Bump of Chicken is an excellent Japanese rock band active since 1994. The members are all from Sakura city in Chiba prefecture and lifetime friends since they were young children. They formed the band in middle school.
Though it is often thought that their name refers to goose bumps, it was actually intended to be something like "Cowards Fight Back" (it's just that the English for "fight" became "bump" and "coward" became "chicken.") The members are Fujiwara Motou, Masukawa Hiroaki, Naoi Yoshifumi and Masu Hideo. They have released more than 23 singles and 7 albums (as well as several repackages and a solo album by Fujiwara) with more to come in the future.
Though it is often thought that their name refers to goose bumps, it was actually intended to be something like "Cowards Fight Back" (it's just that the English for "fight" became "bump" and "coward" became "chicken.") The members are Fujiwara Motou, Masukawa Hiroaki, Naoi Yoshifumi and Masu Hideo. They have released more than 23 singles and 7 albums (as well as several repackages and a solo album by Fujiwara) with more to come in the future.
From right to left: Masukawa Hiroaki, Fujiwara Motou, Masu Hideo, Naoi Yoshifumi
Also, here are the band's promotional photos for their newest album, RAY, and the accompanying tour, WILLPOLIS 2014!! Source: http://bump.mu/.
Member Profiles
藤原基央 | Motoo Fujiwara
Vocal & Guitar
Born April 12, 1979
Aries
Blood type O
Fujiwara writes and composes all the songs as well as being the main vocal and playing guitar. Seriously!! Well, except for most of the hidden tracks, which Hiroaki is responsible for. He's a genius and a ridiculously intelligent, thoughtful and gentle person. Fujiwara has said before that he doesn't think he is very human, but the emotions he is able to convey through his music say otherwise. He says he wants to be an unworldly man. He also didn't like school because he his opinions often clashed with his teachers'. He loves cats very, very much, and also has very bad eyesight. He says that it's a 'bit scary' to see the world so clearly, so he rarely wears glasses, at least in public. Besides his amazing musical talent, he's also a skilled artist and has drawn many of their album covers and CD booklet art. He enjoys doing laundry and playing the harmonica. Nicknames include: Fuji-kun. I'd like to meet this guy one day and tell him how much I admire him and his music!
増川弘明 | Hiroaki Masukawa
Guitar
Born December 20, 1979
Sagittarius
Blood type A
Main guitarist and responsible for most of the hidden tracks. He seems quiet and shy, but this guy is CRAZY. Listen to the hidden tracks and you'll start to understand. I love this guy! I really get the feeling that he's in his own world. His hobbies are anime and video games. He's been close to Fujiwara since grade school. He used to be teased by other kids. His has a lot of nicknames, including Nikke (from an incident when he mispronounced a name,) Hose (which means "thin,") and Hiro.
直井由文 | Yoshifumi Naoi
Bass
Born October 9, 1979
Libra
Blood type A
Naoi! The bassist. He's the smiling face of the group, usually taking the lead when they appear on camera or sit for interviews. He's playful and likes to joke around, and enjoys anime and video games. He also likes to take photographs and draw. In fact, he has a published artbook called "Comic World Fun." When I get the chance I'm going to try to buy it somewhere. His nickname is Chama (in fact, I've never heard him referred to by his given name) which is a play on the word "obocchama"(meaning a young boy from a wealthy family.) Naoi went to culinary school and has a degree! Perhaps he is responsible for the extravagant cakes BUMP posted on the members' birthdays in the Takahashi Diary?
升秀夫 | Hideo Masu
Drum
Born August 10, 1979
Leo
Blood type A
Masu, the drummer! To quote directly from Wikipedia, he "has good eyesight, cannot write kanji well, likes to go outdoors, and often gets headaches." While he may seem unassuming, among all the members he is probably the most responsible for the band's formation. He's been described as the band's shadow leader, haha. He can also be crazy sometimes. :)
ニコル | Nicole
Nicole is a cat that Fujiwara frequently draws. She has appeared in some of the CD booklets and is often depicted crying, wearing a long, striped red-and-white scarf and boots. From what I gather, she was inspired by a cat Fujiwara had when he was young, and named by Fujiwara's mom. I think she embodies the bittersweet feelings of many of BUMP's songs, and sheds tears for the characters in the songs or the listening audience... But just like how the songs always have optimistic endings, Nicole can smile too. She is also absurdly adorable!
More Images
This is a pretty old picture, but they haven't changed much!
In their natural habitat!! Video games, junk food, and manga.
Very proud of their hard work!! They're showing off the album Orbital Period
Hiroaki has been framed :0
The members always celebrate their birthdays together with fancy fancy cakes
Love these guys!
Information from:
My brain and the information I've put in it over time, as well as
Pictures from:
http://www.bumpofchicken.com/bio.html
http://gero.img.jugem.jp/20061103_39333.jpg
http://blog-imgs-11-origin.fc2.com/h/a/p/happyhisa522jp/fc2blog_20120409161342d88.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htsLEAtaKs
http://blog-imgs-11-origin.fc2.com/h/a/p/happyhisa522jp/fc2blog_20120409161342d88.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-htsLEAtaKs
Here's some more infos about them~
ReplyDeletehttp://hp34.0zero.jp/novel/main_menu.php?uid=handwater&dir=644&num=1&mem_pw=&admin=
http://landscape.tyabo.com/bocpf.html
http://ryosk.fc2web.com/bocprfl.htm
http://hyai.fc2web.com/member.html
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/ysgel2002/9260100.html
There's another site with the member's info and some "OMG facts", but i couldn't remember and find it again... All I can remember is, that site has a black background. As soon as I can remember or found it again, I'll link it here~ :)
Whoa awesome!!! These have some great facts and info in them!!! I'm definitely going to come back to these later and translate them for the profiles! This information about the members has never been translated into English, I'm excited. :D Thanks again, you're the greatest!
DeleteThank you for putting this website together! I just got into this band after I heard their opening and ending to "March Comes in Like a Lion". They are my favorite Japanese band now!
ReplyDelete