ONE OK ROCK

ONE OK ROCK
Taken by Aoki Kazuro on May 27, 2016.
Background
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Alternative rock emo Hard rock Indie rock J-Rock
Years active	2005-present
Labels	Aer-born A-Sketch Warner Records Fueled by Ramen
Associated acts	Pay Money To My Pain Crossfaith SiM (band) Simple Plan Sleeping with Sirens Coldrain All Time Low 5 Seconds of Summer
Websites	Official Site Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram
Members
Current members	Toru Yamasita Takahiro Moriuchi Ryota Kohama Tomoya Kanki
Past members	Yuu Koyanago Alexander Onizawa

ONE OK ROCK is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005, composed of Taka, Toru, Ryota, and Tomoya. Originally a five piece band, guitarist Alex left the group in 2009. The band managed by Amuse, belonged to their record label A-Sketch until 2021, when they became independent and started 10969 Inc. Internationally, their record label is Fueled by Ramen.

History

2005-2006: Formation and Early Days

The foundation for ONE OK ROCK began when Toru, then a high school student, wanted to start a band. He told his friend Ryota, a fellow member of the hip hop dance group HEADS, to learn the bass and asked Alex, who was their senior in school to join. He asked his classmate Tomo to play drums, who then left the band in 2006 to pursue an acting career. At that time, Taka was playing with another band named Chivalry of Music; however, Taka didn't enjoy playing with them, so Toru insisted that he join ONE OK ROCK instead. After signing with a label, Amuse, Inc. Tomo left the band because his parents didn't want their son to pursue that line of work. Tomoya Kanki had been teaching at ESP (Musical Academy) and was already in a band that wasn't going well. Then he joined One Ok Rock in 2006, but only became an official member when they debuted in 2007.

The band's name, ONE OK ROCK, comes from "one o'clock", the time that the band used to practice on weekends. They chose to play at one o'clock in the morning because it was cheaper to use the rehearsal space during such hours. However, noticing that the Japanese language made no distinction between r's and l's, they changed "o'clock" to "o'crock" (or "o'krock"), which was then separated to become "ok rock".

2007-2009: Debut Album and Old Formation

ONE OK ROCK promoting their single Et Cetera (single).

Their debut single, "Naihi Shinsho", reached number 48 on the Oricon Charts and sold 15,000 copies. Their second single, "Yume Yume", followed that success and charted at number 43 and they released their third single, "Et Cetera". After those singles, they released their debut album Zeitakubyou in 2007 and had their first tour, the Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya Quattro Tour. They released their the second album "Beam of Light" in May 2008. In an interview with Rockin'On Magazine in June 2012, ONE OK ROCK said they didn't count this album as an album, but rather as a part of growing up as a band. When they made the album, they hadn't been in the right mood, but felt that they had to make it to grow as a band. The band came up with many sound sources and ended up making a punk album. The album's confused origins were the reason why they wouldn't play any songs from Beam of Light in live performances until now. Shortly after releasing Beam of Light, they performed a gig at Shibuya AX.

ONE OK ROCK promoting the album "Kanjou Effect".

They had planned to release two albums in that one year, so they released "Kanjou Effect" in November 2008. At this point the band had gained more experience and were able to do some more serious recording. They settled into the western sound they loved and followed by replacing all their engineers and introducing their music to new producers. This led to some division within the band - Taka and Alex in particular disagreed about how to make this album.

On April 5, 2009, Alex was arrested for groping the leg of a twenty-one-year-old female student on a train. He admitted to the charges and the case was settled out of court. The band reached their weakest point at this time. Ryota intended to leave bass and take up guitar. They felt it was impossible for them to add a new member. The band's next single "Around the World Shounen", which was planned for a May 6 release and to be used as the theme song for the television drama God Hand Teru, and their nationwide tour were both cancelled. In May 2009, it was announced that ONE OK ROCK would continue on without Alex, who went back to the United States. Toru took his place as lead guitar, and the band re-arranged their songs to be played for one guitar.

