Flow (band)

Flow is a Japanese rock band, that formed in 1998 and signed on to Sony Music Japan's Ki/oon Music label. Flow is a five-piece band made up of two vocalists, a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist. As of March 2016, the band has released 30 singles and 10 studio albums. Their songs have been featured in the opening sequences of several anime series.

History

The group's base was created in 1993 when brothers Kōshi (elder: vocals, rhythm guitar) and Take (younger: lead guitar) began playing together. They formed Flow in 1998, and were eventually joined by Keigo (vocals), Gotō (bass) and Iwasaki (drums; joined in 2000). In 2001, the band released its first maxi single, "Flow #0". The group then released two mini-albums within the same year, both of which took nationwide indie charts by storm. "Okuru Kotoba", Flow's first cover single, was released in January 2003. It remained on the Oricon indie chart for seven consecutive weeks and also hit an impressive No. 6 on the overall singles chart. In the spring of that year, their first full-scale album Splash!!! debuted at No. 2. In July 2003, Flow released the single "Blaster" on a major label, Ki/oon Records. In April 2004, they released "GO!!!", which stayed on the Oricon Top 10 Chart for three weeks. In May 2004, Flow released their first major album Game.

A string of singles followed and in July 2005 the band released its third album, Golden Coast. Since the release of Golden Coast, Flow has released two singles with new A-sides, but one of these Around The World / Kandata was a double A-side release. The songs "GO!!!" and "Re:member" both served as opening themes to the anime series Naruto, as well as "Sign" for Naruto Shippuden. "Days" was the first opening for Bones' Eureka Seven anime, and "Realize" was the opening for the PlayStation 2 video games based on the same series. Flow performed live in America for the first time in Dallas, Texas on September 2, 2006 at Anime Fest which was held at the Hyatt Hotel and Convention Center in downtown Dallas. Flow then released "Colors" in 2006, the first opening for Sunrise's original series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Their song "Answer" is the first opening theme for the live action Japanese drama Tantei Gakuen Q. They performed "Night Parade" with the hip-hop band Home Made Kazoku. In February 2008, they released a new single titled "Arigatō", followed by Persona -trinity soul-'s new opening, "Word of the Voice" in June 2008. They performed Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2's second opening theme "World End" released in 2008. In 2009, the band performed "Sign", the sixth opening for Naruto Shippuden. The band released a B-side compilation album on November 4, 2009. Their single "Calling" was featured as the ending for the anime Heroman. Flow returned to North America to perform at Anime Central, in Rosemont, Illinois on May 20, 2011, and FanimeCon in San Jose, California on May 28, 2010 and in May 2011. Their song "Hey!!!" was the third opening theme for the anime Beelzebub and the song "Brave Blue" was used as the second opening theme for the anime Eureka Seven AO. In 2012, they performed in France for the first time at Japan Expo.

They provided a cover of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" as the main theme song for the film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods; the song, coupled with an insert song from the film, was released as a double A-side single on March 20, 2013,^[1] and subsequently would be featured as the opening theme for Dragon Ball video games such as Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z and Dragon Ball XenoVerse. Flow released their eighth studio album Flow The Max!!! on March 27, 2013. Flow went to Brazil for the first time to perform at Ressacca Friends in 2013. Their single "Ai Ai Ai ni Utarete Bye Bye Bye" released on February 26, 2014 was used as the second opening to the anime Samurai Flamenco.^[2] Flow returned to Brazil in the summer of 2014 to perform at Anime Friends in Sao Paulo and at SuperCon in Recife. They returned to perform at Anime Fest after 8 years in August 2014 at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel.^[3] Their single, "7 -seven-", was a collaboration with the band Granrodeo and was featured as the ending theme to the anime The Seven Deadly Sins.^[4] Flow released their second anime best album compilation Flow Anime Best Kiwami on February 25, 2015. Flow's first-ever world tour, Flow World Tour 2015 Kiwami, will see them performing five times in Japan and fourteen times in seven other countries.^[5] Their first digital single, "Hikari Oikakete" (光追いかけて), was released on March 21, 2015 and was used as the image song for the Naruto stage play Live Spectacle Naruto.^[6] Their single "Niji no Sora" (虹の空) was used as the 34th ending theme of Naruto Shippuden.^[7] Their single "Steppin' out" was used as the opening theme of Durarara!!x2: Ketsu.^[8] Flow's single "Kaze no Uta (風ノ唄) / Burn" was released on August 24, 2016; the songs are used as the opening themes of Tales of Zestiria the X and Tales of Berseria.

