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Siam Shade

Japanese rock band From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Siam Shade (stylized as SIAM SHADE) was a five-piece Japanese rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1991. The classic line-up of Hideki on vocals, Natchin on bass, Kazuma and Daita on guitar, and Jun-ji on drums broke onto the visual kei scene alongside a multitude of other artists in the early 1990s and enjoyed a decade of relative popularity. After disbanding in early 2002, the members have reunited several times since 2007 for one-off concerts and short tours. OK Music described the band's sound as melodic hard rock with flashy twin guitar riffs, and wrote that their greatest strength lies in the interplay between "sweet vocals" and "colorful metal sounds".[1] Outside Japan, Siam Shade is best known for "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō", which was the sixth ending theme of the Rurouni Kenshin anime. Daita's work on their song "Triptych" was named the 83rd best guitar instrumental by Young Guitar Magazine in 2019.[2]

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History

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1989–2002: Formation and career

In March 1989, high school friends Hideki (then known as "Chack") and Natchin (then spelled "Natin") formed a band called Power. They won the Summer Grand Prix Award at that year's Yokohama High School Hot Wave Festival.[3] However, due to many member changes, including the brief enrollment of guitarist Daita, Power disbanded. After befriending guitarist Ataru, singer Hideki and bassist Natchin formed a new band with him called Atæru in 1991.

In 1992, the members met Love Jets vocalist Kazuma at a talent show, and later recruited him as guitarist.[4] Drummer A completed the lineup and Atæru began touring, playing small clubs and local venues. They changed their name in 1993, settling on Siam Shade. The band released a free demo tape on May 1, shortly after which Ataru left.[4] In July, Hideki and Natchin called on their former schoolmate and one-time band member Daita to fill in the lead guitar slot. The group distributed the single "Doll" in December 1993. The band became close with Luna Sea, with Ryuichi Kawamura promoting Siam Shade in 1994 by playing their demo tape on his radio show.[4]

Siam Shade had another small lineup change in 1994 when A left the band and was replaced by Jun-ji in May, solidifying the group's final lineup.[4] Jun-ji was a roadie for Luna Sea drummer Shinya Yamada.[5] At the end of the year, the band released their first self-titled album. Music writer Takuya Ito wrote that they had already established their signature sound by this point, including the twin vocals between Hideki and Kazuma.[6] In 2004, it was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in an issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.[7]

In August 1995, Siam Shade performed a solo concert at Shibuya Public Hall.[1] Two months later, they released their major label debut single "Rain" on Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Their second album Siam Shade II followed in November.[4] For its follow-up, October 1996's Siam Shade III, the band recorded in Los Angeles with David Bianco as mixing engineer.[1][6] According to OK Music, the album brought aggressive guitar to the forefront of their sound and successfully combines 1980s L.A. metal and kayōkyoku-like melodies.[1] Siam Shade burst into the mainstream in late 1997 when "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō", a single from the then-upcoming Siam Shade IV - Zero, was selected as the ending theme for the Rurouni Kenshin anime series. Ito wrote that while the album skillfully incorporates pop elements, one can not accuse the band of selling out, as it is a diverse record with catchy songs, metal tracks, as well as progressive rock, melancholic ballads, and technical instrumentals.[6] The single and album were certified platinum and gold by the RIAJ, respectively,[8] leading to increased ticket sales, concert DVDs, and television appearances.

The band's follow-up, Siam Shade V, released in December 1998, was preceded by three hit singles, "Glacial Love", "Dreams" and "Never End", and also certified gold.[6][8] Siam Shade performed in South Korea at the first Busan International Rock Festival on July 16, 2000, less than a month after the country abolished its seat limit for performances of Japanese music.[9] They released Siam Shade VI ten days later. The double album, featuring hard rock and heavy metal tracks on the first disc, and melodic pop-oriented songs on the second, would be their last original album.[6] Siam Shade VII, released in November of that year, is a mini-album featuring re-recordings of previously released songs with English lyrics.[6] This allowed it to also be released in South Korea, with an expanded tracklist, as it was still illegal to sell music with Japanese lyrics in the country. On December 28, 2001, Siam Shade performed at the Nippon Budokan for the first time.[1] However, just one month later, the band announced that they would be disbanding.[1] Siam Shade's ten-year career came to an end with a Nippon Budokan concert on March 11, 2002.[4] Later that month, they released the box set Siam Shade X, which compiles all of their previous major label releases.

