Vamps 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 Wales ...

duo formed in 2008 by Hyde (vocalist, rhythm guitarist, lyricist and composer) and

K.A.Z , known exclusively by his stage name K.A.Z, is a Japanese musician and songwriter. He is known for his work with Oblivion Dust, hide with Spread Beaver and Vamps. Career K.A.Z originally wanted to be a drummer, but drums were too expensive. H ...

(lead guitarist, backing vocalist and composer). Only a year after their founding, Vamps performed its first international tour, ten dates in the United States, and in 2010 they went on their first world tour. Originally signed to Hyde's own record label Vamprose, every release the band has had to date has reached the top ten on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

music chart. In 2013, the group changed labels to

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Delicious Deli Records was a Japanese record label under Universal Music Japan. Founded by corporate executive and member of management committee and managing director of international, Kimitaka Kato, its headquarters are located in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. In August ...

and produced their worldwide debut release. After several tours and collaborations with Western acts, Vamps worked with outside producers and songwriters for the first time on the 2017 album ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

'' before temporarily ceasing all activities at the end of that year.

History

2008–2011

Vamps was formed by Hyde (

L'Arc-en-Ciel L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ...

) and

(

Oblivion Dust Oblivion Dust is a Japanese rock music, rock band first active from 1996 to 2001; they reunited in 2007. Although they were originally largely influenced by early 1990s American grunge bands,

) in 2008. They had been working together on Hyde's solo work since 2003. After years of collaboration, the two finally decided to form their own band and agreed that there was no better way to announce Vamps than getting out in front of the fans right away. Their first material was the single " Love Addict", released on July 2, 2008. Their first nationwide tour, Vamps Live 2008, kicked off at

Zepp The Zepp music halls are a group of Japanese music venues covering every area of the country. They play host to many international tours and are a popular stop among Japanese musicians. Each venue takes the Zepp name, along with the city in which ...

Tokyo. The band, having only released one single, played mostly songs from Hyde's solo career. Between August 1 and October 28, they played 46 shows at the Zepp live houses throughout Japan. The band played 6 to 10 shows at each venue and every single show was sold out. Vamps' second single "

I Gotta Kick Start Now "I Gotta Kick Start Now" is the second single by Vamps, released on March 13, 2009. It includes a cover of the 1994 song "Trouble" by Shampoo. The limited edition came with a DVD that includes the music video for the title track and its making of ...

" was released on March 13, 2009, and was followed by " Evanescent" on May 13. Hyde in New York City, 2010

In July 2009, Vamps went on their Vamps Live 2009 U.S.A. Tour. The tour covered 10 cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from July 11 - August 1. Stopping in the following cities: New York, two

Warped Tour 2009 The Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the l ...

shows (Hartford & Columbia), Baltimore, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego, and finishing off in Los Angeles. They had an additional finale US show in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Oahu, Hawaii on board the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

USS ''Missouri'' on September 19. On June 10, 2009, they released their self-titled debut album, '' Vamps'', followed by their fourth single " Sweet Dreams" on September 30. On January 31, 2010, the band was awarded the

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 ...

Rising International Artist award for their efforts and success with their tour in the US. After releasing the DVD of their US tour on March 17, they released the single "

Devil Side "Devil Side" is the fifth single by Vamps, released on May 12, 2010. It includes a cover of the 1982 song " Live Wire" by Mötley Crüe. The limited edition came with a DVD that includes two versions of the music video for the title track. Char ...

" on May 12. Their sixth single "

Angel Trip "Angel Trip" is the sixth single by Vamps, released on June 9, 2010. The B-side is a cover, with some lyrics changed, of "Satsugai", a song K.A.Z wrote for the ''Detroit Metal City'' live action film. The limited edition came with a DVD that incl ...

" was released on June 9, followed by their second album, '' Beast'', on July 28, 2010. The band held a free concert in

Roppongi Hills is a List of development projects in Tokyo, development project in Tokyo and one of Japan's largest Real estate development, integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Mi ...

on July 30, which was also freely streamed live on several websites. Vamps embarked on their first world tour in the fall of 2010. Making stops in the following countries:

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, United States,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Their seventh single "

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

" was released on December 15, 2010, and contains the B-side "Get Up -Japanese Ver.-", which is an alternative version of "Get Up" that translates some of the English lyrics into Japanese. This recording of the song was used in the '' Bakuman.'' anime, which features a fictionalized version of Hyde that is voiced by the singer himself. On July 13, 2011, Vamps released their fourth DVD, ''Vamps Live 2010 World Tour Chile'', which was recorded in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

on November 6, 2010, at the Caupolican Theatre.

