go!go!vanillas

Overview

go!go!vanillas (nicknamed "Vanillas") is a Japanese rock band formed in 2010 that made its major debut in 2014. The four members are Tatsuya Maki (vocals, guitar), Shintaro Yanagisawa (guitar, vocals), Pretty Keisuke Hasegawa (bass) and Jett Seiya (drums). The band is managed by COLD Records and signed to IRORI Records, a label within Pony Canyon. Its official fan club is "go!go!CLUB".

Career

Formation

Maki and Hasegawa were classmates at a junior high school attached to Oita University's Faculty of Education, where they played on the same basketball team, and stayed close at Oita Maizuru High School. In their final year of high school they tried playing in a band together for the first time, with Hasegawa on guitar. After graduation Maki moved to Tokyo first and Hasegawa followed a year later. Maki began a three-piece with a drummer he met at university and they released two demo CDs, "Rock Shonen no Mezame / Lucia" and "Destroyer". In mid-2011 the band recruited guitarist Ryoya Miyagawa online; the drummer later left and Jett Seiya was introduced and joined.

The name came from Maki's search of the dictionary for words starting with V, after admiring overseas bands such as The Vaselines, The Vines and The Velvet Underground. He liked the contrast between how cool "vanilla" looks and how cute it sounds, and added "go!go!" after recalling the "Go! Go! Zeppeli" engraved on Gyro Zeppeli's gold tooth in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

2010-2014

Formed in 2010, the band put out demo CDs in 2011 and the venue-only CD "New Age E.P." in 2012. The 7-inch single "Ningen Sanka / Across the University" (SEEZ RECORDS) followed on January 16, 2013, and the first album SHAKE on July 24, 2013. In 2014 they were chosen for the Space Shower Retsuden JAPAN TOUR alongside KANA-BOON, Kyuso Nekokami and SHISHAMO, and their 2,000-copy limited single "Orient / Horror Show" sold out immediately. After the Tower Records exclusive single "Emma" in August, they released their major debut album Magic Number on November 5, 2014 via Victor/Getting Better.

2015-2018

The major first single "Bilingual" came out in April 2015. Miyagawa left after the tour finale on July 4, and Shintaro Yanagisawa joined from the July 15 one-man show "HIGH!HIGH!" at Shimokitazawa SHELTER, forming the current lineup. "Counter Action" followed in September. The band released the album Kameleon Lights (February 2016) with a national tour, then the singles "Ohayo Culture" and "Heisei Pain" and the third album FOOLs (July 2017) with another tour. In 2018 they toured again, released the double A-side "SUMMER BREEZE / Stand By Me" in May, and held the autumn "Harvest Tour", including outdoor shows at Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and Osaka-jo Open-Air Concert Hall. On December 12, 2018, Hasegawa was seriously injured in a traffic accident and stepped away to focus on treatment.

2019-2020

The single "No.999" arrived in January 2019, followed by the fourth album THE WORLD on May 15. From the April Zepp tour onward the band performed as a trio, playing back bass recordings Hasegawa had made before the accident, until he returned at the Nagoya date of THE WORLD TOUR 2019 on October 11. After the single "Amazing Grace" (June 2020) and the EP "Kagami e.p." (November 18), the band played its first Nippon Budokan show on November 23, 2020, as the final of the ROAD TO AMAZING BUDOKAN TOUR 2020. As the Beatles did at their Budokan show, each member sang a song of his own, and at the encore Hasegawa "graduated" from his "trial bassist" status.

2021-2024

The fifth major album PANDORA came out in March 2021, followed by the band's first video release, "1st LIVE FILM -AMAZING BUDOKAN 2020-", in June. In November they held their first arena tour at Kobe World Memorial Hall and Yokohama Arena. In 2022 the "Aoi no. Tour 2022" ended in Oita, the hometown of Maki and Hasegawa, and the single "Aoi no." was released on March 30. On July 31 they made their first appearance on the GREEN STAGE at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL '22 as a six-piece with three support members, as Yanagisawa was unwell. The tenth-anniversary album DREAMS was released in October 2023, and DREAMS TOUR 2023-2024 concluded in March 2024. The band moved to IRORI Records in January 2024 with the digital release "SHAKE", and on June 1 left its agency to start activities under its newly founded management company, COLD Records. In July 2024 Maki wrote "Kujira" for Masaki Suda, used as the Fuji TV theme song for the Paris Olympics 2024, and on August 28 Yanagisawa announced his marriage to Aina Yamauchi of SILENT SIREN.

Musical style

From the start the band has built its sound on rock 'n' roll while absorbing garage rock, funk, R&B and country. Since "LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL" in 2021 it has also released many songs with strong Irish elements, adding piano, fiddle and trumpet. The Beatles are named as a core musical root, and the songs and live shows are often described as overflowing with euphoria. Maki writes the lyrics and music for most songs, with other members contributing to some. He cites Takuro Yoshida among his favorites and says folk music still colors his lyrical world. Support musicians such as Atsushi Inoue (piano), Hiromu Tejima (fiddle) and Fanfan (trumpet) have joined recordings and live shows.