2010-2012: New Formation, Niche Syndrome and Zankyo Reference

With the new four-member formation, the band released the single "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer" on February 3, 2010. It reached 9th on the Weekly Oricon Chart. They released their fourth studio album titled "Niche Syndrome" on June 9, 2010. The band had their tour This is my own judgement! in five Zepp music halls across the nation in 6 days, starting Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and ending in a 2-day concert in Tokyo. The second part the tour took place at sixteen different venues until 11 December 2010. They held a final performance in Nippon Budokan, Tokyo on 28 November, followed by the release of a concert DVD "This is My Budokan?!" on 16 February 2011. On August 6, 7 and 8, ONE OK ROCK headlined Rock in Japan Festival and Summer Sonic Festival, followed by Rising Sun Rock Festival, Monster Bash, Treasure05X, Mad Ollie, Countdown Japan 2010/2011, and Radio Crazy.

The band supported Pay Money to My Pain in their 2010 STAY REAL tour, The Hiatus in their ANOMALY 2010 tour, and TOTALFAT in their OVERDRIVE tour.

ONE OK ROCK at ONE OK ROCK 2011 "Answer is aLive" TOUR.

Their next single, "Answer is Near", was released on February 16, 2011. The Answer is Alive 2011 tour took place in six Zepp music halls and three other venues from April to June 2011. The band released their first double A-side single "Re:make / NO SCARED (single)" on July 20, 2011, one of which's songs was the main theme for the Black Rock Shooter: The Game video game. The band's fifth album, Zankyo Reference, was released on October 5, 2011. ONE OK ROCK announced fourteen dates between November and December 2011 for the Zankyo Reference Tour. The band also announced their final tour for this album as a two-day concert in Yokohama Arena on 21 and 22 January 2012. This was their first time playing in Yokohama Arena, the biggest venue in Kantō region. The concert was sold out with more than 24,000 attendees. Later, the documentary of the Zankyo Reference Tour and the performance from the second night in Yokohama Arena was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 30 May 2012.

In 2011, ONE OK ROCK headlined many music festivals, including Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea. In July the band headlined SETSTOCK 2011 and Jisan Valley Rock Festival, followed by Rock in Japan Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, Summer Sonic Festival, Monster Bash, Sky Jamboree, 

ONE OK ROCK announcing their first overseas tour the Start Walking The World Tour.

and Space Shower's Sweet Love Shower. At the end of the year, they headlined Radio Crazy and Countdown Japan once more.

The band declared their first overseas tour in Start Walking The World on May and June 2012, covering Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Mao Abe, Hello Sleepwalkers, and Crossfaith were the guest performers of their four concert dates in Japan. They headlined Rock in Japan Festival on the main stage, as well as Summer Sonic 2012, alongside Green Day, Franz Ferdinand and Rihanna. They also headlined Oga Namahage Rock Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, and Sweet Love Shower.11.

2013-2014: Jinsei×Boku= and Worldwide Tour

Their next single, "The Beginning", was chosen as the theme song for the live action movie adaptation of the Rurouni Kenshin manga, and was released on August 22, 2012, reaching number 5 on the Oricon charts. Later in 2013, "The Beginning" won two awards - "Best Rock Video" from the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2013 and a second award as Best Your Choice in Space Shower Music Video Awards. Currently "The Beginning" is the most popular song by the band, having reached more than 30 million views in their YouTube channel, and became the most watched Japanese rock video, further skyrocketing ONE OK ROCK's popularity.

ONE OK ROCK in Deeper Deeper Music Video.

The single "Deeper Deeper / Nothing Helps" was released on January 9, 2013 and hit 2nd place on the Oricon charts. The song "Nothing Helps" was used for the Japanese version of the video game DmC: Devil May Cry, and "Deeper Deeper" was used for the television commercial of Suzuki Swift Sport in Japan. The Deeper Deeper Music Video was released to promote the single.

Their sixth full-length "Jinsei×Boku=" was released on March 6, 2013 and managed to reach second place on the Oricon weekly chart.

In October 2013 the band went on their first tour outside Asia and visited Europe for five concerts. Four out of the five concerts in Europe were sold out almost immediately. In November 2013, they continued the tour in Asia and visited Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan. In February 2014 they visited the US to hold two concerts in New York and Los Angeles and added two more dates in Philadelphia and Toronto in May. They also performed at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, their first festival outside Asia. In June and July 2014 they joined Vans Warped Tour 2014 2014 and performed in eighteen cities in North America. On May 16, the documentary film about their last Europe and Asia Tour, "FOOL COOL ROCK" debuted and played for a limited time of four weeks at select theaters. This movie was directed by Hiroyuki Nakano. The documentary FOOL COOL ROCK will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2014, and will include an extra screening from Bangkok, Thailand and Hong Kong.

