Along with rediscovering Nell yesterday, I'm going to bring back another band I've been a fan of back in the day. Actually I only knew this one song until today.
Hailing from Japan, I give you, Monkey Majik.
Wait, it's a Japanese band. So what are these two non-Japanese dudes doing in there? Answer is that they are Canadians who went over to Japan and started a band.
Just to clear any sort of riddling puzzles that might arise later on, a brief history lesson on Monkey Majik. Maynard Plant, fresh out of Queen's University, decides to go over to Japan to work as an Assistant Language Teacher. There he starts the band in 2000 with some friends; Thomas Pritchard, Chad Ivany, and Misao Urushizaka. Pritchard and Ivany quits, and in order to fill the gap Maynard invites his brother Blaise over, and Dick, another Japanese friend. Eventually Misao quits around their second indie album, and Tax is called over to fill the spot. That makes it two Canadians and two Japanese making the band.
Due to the hybrid nature of the band, they've been cross-promoted in Canada and Japan, as well as having been chosen as “Goodwill Ambassadors” for the 80th anniversary of Japanese-Canadian Relations. Their lyrics are often composed of English and Japanese.
The song above, Fly, was their first hit single on their major debut, climbing as high as the 19th position on the Oricon charts. Here's another hit single that came after Fly: Around the World.
This song went as high as the 4th position on the Oricon charts. With this song, you could say that Monkey Majik began to go around the world.
Monkey Majik's style is most definitely pop-rock. Allow me to demonstrate.
By the way, Negai means wish.
So in my mind, Monkey Majik doesn't earn a lot of points for musical color, because sometimes it's too damn typical. Not that I'm trying to devalue their music in anyway. I do like their songs, but when I listen to them, I don't feel that vibe that tells me I'm tuned on to Monkey Majik's frequency, until that segment comes where Maynard begins to sing in Japanese.
But then again, it's a Japanese-Canadian band that your average day-to-day guys formed and succeeded with through six studio albums. For instance, Tax, the drummer, was a dental technician whose drum experience until joining the band was playing in junior high for two years. Just by that fact, this band instantly grabbed my heart, because here's a really extraordinary story. Average Joes who came together purely by the spirit of music and succeeded without money in their minds. For example, their first independent album was self-funded, and even until then they considered the band a hobby.
Forget about those big idol bands being pumped out by major labels and sculptured pop stars. This here, Monkey Majik, is a true musical odyssey. This is how it should be done. There's no other way for it to be done. You start from the bottom, with nothing but music in hand, and doing it for nothing but music.
Just for that I give them great respect, and that makes me like the band even more, along with their music.
I just hope that Monkey Majik keeps there pop-rock nature and doesn't try to go into the current trends of dance-pop, like how Maroon 5 sold their souls to cash in on the mainstream scene. Not that they will do that. Japanese artists are pretty stern when it comes to keeping their musical characteristic in my opinion.
So while I'm on that subject, I'll admit that I'm really getting interested in the Japanese music scene nowadays. There are many artists in Japan that would be considered rare gems in North America. Too many artists, so little time.
Here's some more Monkey Majik to keep you entertained until next time.
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