Members

Kohshi

Kohshi^[9]

• Position: Vocalist, Rhythm Guitarist
• Real name: Kōshi Asakawa
• Birthday: April 22, 1977
• Birthplace: Saitama

Kohshi is one of the vocalists of Flow and helped create the band with his younger brother Take. Back then, both were huge fans of X Japan and so they formed a X Japan cover band called Wyburn in 1993 with Kohshi acting as Hide and Take acting as Pata. When X Japan disbanded in 1997, Kohshi decided to shift the band away from being a cover band to an original band with combined influences of rock and hip hop. He also changed the band's name to Pinking but would later change it to Flow because a friend of his was a hip hop artist and often used the word "flow" in his songs. Kohshi liked the word because it reminded him of flowing water. Kohshi is often seen as the leader of the band despite not taking the official role of leader himself.

Keigo

Keigo^[9]

• Position: Vocalist
• Real name: Keigo Hayashi
• Birthday: July 1, 1977
• Birthplace: Tokyo

Keigo is one of the vocalists of Flow and was the first member to join the band apart from the Asakawa brothers. As Kohshi's high school friend and a fan of Wyburn, he originally expressed interest in joining the band. Kohshi decided to let Keigo in and named him as Flow's second vocalist. Keigo is one of Flow's main song writers and often acts as the MC at live concerts.

Take

Take^[9]

• Position: Lead Guitarist, Backing Vocalist
• Real name: Takeshi Asakawa
• Birthday: August 31, 1978
• Birthplace: Saitama

Take is the guitarist of Flow and helped create Flow with his older brother Kohshi. They were huge fans of X Japan so Kohshi bought himself and Take their own guitars so they could play X Japan's songs. Kohshi would later decide to change the band's direction and added three more members to form an original band. Most of Flow's songs are composed by Take, the youngest member of Flow.

Got's

Got's^[9]

• Position: Bassist, Backing Vocalist
• Real name: Kohtaro Gotō
• Birthday: January 26, 1977
• Birthplace: Niigata

Got's is the bassist of Flow and the second oldest member. In 1999, Kohshi was working a part time job at a club called Shibuya Quattro where he met Got's who was also working part time there. Got's had watched one of Flow's concerts before they met and asked if he could join the band. Kohshi agreed and he became the fourth member of Flow.

Iwasaki

Iwasaki^[9]

• Position: Drummer
• Real Name: Hiroshi Iwasaki
• Birthday: November 21, 1969
• Birth Place: Osaka

Iwasaki is the drummer of FLOW and the oldest member. In March 2000, Kohshi and Got's were both working part time jobs at a club called Shibuya Quattro and Iwasaki was the manager of a catering company that provided food for the club. Iwasaki introduced himself to Kohshi and asked if he could join Flow. Kohshi hesitated at first but decided to accept him into the band. After he joined, Iwasaki often didn't show up to band practices and this irritated the other members. In August, the four members held a meeting and told him that if he didn't show up to band practices he would be dismissed from the band. Iwasaki finally decided to show up and was officially announced as Flow's fifth member. Iwasaki is considered the father of the band because of his age.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

EPs

Compilation albums

Singles

Indie singles

Digital singles

DVDs

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flow (band).

• Official website (Japanese)
• Official website by Sony Music (Japanese)
• Oricon Profile (Japanese)
• 2011 J!-ENT interview with Flow by Dennis A. Amith
• Interview with Flow at FanimeCon
• Flow at Fanime - Report and gallery