At the time, the disbandment was said to be so each member could pursue their own path. However, in his August 2025 lawsuit against the other four members, Daita claims Hideki assaulted their manager in November 2001, resulting in a severe eye fracture, and their label representative ordered them to disband as a result.[10] According to the guitarist, this was one of several physically violent incidents committed by the singer, with another resulting in the cancellation of an April 1999 concert, after Hideki sent a band member to the hospital the day prior in Kagoshima.[10] Daita also revealed that, before the group disbanded, each member received an equal share of song royalties. But after a 2002 brawl during the production of a DVD, Hideki strongly requested the ratio be changed to one-third going to each the composer, lyricist and arranger of a song, and everyone else agreed.[10]

Post-Siam Shade activities

After the disbandment Hideki quickly begin his solo career. In 2003, he joined the band Acid, before leaving in 2006 to focus on his solo career again. However, in 2007 he formed Detrox with KAZ (Sads) and they released a large amount of material before going on hiatus after their show on April 18, 2012.[11]

Kazuma also started his solo career after the disbanding. In 2003, he performed a duet with Vivian Hsu, "Moment", which was used as the second opening theme to the anime Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. He has also played support guitar for Anna Tsuchiya and Damijaw (solo project of Janne Da Arc member Ka-yu).

Daita started a solo career, wrote the soundtrack for the movie Volcano High, and played support guitar for Kyosuke Himuro. In 2005 he formed the band Binecks. In 2012, he formed the American-based band Broken Arrow with vocalist Nik Frost, who sang on the Siam Shade Tribute album.[12]

Natin, now going by the stage name "Natchin", has a solo career and in 2008 formed the band Big Bites with Anchang (Sex Machineguns) and Annie (The Yellow Monkey).[13] In June 2014, he formed the band 21g with masked vocalist Geno, who is actually Tsuyoshi Himura of the band Everset, guitarist Mi-ya, who went on to join Lovebites, and drummer Act.[14] He has also supported Nanase Aikawa, Koji Kikkawa and T-Bolan.[15]

Junji has a solo career, was support drummer for Takanori Nishikawa a.k.a. TM Revolution, and in 2008 formed the band Bull Zeichen 88. He is also a regular support member for Acid Black Cherry.

2007–2016: Reunions

Siam Shade held a reunion concert, titled Heart of Rock, on November 18, 2007 at the Nippon Budokan, in honor of their manager who died the previous April. The band stated that the reunion was a one-off event, and would not pave the way for a new single or album release.

On October 27, 2010 a tribute album to Siam Shade was released, Siam Shade Tribute. It is composed entirely of Western artists such as Sebastian Bach, Richie Kotzen, Mike Vescera and George Lynch.[16] Siam Shade's song "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō" was covered by Nogod on the compilation Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-, which was released on January 26, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.[17] "Glacial Love" was covered by Guild on its sequel, Crush! 2 -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-, that was released on November 23, 2011.[18]

On April 29, 2011, Siam Shade announced on their new website, which went online on the same day, that they would reunite once again. This time for a free concert on July 17 at Zepp Sendai, entitled Siam Shade Spirits ~Return The Favor~, "to bring hope" to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[19][20] A second concert was held on October 21 at Saitama Super Arena.[21] The band released the album Siam Shade Spirits 1993 on April 14, 2012, which includes their entire first album, the new "opening" track called "Light For Closed Your Eyes" and two previously unreleased songs from their indie years.[22]

The group released their first new song in 12 years "Still We Go" digitally on September 18, 2013, with a limited physical release following the next month.[23] Siam Shade performed their first nationwide tour in 12 years at the end of 2013, titled Heart of Rock 7.[24] The three date tour began on October 27 at Saitama Super Arena and went to Zepp Nagoya on November 11, before ending on November 12 at Zepp Namba.[24]

Siam Shade performed at the first night of Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest at Makuhari Messe on June 27, 2015.[25] In celebration of the 20th anniversary since their major label debut, the group held The Abiding Belief concert at Saitama Super Arena on October 18, 2015.[26] The six date The Ultimate Fight Series tour continued the celebration and took place in February 2016 at various Zepp venues.[27] The anniversary celebration ended with three Final Road Last Sanctuary concerts in October 2016; the Osaka International Convention Center on the tenth, the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall on the fifteenth, and the last taking place on the twentieth at the Nippon Budokan.[28]

Siam Sophia and lawsuits

Thumb
Reno provided live support for "Siam Sophia" at their February 2025 concert.