2013–2017

In February 2013, Vamps announced they were changing record labels to

. The first release on the label was the home video ''Vamps Live 2012'' on April 24, which was recorded at Zepp Namba in 2012. Vamps, who were recording in Los Angeles, performed at the

2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards Japan was held in Chiba on June 22, 2013 at the Makuhari Messe and was hosted by Atsuko Maeda and Nobuaki Kaneko from Rize. Awards Video of the Year Exile Tribe — "24karats Tribe of Gold" *Namie Amuro — "In T ...

on June 22, coming straight from the airport. This was the first performance of the songs from their double A-side single " Ahead/Replay", which was released on July 3, exactly one year and one day since their debut five years ago. The duo released the best-of album ''

Sex Blood Rock n' Roll ''Sex Blood Rock n' Roll'' is the "best of Vamps" album, released on September 25, 2013. It is also the first Vamp's album to be released overseas. In addition to the album including already released songs, it also includes new recordings of th ...

'' on September 25, which includes re-recordings of songs, all in English, and is also their first worldwide release. They supported the record with a world tour that took them to Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, London, and finished with shows in Los Angeles and New York where they were supported by

Sid Wilson Sidney George Wilson (born January 20, 1977) is an American musician. He is the turntablist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #0. Wilson was the youngest member of the band until bassist Alessandro Venturella and dru ...

of Slipknot. Vamps headlined the U-Express Live 2014 event at the

Saitama Super Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Chūō-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It opened preliminarily on May 5, 2000, and then was officially opened on September 1 of the same year. Its maximum spectator capacity is 36,500, making i ...

on March 1, played their second show in London on March 28 and also performed at that year's

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

on June 14. Following the two singles " Get Away/The Jolly Roger" and " Vampire's Love", released on August 20 and October 8 respectively, the band produced their third studio album '' BloodSuckers'' on October 29, 2014. It was released in Europe on March 23, 2015, and in the US a day later. Vamps hosted the VampPark Fest at the

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 ...

on February 18 and 19, 2015. In addition to themselves, it included Sixx:A.M.,

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album ''Buckcherry'' was DreamWorks first a ...

, Sads,

Nothing More Nothing More is an American rock band from San Antonio, Texas. Formed in 2003, the band spent much of the 2000s recording independent albums and struggling to maintain a steady lineup or attract record label interest. Towards the end of the de ...

Gerard Way Gerard Arthur Way (born April 9, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, ''Hesitant Alien'', i ...

and Alexandros. Vamps took part in the Japan Night event held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

on April 4, alongside several other artists promoting Japanese music. Beginning on April 8, they were a support act for twelve stops on Sixx:A.M.'s North American tour. They also performed at two festivals in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, the Fort Rock Festival on April 25 and Welcome to Rockville the following day, their own headlining show at the

Best Buy Theater Palladium Times Square (formerly PlayStation Theater, Best Buy Theater and Nokia Theatre Times Square) is an indoor live events venue in New York City, located in One Astor Plaza, at the corner of Broadway and 44th Street. It was designed by archi ...

on May 1, and at the

Rock on the Range Rock on the Range was an annual rock festival that was held at two locations. The first and main location was in Columbus, Ohio, United States at Mapfre Stadium (originally Columbus Crew Stadium; renamed in 2015) from 2007 to 2018, while the ot ...

festival on May 15. Vamps returned to South America for four concerts in late September and early October, before being a support act for six shows on

Apocalyptica Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical ...

's UK tour in November. They released a collaborative single with Apocalyptica titled " Sin in Justice" on November 20. The single " Inside of Me" produced by

Howard Benson Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008. Early life and education Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philadel ...

and featuring

Chris Motionless Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2004, the band consists of lead vocalist Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, guitarists Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky "Horror" Olson, drummer Vinny Mauro and bassist Ju ...

was released on August 31, 2016. Its B-side, "Rise or Die", features

Richard Z. Kruspe Richard Kruspe (born Sven Kruspe; 24 June 1967) is a German musician. He is the lead guitarist of the Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, as well as the lead singer and lead guitarist of the US-based industrial metal band Emigrate. Early life ...