2014-2015: 35xxxv, World Tour and U.S. Debut

On January 12, 2014 their album producer John Feldmann tweeted that ONE OK ROCK had already started recording their new album. Their first single from the forthcoming album, "Mighty Long Fall", is the theme song for the movie sequel of Rurouni Kenshin. ONE OK ROCK released new single "Mighty Long Fall / Decision" in July 30, 2014. The song "Decision" is the theme song for their documentary film "FOOL COOL ROCK". A music video for "Decision" released in August 20, 2014 contains a compilation footage from their last tour in Europe and Asia. They also revealed the theme song for another movie sequel of Rurouni Kenshin entitled "Heartache".

ONE OK ROCK performing at Yokohama Stadium last September 2014.

In September 2014, ONE OK ROCK held a 2 day stadium concert in Yokohama Stadium in front of 60,000 people called "Mighty Long Fall Live at Yokohama Stadium 2014". This was their first time performing in a stadium. They played more than twenty songs, including three new songs and one cover of A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton.

ONE OK ROCK announced USA, South America and Europe Tour in late 2014. They will be performing at Knotfest, in both Japan and United States, with an additional two dates for the United States in October. They will hit Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Mexico for South America in November and France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom and Russia for Europe in December. They will perform alongside Ghost Town in the US and UK, and with Tonight Alive and Mallory Knox for most dates in Europe. On November 27, they will act as guest performer in Hoobastank's Japan tour.

In 9 October 2014, the band announced that new album will be released February 2015. The official website of the band was redesigned along with this announcement. On November 26, 2014, it was confirmed that ONE OK ROCK was Added to SOUNDWAVE 2015 lineup.

ONE OK ROCK in Cry Out Music Video.

Around December 16, 2014, the band revealed the cover and name of their new upcoming album. It will be titled "35xxxv". In January 2015, the band's Official YouTube Channel released the music video of the album's third track "Cry out". They released the album on February 11, 2015. The fans described this album, including the Cry Out music video as "too Americanized", yet it managed to get the first place in the Oricon Album weekly ranking being the first time the band achieved the first place. On February 2015, ONE OK ROCK went to Australia to perform on Soundwave Festival 2015 on February 28 and March 1, 2015. That was the first time the band went to Australia. They held the ONE OK ROCK "35xxxv" JAPAN TOUR. The tour started in May 9, 2015 in Shizuoka Ecopa Arena with their support guests.

In April 2015, they opened alongside Finch for Yellowcard's U.S. tour. Following that, the band returned to Japan for their extensive album tour starting from May to September. The final concerts included bands like Issues and Against the Current.

In May 25, 2015, the band announced that they will add two more shows on the tour that will held on September 12-13, 2015 in Chiba Marine Stadium, Makuhari Messe. In May 27, 2015, It was announced that ONE OK ROCK will perform, along with the other bands, in the fourth annual Monster Energy Aftershock Festival on October 25, 2015. In July 2015, ONE OK ROCK officially announced that they signed with Warner Bros. Records and planned to re-release 35xxxv as a deluxe edition containing all English tracks on September 25, 2015. The band is set to have a North American tour in fall 2015 with a few selected cities as headlining artists, but will spend the majority of their time as the opening act for All Time Low and Sleeping with Sirens. ONE OK ROCK will also have world tour in Europe and Asia to promote their album.

ONE OK ROCK in their project ONE OK ROCK、Yahoo!検索で世界24都市のMVが登場.

