Rize were formed in June of 1997 with Jesse, son of Japan’s super guitarist
Char, on vocals and guitar, Nobuaki Kaneko on drums and Tokie on bass. Jesse and Nobuaki had grown up as childhood friends. The band started play around the Shimokitazawa area, and soon built up a strong following, with their aggressive rock meets hip-hop sound. They went on to sign to Sony, and in November 2000 released their debut album
Rookey, which went to #8 on the Oricon charts, with the single “Why I’m Me” also going into the top ten. In March 2001 there was a shuffling of members, with Tokie departing (she later joined Losalios), U-ZO taking over on bass, and Yoshihiro Nakao being added on guitar. The new lineup was soon up and running, and solidified on their national Full Volume tour. They also swung a slot playing at Summer Sonic, one of Japan’s biggest music festivals. The band also went to Thailand to film the video for their song “Light Your Fire”. Rize followed with the album
Foreplay in December 2001, some of which was conceived while the band lived together in LA. In 2002 Jesse recorded with a Kansai rock band, using the name Sorato Takenaka on the single ‘Free Fall”. Also in 2002 Rize did 42 shows on the “Fuck’N’Rock” tour. In Nov. 2002 they released their third album,
Natural Vibes. Their subsequent release in Jan 2003 was the single “Vibration introducing
Def Tech” (in 2005
Def Tech, who share management with Rize, would go on t...
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Rize were formed in June of 1997 with Jesse, son of Japan’s super guitarist
Char, on vocals and guitar, Nobuaki Kaneko on drums and Tokie on bass. Jesse and Nobuaki had grown up as childhood friends. The band started play around the Shimokitazawa area, and soon built up a strong following, with their aggressive rock meets hip-hop sound. They went on to sign to Sony, and in November 2000 released their debut album
Rookey, which went to #8 on the Oricon charts, with the single “Why I’m Me” also going into the top ten. In March 2001 there was a shuffling of members, with Tokie departing (she later joined Losalios), U-ZO taking over on bass, and Yoshihiro Nakao being added on guitar. The new lineup was soon up and running, and solidified on their national Full Volume tour. They also swung a slot playing at Summer Sonic, one of Japan’s biggest music festivals. The band also went to Thailand to film the video for their song “Light Your Fire”. Rize followed with the album
Foreplay in December 2001, some of which was conceived while the band lived together in LA. In 2002 Jesse recorded with a Kansai rock band, using the name Sorato Takenaka on the single ‘Free Fall”. Also in 2002 Rize did 42 shows on the “Fuck’N’Rock” tour. In Nov. 2002 they released their third album,
Natural Vibes. Their subsequent release in Jan 2003 was the single “Vibration introducing
Def Tech” (in 2005
Def Tech, who share management with Rize, would go on to have their debut album sell over a million copies). Rize later in 2003 played throughout Japan on their Natural Vibes tour. The band got some further traction when their song “Gun Shot” was chosen to be used in the video game
Gunsurvivor 4 Biohazard Heroes Never Die. Also Rize began further testing the waters internationally. In May 2003 they played two shows in Korea, and in the summer 35 shows in the States with the Orange County based Kottonmouth Kings. In 2004 the band mostly lived in California, but were not heard from much. Their official history calls this their “time out”. In 2005, however, Rize blasted back, first releasing a best of called
Fuck’N’Best in March, and with plans to release
Spit & Yell July 6. Rize also had the distinction of being one of the first bands to raise their hand to join the Live 8 concert being held in Japan on July 2, 2005.
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