. The music video for " Calling" was released via

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

in April 2017. These three tracks and "Sin in Justice" were included on the album ''

'', released on April 26, 2017. Designed to appeal to American audiences, it marks the first time Vamps brought in a producer and co-writers on songs. In September, they opened for Danzig at three concerts in the Western US and headlined their own show at the

Roxie Theater The Roxie Theater, also known as the Roxie Cinema or just The Roxie, is a historic movie theater, founded in 1912, at 3117 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. It is a non-profit community arthouse cinema. History The Roxie is o ...

. On December 1, 2017, Vamps announced that they were temporarily ceasing all activities; "Our engines have overheated and we need some time to cool down. As soon as we are at our best temperature and the time is right for our return, we plan to kick back into action in top gear!"

Members

* Hyde –

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 ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

Ju-ken Ju-ken (born June 27, 1971 in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese session bassist. He was a support member of Gackt, The Wanderers and Anna Tsuchiya. He is one of the most in-demand bassists in Japan. Career Ju-ken started his pr ...

– support

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 ...

, backing vocals * Arimatsu – support

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 ...

* Jin – support

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Vamps'' (June 10, 2009)

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

Peak Position: No. 3 * '' Beast'' (July 28, 2010) No. 3 * '' Bloodsuckers'' (October 29, 2014) No. 5 * ''

'' (April 26, 2017) No. 2

Compilation albums

* ''

'' (September 25, 2013) No. 2 * ''Complete Box -Gold Disc Edition-'' (November 28, 2018, box set)

Singles

* " Love Addict" (July 2, 2008)

Oricon Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

Peak Position: No. 2 * "

" (March 13, 2009) No. 6 * " Evanescent" (May 13, 2009) No. 4 * " Sweet Dreams" (September 30, 2009) No. 2 * "

" (May 12, 2010) No. 2 * "

" (June 9, 2010) No. 4 * "

" (December 15, 2010) No. 4 * " Ahead/Replay" (stylized as ⒶHEAD／REPLAY, July 3, 2013) No. 3 * " Get Away/The Jolly Roger" (August 20, 2014) No. 3 * " Vampire's Love" (October 8, 2014) No. 3 * " Sin in Justice" with

(November 20, 2015) * " Inside of Me" featuring

Motionless in White Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2004, the band consists of lead vocalist Chris "Motionless" Cerulli, guitarists Ryan Sitkowski and Ricky "Horror" Olson, drummer Vinny Mauro and bassist Ju ...

(August 31, 2016) No. 7 * " Calling" (March 22, 2017) No. 8

DVDs

* ''Vamps Live 2008'' (February 4, 2009) Oricon DVDs Chart Peak Position: No. 2 * ''Vamps Live 2009 U.S.A.'' (March 17, 2010) No. 4 * ''Vamps Live 2009'' (May 12, 2010) No. 2 * ''Vamps Live 2010 World Tour Chile'' (July 13, 2011) No. 2 * ''Vamps Live 2010 Beauty and the Beast Arena'' (February 15, 2012) No. 4 * ''Vamps Live 2012'' (April 24, 2013) No. 7 Oricon Blu-rays Chart Peak Position: No. 10 * ''Vamps Live 2014 London'' (June 25, 2014) No. 8 No. 9 * ''Vamps Live 2014-2015'' (June 24, 2015) No. 7 No. 6 * ''Vamps Live 2015 BloodSuckers'' (December 9, 2015) No. 2 No. 5 * ''MTV Unplugged: Vamps'' (June 29, 2016) No. 6 No. 6 * ''Vamps History: The Complete Video Collection 2008-2014'' (December 14, 2016) No. 16 No. 6 * ''Vamps Live 2017 Underworld'' (December 6, 2017) No. 13 No. 10

Awards

* 2009

, Rising International Artist — Vamps * 2015 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, Best Rock Artist — Vamps

References

External links

Official website

Official MySpace

Vamprose official website

Vamprose official YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vamps Gan-Shin artists Universal Music Japan artists Japanese hard rock musical groups Japanese alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 2008 Rock music duos Musical groups from Tokyo English-language musical groups from Japan