ONE OK ROCK held a project called ONE OK ROCK, Yahoo! MV appeared in 24 cities around the world in the search (ONE OK ROCK、Yahoo!検索で世界24都市のMVが登場). In September 10, 2015 morning at 1:00 "Yahoo! Search" special project of ONE OK ROCK started. When you search "ONE OK ROCK" in "Yahoo! Search," you will find 24 types that change by time the release of "One o'clock" special movie. Twenty-four cities that appeared in the MV are Japan, Nepal, Moscow, Iceland, Brazil, Colorado, Gambier, Antarctica, Shanghai, India, Paris, Cape Verde, New York, Vancouver, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Bangkok, Iran, London, Greenland, Mexico, Alaska, Niue, and Sydney. It will display "1:00" and the city and carries the message "One O ' clock (ONE OK ROCK)" on the border. Two days after this project, the band released a Music Video for the 35xxxv Deluxe version of Cry Out. The song was in all English lyrics. In September 18, the band released a Music Video for "Last Dance" to promote upcoming first U.S. album. In September 25, ONE OK ROCK's U.S. debut album was released 35xxxv Deluxe Edition.

ONE OK ROCK in The Way Back Music Video.

ONE OK ROCK started their "35xxxv" North American Tour on September 29, 2015 and ended on October 06. This tour was immediately followed by BACK TO THE FUTURE HEARTS TOUR. ONE OK ROCK became a support act in this tour along with Sleeping with Sirens and All Time Low. In October 05, the band released Music Video to promote their digital single "The Way Back - Japanese Version (digital single)". On the week of October 17, 2015, 35xxxv (Deluxe Edition) debuted at #20 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums and its highest peak position is at #17. This chart is for new and upcoming musicians, which is usually a stepping stone towards Billboard 200 or Billboard Hot 100. They also performed in Aftershock Festival 2015 in Gibson Ranch, Sacramento, California. The BACK TO THE FUTURE HEARTS TOUR ended in November 13.

In December 02, 2015. ONE OK ROCK 2015 "35xxxv" Europe Tour started with We Came As Romans as a special guest. The tour ended on December 22.

ONE OK ROCK returned to Japan on 2016 for their ONE THOUSAND MILES TOUR 2016 concert along with All Time Low and PVRIS.

2016-present: Signed to Fueled by Ramen and Ambitions

ONE OK ROCK performing at Fort Canning Park, Singapore on January 23, 2016.

ONE OK ROCK started their "35xxxv" Asia Tour on January 14, 2016 at Asia-World Expo, Hong Kong and ended on January 23, 2016 at Fort Canning Park, Singapore. They returned to Japan after the tour to perform on ONE THOUSAND MILES TOUR 2016. In February 2016, they announced that they will have another tour in North America and Europe. ONE OK ROCK went to United States and started working with with Colin Brittain, Kane Churko, Dark Waves and Bruno Agra to make new songs.

In March 11, 2016. ONE OK ROCK released a new digital single called "Always coming back (digital single)". The song was first heard and featured in NTT Docomo's television commercial series "Kanjou no Subete / Nakama."

ONE OK ROCK at The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, California on March 18, 2016.

The Monster Energy Ourbreak Tour started in The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, California on March 18, 2016. ONE OK ROCK played with Issues, Crown The Empire and Night Verses. A day after that, the band performed in Self Help Fest 2016 at San Bernardo, California. That same day, Taka was interviewed by Robert Herrera from Punk Video Rock. Taka revealed in the interview that they were working for a new album with an English and Japanese version. Just like what they did to 35xxxv and 35xxx deluxe. After that day, Monster Energy Ourbreak Tour continued and ended at House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois on April 18, 2016. ONE OK ROCK went back to their studio in Los Angeles California to continue working on their new album. In May 2016, they went back to Japan and performed in METROPOLITAN ROCK FESTIVAL 2016. In May 31 to June 08, 2016, they toured in Europe and participated in Rock am Ring and Rock im Park.

In June 10, ONE OK ROCK went to Landgraaf, Netherlands to perform at Pinkpop Festival. On June 11, they went to France to perform at the first Download Festival at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. The next day, they went to the United Kingdom to perform at another Download Festival in Donington Park, England.

In June 30 to July 31, the band joined 5 Seconds of Summer on the first North American leg of their Sounds Live Feels Live World Tour along with the band Hey Violet.

Marking the 10th anniversary of My Chemical Romance's album The Black Parade, Rock Sound announces that there will be a special cover of the said album inviting some of the world's biggest bands, including ONE OK ROCK. The band covers the opening song on the album "The End".

