Suchmos is 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 Wale ...

group formed in 2013. Suchmos was inspired by

African-American music African-American music is a broad term covering a diverse range of musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their African-American culture, culture. Its origins are in musical forms that developed as a result of the Slavery in ...

such as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

. The band's name, Suchmos, is adapted from a jazz musician

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

’s nickname, “Satchmo”.

History

2013: Formation and earlier days

Yonce, Taiking, Hsu, OK, Kcee, and Taihei were playmates. OK and Kcee are brothers. OK, Taiking, and Hsu are childhood friends from elementary school. Kcee and Yonce are acquaintances from high school days; Taihei is Hsu's junior at college. They gathered at OK's and Kcee's house at night and watching YouTube, singing, dancing, and playing. In January 2013, OK formed Suchmos with Yonce, Hsu, Ayustat, and a support member, Taihei. Kcee accompanied the band as a video group. The band's name, Suchmos, comes from a jazz musician

’s nickname, “Satchmo”. The first live appearance was decided prior to deciding the band's name. While Yonce was suffering at the rehearsal studio of Tokyo University at that time, pictures of Armstrong flowed to the monitor there. Hsu who was studying jazz music saw it and said that Louis Armstrong is "Satchmo". They liked the sound and adopted it as the band's name.

2014–2016: ''The Bay''

On April 8, 2015,

Space Shower Music Space Shower Music is a Japanese record label and talent agency owned by Space Shower Network, best known as the operator of Space Shower TV. History The company was founded in 1999 as , whose primary shareholder was Polystar. In 2004, Space Sh ...

released the band's debut EP ''Essence''. From this work, the music video of "Fallin" which directed by Kcee was released. In the same year, the guitarist Ayustat left the band, then Kcee and Taiking joined as new members. Taihei who was a support member became an official member. On July 8, 2015, the band's first studio album ''The Bay'' was released. It peaked at 26th on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

weekly chart and 16th on ''

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 Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'' Top Albums. The lead single "YMM" from the album peaked at 44th on ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 and 2nd on ''J-Wave Tokio Hot 100''. In December 2015, they won Best New Artist for the annual feature project "Apple Music Best of 2015". On December 12, 2015, their first independent event "Suchmos the Blow Your Mind vol.1" was held at Roppongi Super Deluxe. It is a voluntary event which was held regularly by inviting artists respected by Suchmos. Sol & Pimp Sessions appeared as the first guest. On January 17, 2016, they released the second EP ''Love&Vice''. It reached Top 15th on the Oricon chart, and peaked at 1st on the ''iTunes General Album'' chart. The EP's lead song "Stay Tune" won the first place at ''J-Wave Tokio Hot 100''. In September 2016, it was used as a commercial song of Honda Motor's compact SUV " Vezel". On the ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100, it reached the top ten rankings, played the first major music chart top 10 through albums and singles. From April 2 to April 23, 2016, their first nationwide live tour Tour Love&Vice was held. On July 6, 2016, they released the third EP ''Mint Condition''. The music video of lead song "Mint" (directed by maxilla) was produced collaborating with Levi's and won The Best New Artist Video of the 15th

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 vo ...

. The song "Mint" peaked at 16th on ''Billboard Japan Hot 100''. From October 16 to October 29, 2016, the band's first one-man tour Tour Mint Condition was held. An additional performance entitled Tour Mint Condition Extra Show was held on November 11, 2016.

2017–2020: ''The Kids'', ''The Ashtray'', and ''The Anymal''

On January 25, 2017, Suchmos released their second studio album ''The Kids''. On ''Billboard Japan'' Top Albums Sales chart, it peaked at the second place. Through a single album, they reached the first Oricon chart Top 3 entry. In March 2017, they participated in Petroz's tribute album ''Where, Who, What Is Petrolz?'' and covered "Rain". On June 20, 2018, they released their first mini-album ''The Ashtray'' featuring the lead single ''808''. On March 27, 2019, they released their third studio album ''The Anymal'', an album showcasing their biggest musical change in direction since their formation.

2021–present: Indefinite hiatus

On February 3, 2021, it was announced that the band will be on hiatus indefinitely after discussion among band and staff members. On October 15, 2021, it was announced that their bassist, HSU, had passed away.

Musical style

Suchmos' music includes elements such as

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and so on. Former editor-in-chief of Tower Record's free paper "bounce", Daisaku Nishio points out that Suchmos's music has a great influence from black music such as 1970s soul and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

acid jazz Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...

, and 1990s R&B. They are digesting the influences from various genres of jazz,

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

, hip-hop,

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from Soul music, soul ...

, and the current Western music scene.

Band members

;Current members * Yonce (Kasai Yosuke, ''born August 28, 1991'') —

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

(2013–present) * Taiking (Totsuka Taiki, ''born May 1990'') —

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(2015–present) * OK (Ohara Kento, ''Kcee's brother'', ''born August 27, 1990'') —

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, DJ (2013–present) * Kcee (Ohara Kaiki, ''born September 18, 1992'') — DJ (2015–present) * Taihei (Sakurauchi Taihei, ''born July 1992'') — keyboards (2013–present) ;Former members * Ayustat — guitar (2013–2015) * Hsu ( Kosugi Hayata, ''born 1989'') —

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(2013–2021)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Awards

, - , 2015 , ''Suchmos'' , Apple Music Best of 2015 — Best New Artist , , - , rowspan="2", 2016 , ''The Bay'' , CD Shop Awards — , , - , ''Mint'' ,

— Best New Artist Video , , - , 2017 , ''Suchmos'' , Space Shower Music AWARDS — Best Breakthrough Artist ,

References

External links

* {{Authority control Japanese rock music groups Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in Japan Musical groups from Kanagawa Prefecture Japanese jazz ensembles