Monoral

Monoralwas aJapanesealternative rockband signed toSony Music Japan.The band consisted of Anis Shimada (lead vocalsandguitar) and Ali Morizumi (bass,guitar andkeyboards).

Monoral
Monoral in concert
Background information
Origin	Tokyo,Japan
Genres	Alternative rock post-grunge
Years active	1999–2010, 2013–2017
Labels	Vamprose
Members	Anis Shimada Ali Morizumi
Website	Official website

Members

Anis, the band's lead singer, born on February 23, 1975, is a British musician who speaksJapanese,English,French,andArabic.Born inLondon,Englandto aJapanesefather and aMoroccan-Frenchmother, and raised inFrance,Anis was first discovered byTetsuya Komuro,with whom he released a debut single in 1994 under the name of Aniss. He used to be a fashion model, as well as a MTV show host. He also used to support some famous musicians performing on TV as aguitarist.He is often involved with the creation of TV commercial songs, singing backup for other famous musicians, writing English lyrics and helping other artists as an English supervisor.

Ali, born in 1973, is aJapanese-Americanbassist and guitarist. Born and raised inTokyo,Japanto anIranian-Americanfather and aNative Okinawanmother, he can speak both Japanese and English fluently. He was a VJ onMTV Japan,where he eventually met Anis. Ali is also a professional radio DJ and hosts a show onInterFMas well.

History

Their debut was in July 2001. Only two days after the release of their first mini albumin stereo,they performed at the Fuji Rock Festival 2001. The band's second minor debut albumammonite,which rose as high as No. 3 on theTower RecordsIndie Charts inJapan,remained in the Top 50 for seven months. In 2005 they released their first major debut with the single "Visions In My Head", under the label Haunted Records (a subsidiary ofSony Music Japan), which was created by the Japanese rock musician,HYDE,lead vocalist ofL'Arc-en-Ciel.They are now signed on HYDE's label VAMPROSE.

The songs "Pocketful of joy" and "Visions in my Head" were used for a TV commercial for IXY digital camera by Canon. In 2006, the band performed "Kiri", which became the opening theme to theanimeseriesErgo Proxy.The song was also released via theiTunes Storeon May 25, 2006. Monoral also released their second major album,Turbulence,on July 4, 2007 andVia,on October 29, 2008. After the release ofVia,they toured in Latin America, Europe and China.

Collaborations

Monoral's support members are the guitarists Akira Yasue andHirama Mikio(former member ofTokyo Incidents) and Daigo Kakijima on drums. Former support guitaristEric Zayplayed for rock groupFAKE?,another former guitarist Tomoya Tsusui has his own band called Tobyas. Monoral have collaborated with various other artists such asFumiya Fujii,Lisa fromM-floandMondo Grosso,either through songwriting or performances.

Discography

Studio albums

• Petrol(July 13, 2005)
• Turbulence(July 4, 2007)
• Via(October 29, 2008)

EPs

• In Stereo(July 25, 2001)
• Ammonite(March 24, 2004)

Singles

• "Visions In My Head" (November 2, 2005)
• "Kiri" (May 25, 2006)
• "Tuesday" (May 9, 2007)
• "Casbah" (July 30, 2008)
• "Safira" (September 3, 2008)
• "70 Hours" (November 25, 2008)
• "Origins" (August 28, 2010)

External links

• Official website
• Anis Official Website
• HAUNTED RECORDS
• VAMPROSE
• Official HearJapan Page
• J!-ENT's Wynne Ip interviews MONORAL - NOV. 2008