On September 10 and 11, the band held a special live concert at Nagisaen, Shizuoka, Japan where 110,000 spectators experienced a thrilling concert. ONE OK ROCK also announces that they're going to release a digital single called "Taking Off" on September 16, 2016 under Fueled by Ramen. The song was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie "Museum" starring Shun Oguri. The movie will be aired on November 12, 2016. Later at the special live concert, Taka announces that their 8th studio album will be released early next year following an album tour.

On October 8, Sum 41 will have a Japanese edition of their album, 13 Voices, that will include the song "War" featuring Taka. Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 mentioned to Alternative Press Japan that "It was great to collaborate with Taka on our new song called War. I am a huge fan of his voice and of One Ok Rock and I think that our voices work very well together".

After signing with Fueled by Ramen on September 11, 2016, they released the lead single "Taking Off" from their eighth album, Ambitions, to be released on January 11, 2017. On November 18, 2016 they released "Bedroom Warfare" the second single from the album. The third single "I was King" was released on December 15, 2016. Ambitions will have collaborations from Avril Lavigne, Alex Gaskarth and the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer.

On November 19, ONE OK ROCK went to South Korea to held their ONE OK ROCK 2016 Live in Korea at KBS Arena. On November 22, the band then went to Shanghai, China to held their ONE OK ROCK 2016 Live in Shanghai at Mercedes Benz Arena. On December 22, ONE OK ROCK went to Fukuoka, Japan where Taka and Toru promoted their upcoming album "Ambition". After that day, the band participated at AIRJAM 2016 that was also held in Fukuoka.

Musical Style

ONE OK ROCK's basic influences were Good Charlotte and Ellegarden, the group's initial idea begun when Toru wanted to start a rock band and invited Ryota to form a rock band. Good Charlotte influences are seen on their first album. After the scandal of Alex Onizawa for groping a high school student, the bands decided to continue without Alex.

In their sixth album Jinsei×Boku=, they expressed how this album was influenced by Linkin Park's and Coldrain's screaming and yell-rapping. Their seventh album 35xxxv, was produced along with american producer John Feldmann. The album was the first ONE OK ROCK release to feature an entirely English-language version. Its Japanese edition managed to get the first place on the Oricon Album weekly ranking being the first time the band achieved the first place.

Overall ONE OK ROCK greatest's influences are Ellegarden, Enter Shikari, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Pay Money to My Pain, Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte, Nirvana, Green Day, Blink 182, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sleeping With Sirens, and The 1975.

Band Members

Current Members

• Toru (山下 亨 Yamashita Tōru) – the lead guitarist, backing vocals and the leader of ONE OK ROCK. He was the rhythm guitarist before Alex left the band.
• Taka (森田 貴寬 Morita Takahiro) – the lead vocalist.
• Ryota (小浜 良太 Kohama Ryōta) – the bass guitarist.
• Tomoya (神吉 智也 Kanki Tomoya) – drums and percussion.

Past Members

• Tomo (小柳友 Koyanago Yuu) – the previous drummer and left the band in 2006.
• Alex (鬼澤アレクサンダー礼門 Onizawa Alexander Reimon) – the previous lead guitarist.

Discography

Albums

Album	Release date	Oricon Positions
Zeitakubyou	November 21, 2007	15
Beam of Light	May 28, 2008	17
Kanjou Effect	November 12, 2008	13
Niche Syndrome	June 9, 2010	4
Zankyo Reference	October 5, 2011	2
Jinsei×Boku=	March 6, 2013	2
35xxxv	February 11, 2015	1
Ambitions	January 11, 2017	1

Singles

Single	Release date	Oricon Char Positions	Album
Naihi Shinsho	April 25, 2007	48	Zeitakubyou
Yume Yume	July 25, 2007	43	Zeitakubyou
Et Cetera	October 24, 2007	29	Zeitakubyou
Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer	February 03, 2010	9	Niche Syndrome
Answer is Near	February 16, 2011	6	Zankyo Reference
Re:make / NO SCARED	July 20, 2011	6	Zankyo Reference
The Beginning	August 22, 2012	5	Jinsei×Boku=
Deeper Deeper / Nothing Helps	January 09, 2013	2	Jinsei×Boku=
Mighty long Fall / Decision	July 30, 2014	2	35xxxv