mika Bomb's page on Damaged Goods' website
{{Authority control Japanese indie rock groups Garage punk groups English pop punk groups Musical groups from London British garage rock groups