On November 4, 2024, a message was posted on Natchin's official website that revealed he, Hideki, Kazuma and Jun-ji had amicably settled a lawsuit they filed against Daita in 2019.[29][30] It further stated that although all five will officially be members of Siam Shade, it would become common for the four of them to perform without Daita. Two weeks later, it was announced that they would hold a joint live with Sophia to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their debuts; both bands made their major label debuts in October 1995. It was held at Osaka-jō Hall on February 9, 2025, under the name 1995 Siam Sophia-G, with the "G" referring to Garage Sale; a comedy duo who also debuted the same year and who served as hosts of the event.[31] The concert garnered an audience of 8,000, and saw the four-member lineup supported by Vivid guitarist Reno.[32] On May 29, 2025, it was announced that Siam Sophia will be performing at the Lunatic Fest hosted by Luna Sea on November 8.[33] On June 13, Siam Sophia announced they will be holding the "2025 Siam Sophia Final" concert at the newly-opened Toyota Arena Tokyo on October 13.[34]

On October 1, 2025, Daita posted a message on his official website detailing the previously mentioned lawsuit against him and a second lawsuit that was filed against a third party by the other four members, and said that he had recently filed one against the four himself. He explained that for Siam Shade's 2011 reunion concerts, it was decided that an association Daita knew would be in charge of allocating the charitable proceeds for reconstruction from the earthquake, and that Daita's personal company would be tasked with managing the profits from the shows and merchandise and distributing them to the five members equally.[35] The former was done so with advice from a representative of the band's former agency, while the latter was decided because Daita was the only member that had a legal company that could do so.[36] However, the other four members began to suspect the donation recipient was using the money for non-reconstructive means and that Daita's company was skimming from the profits, and filed two separate lawsuits.[35][36] The former was dismissed after the court found that the proceeds had in-fact been used appropriately, and the latter was settled at the judge's direction.[36] Daita wrote that although technically a settlement, the money ultimately distributed to the band members was what had been originally agreed upon, it was simply paid directly to them instead of going through his company.[35]

Daita said that, because he suspected the four would try to resume Siam Shade activities as a four-piece, he obtained a commitment in the settlement terms that Siam Shade could not continue without the five members.[35] When the first Siam Sophia concert was announced without his knowledge, Daita said he decided to wait and see how things unfolded as the event was said to be for one-night-only. However, when the second was announced, he became worried that the four would be repeatedly performing in what amounted to a de facto Siam Shade and inquired as to who owned the trademark to "Siam Shade" and learned that Hideki had applied to register the trademark in his own name on November 21, 2024, the same day the first Siam Sophia concert was announced.[35] (Hideki's application was rejected in July 2025, as there was no proof all five members had consented.[36]) As such, Daita filed an injunction on August 27, 2025, to prevent the other four members from performing 38 songs he composed for Siam Shade.[35][36]

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Members

Classic line-up
  • Hideki "Chack" Imamura (今村栄喜, Imamura Hideki) – lead vocals (1991–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016)
  • Yasushi "Natin/Natchin" Nakagawa (中川泰, Nakagawa Yasushi) – bass, backing vocals (1991–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016)
  • Kazuma Endou (遠藤一馬, Endō Kazuma) – rhythm guitar, lead vocals (1992–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016)
  • Daita Ito (伊藤大太, Itō Daita) – lead guitar, backing vocals (1993–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016)
  • Jun-ji Sakuma (佐久間淳士, Sakuma Junji) – drums (1994–2002, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015–2016)
Former members
  • Ataru – guitar (1991–1993)
  • Ozz... – drums
  • A – drums (1992–1994)
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Discography

