Bump of Chicken ( = ン プ · オ ·チ キ ン > ) , also styled in BUMP OF CHICKEN , is a Japanese alternative rock band from Sakura, in the Prefecture from Chiba. Quartet>, the band includes Motoo Fujiwara (vocals, rhythm guitar), Hiroaki Masukawa (guitar), Yoshifumi Naoi (bass) and Hideo Masu (drums). Since its formation in 1994, the band has a total of 23 singles and eight albums. They are popular in Japan; each single, since Tentai Kansoku, will reach the top ten of the Oricon. The name of the group literally means the wet-smock's counter-attack の 反 撃 ) > span.
The four members of the group were born in 1979 and all from Chiba Prefecture. All meet in kindergarten, and continue to attend primary and secondary classes. In 1994, when they were still high school students, the then still nameless members of the band made their first performance in 1994 during their ninth student festival, playing a cover of The Beatles' Twist and Shout.
In 1995, the band composed their own songs and participated in various competitions. In the autumn of the same year, Fujiwara dropped out of school to devote himself fully to music. The songs Danny and Bump of Chicken are, at this period, finished. Masukawa becomes the band's official guitarist at this time. On February 11, 1996, he played for the first time in concert with the group, which finally adopted the name of Bump of Chicken. That same year, their song Danny wins a prize on 96TFM >>>. In the summer of 1996, they participated in the Beat Brust in Japan contest playing their song Glass Blues (later included in their album Flame Vein). On October 24, 1998, a limited edition of 500 copies, entitled Bump of Chicken, was released and sold in just one month.
In March 1999, the band released its first studio album, Flame Vein, on High Line Records. Check-in takes place in three long days.
