Chilli Beans.

Overview

Chilli Beans. (チリビーンズ, nicknamed Chiribi) is a Japanese three-piece band formed in 2019, made up of Moni (vocals, formerly Moto), Maika (bass, vocals) and Lily (guitar, vocals). All three met in the singer-songwriter course at the Tokyo music school Ongaku Juku Voice. Their sound spans Japanese indie, J-pop and J-rock. Highlights include a No. 1 on Billboard Japan Heatseekers Songs with "rose feat. Vaundy" in 2023 and a sold-out debut at Nippon Budokan in February 2024.

Formation and Name

In 2019, at a teacher's suggestion, the trio began playing together. Their first song as a group was Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way," and early on they covered bands they all adored, such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. The name borrows "Chilli" from Red Hot Chili Peppers, adds "Beans" to signal a young band with room to grow, and ends with a dot. The first name considered was "Odd Eye." Soon after formation, Lily moved to the school's DTM course to learn production.

Career History

2019–2021

The band formed in July 2019, and at the end of August they co-wrote their first original song, "lemonade," with Vaundy. It topped Spotify's Viral chart in Japan. Their debut EP "d a n c i n g a l o n e" arrived digitally on 25 August 2021 and reached No. 38 on Oricon's weekly album chart. On 24 November they released "Andron," another collaboration with Vaundy.

2022

The second EP "Daydream" followed on 2 March (No. 43 on Oricon), and their first self-organized shows, "Dancing Room 001," took place in Tokyo and Osaka that month. "My Boy," released 13 April, was their first TV drama theme (for "Motokare Retry"). The fan club "Club Beans." launched on 19 June; an Osaka show was postponed after Moto tested positive for COVID-19 and was held on 25 September. The first full album "Chilli Beans." came out on 13 July, with "School" reaching No. 1 on USEN's J-POP HOT30. They played their first headline show at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM on 9 September, then their first one-man tour, "Hi, TOUR," across eight cities from 2 November to 14 December. The Christmas song "daylight" was released in December.

2023

In January, the debut album won the Blue Award at the 15th CD Shop Awards. The third EP "mixtape" was released on 1 February; its lead track "rose feat. Vaundy" hit No. 1 on Billboard Japan Heatseekers Songs. On 10 March at Namba Hatch, Osaka, they surprised the crowd with "Time Lag!," a collaboration between Moto and WurtS, released the same day. In March they also received J-WAVE's "BEST SONAR TRAX OF 2022." "you n me" (26 May) served as the theme for the drama "Cool Doji Danshi," and the fourth EP "for you" arrived on 9 August, followed by a second one-man tour of eight cities (12 August–28 September). "I like you," the theme of the drama "Toki wo Kakeru na, Koibito-tachi," was released on 11 October, "doll" on 22 November, and the second album "Welcome to My Castle" on 13 December. They played 27 music festivals that year.

2024

On 3 February the band made its Nippon Budokan debut, playing to 8,500 people and performing 22 songs non-stop with almost no MC. A vinyl pressing of the first album followed on 6 March, and the concert film was released on BD/DVD on 5 June. The "open my mind Live house Tour" (5–14 June) covered Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, and its new song "Mum" was released on 26 June. "fu uh," the theme of a web drama, came out on 11 September with a lyric video the members shot, edited and directed themselves. "yesterday" (9 October) and "cyber" (13 November) preceded the mini album "blue night" on 4 December.

2025

"tragedy" was released on 30 April. The seven-city "upside down tour" ran from 31 May to 26 June; "pain" was released on 4 June, and the digital EP "the outside wind" followed on 25 June. The video for "pineapple!" was shot in Guam. "ひまわり" (Himawari), the ending theme of the anime "Jigoku Sensei Nube," was released on 16 July, and "that's all i can do," an insert song for the TBS drama "Jaa, Anta ga Tsukutte Miro yo," on 8 October. On 11 October the band announced a partnership with Fender Music, which released signature guitars and basses for each member.

2026

"star flower," written for the Netflix series "Prism Rondo," was released on 21 January, followed by the four-stop "good days tour" (24 January–20 February). "breath," the theme of an NHK drama, arrived on 27 May. In April, vocalist Moto changed her stage name to Moni. On 9 July the band hosted the three-act event "UPDATE 2.0" with WurtS and PEOPLE 1 at Tokyo Garden Theater, and the resulting collaboration "Feel like slowing down" was released on 2 September. The third album "HONESTY," on their own label my wing records, got an early digital release on 16 September.

Musical Style and Members

Rooted in admiration for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Lenny Kravitz, the band pursues a forward-driving sound. Moni names Kurt Cobain as her ultimate icon, while Maika is drawn to funk and disco and cites Joe Dart of Vulfpeck as a bassist she aspires to. Drummer Yuumi has supported the band since 2021.