Main article: Siam Shade discography
Albums
  • Siam Shade (December 10, 1994) Oricon Indies Ranking: No. 2
  • Siam Shade II (November 11, 1995) Oricon Albums Chart Ranking: No. 27[37]
  • Siam Shade III (October 2, 1996) No. 20[37]
  • Siam Shade IV - Zero (January 21, 1998) No. 3[37]
  • Siam Shade V (December 2, 1998) No. 6[37]
  • Siam Shade VI (July 26, 2000) No. 8[37]
Singles
  • "Doll" (December 19, 1993, distributed for free at first one-man live)
  • "Rain" (October 21, 1995) Oricon Singles Chart Ranking: No. 49[38]
  • "Time's" (February 1, 1996) No. 44[38]
  • "Why Not?" (February 21, 1997) No. 69[38]
  • "Risk" (May 21, 1997) No. 42[38]
  • "Passion" (July 30, 1997) No. 35[38]
  • "1/3 no Junjō na Kanjō" (1/3の純情な感情; November 27, 1997) No. 3[38]
  • "Glacial Love" (グレイシャルLOVE; May 13, 1998) No. 10[38]
  • "Dreams" (August 5, 1998) No. 4[38]
  • "Never End" (October 28, 1998) No. 9[38]
  • "Kumori Nochi Hare" (曇りのち晴れ; February 24, 1999) No. 8[38]
  • "Black" (September 15, 1999) No. 5[38]
  • "1999" (September 29, 1999) No. 7[38]
  • "Setsunasa Yori mo Tooku e" (せつなさよりも遠くへ; April 19, 2000) No. 10[38]
  • "Life" (April 11, 2001) No. 13[38]
  • "Adrenaline" (アドレナリン; September 27, 2001) No. 14[38]
  • "Love" (November 28, 2001) No. 20[38]
  • "Still We Go" (digital on September 18, 2013; limited CD on October 27, 2013)
Compilations
  • Siam Shade VII (November 29, 2000) No. 23[37]
  • Siam Shade VIII B-Side Collection (January 30, 2001) No. 17[37]
  • Siam Shade IX A-Side Collection (March 6, 2002) No. 20[37]
  • Siam Shade X ~Perfect Collection~ (November 27, 2002) No. 98[37]
  • Siam Shade XI Complete Best ~Heart of Rock~ (September 26, 2007) No. 26[39]
  • Siam Shade XII ~The Best Live Collection~ (October 27, 2010) No. 23[39]
  • Siam Shade Spirits 1993 (April 14, 2012)
Various artists compilations
Tribute albums
  • Siam Shade Tribute (October 27, 2010) No. 15[40]
  • Siam Shade Tribute vs Original (July 11, 2011) No. 253[41]
Videos
  • Siam Shade (VHS: March 1, 1997, DVD: December 6, 2000)
  • Siam Shade V2 Clips '95 - '97 (VHS: March 1, 1998, DVD: December 6, 2000)
  • Siam Shade V3 (VHS: March 20, 1999, DVD: December 16, 2000)
  • Siam Shade V4 Tour 1999 Monkey Science Final Yoyogi (VHS: August 30, 1999, DVD: September 22, 1999)
  • Siam Shade V5 (September 6, 2000)
  • Siam Shade V6 Live Otoko ki (December 31, 2000)
  • Siam Shade V7 Live in Budokan Legend of Sanctuary (March 27, 2002) Oricon DVDs Ranking: No. 34[42]
  • Siam Shade V8 Start & Stand Up Live in Budokan 2002.03.10 (May 29, 2002) No. 14[42]
  • Siam Shade V9 The Perfect Clip (January 8, 2003) No. 49[42]
  • Siam Shade Spirits ~Return the Favor~ 2011.10.21 Saitama Super Arena (March 10, 2012)
  • Siam Shade Heart of Rock 7 Live at Saitama Super Arena (April 1, 2014)
  • Siam Shade Live Tour 2013 "Heart of Rock 7" Special Live -Inheritance of the Soul- Tamashii no Keishou (SIAM SHADE LIVE TOUR 2013 "HEART OF ROCK 7" Special Live -Inheritance of the soul- 魂の継承; March 10, 2015)
  • ~Final Road Last Sanctuary~ Siam Shade Live 2016 Live at Nippon Budokan 2016.10.20 (October 21, 2018)
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References

External links

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