Flumpool

A giant 2D barcode on a billboard advertisement in Shibuya. People may point their cellphone's camera at it to access the website whose URL is coded in the barcode. It advertises Flumpool's debut album Unreal.

Flumpool (stylized as flumpool) is a four-man Japanese pop-rock band. The band, originally from Osaka Prefecture,^[1] was formed in January 2007. The band's name is derived from the English word "four", since there are four members, they took the first letter "F", along with the word meaning mass, "lump" and the word "pool".

On October 1, 2008, the band released a download single named "Hana ni Nare" (花になれ, "Become a Flower"). Their debut mini-album (though its length is over 48 minutes), Unreal was released on November 10, 2008. Unreal served Platinum certification from the RIAJ for its shipment of 250,000 copies.^[2]

History

2002: cube

In 2002, Yamamura along his childhood friends, Sakai and Amakawa, formed an acoustic unit named 309. Later, when a support drummer joined them, they formed a band. From then, they changed their name to cube. Yamamura plays acoustic guitar as well as does most vocals. Sakai also plays acoustic guitar while Amakawa plays bass guitar. Furthermore, they issued four independent CD productions.

2007: flumpool

In January 2007, Ogura joined the band as the drummer. On January 13, the band's name was changed to flumpool. They held live gigs in Osaka-jō Hall and "live houses" around Osaka. On July 24, the production of an independent single titled "Mirai Kanai" (ミライカナイ, "One's Future") was announced.

2008: Debut

On June 25, "Mirai Kanai" went up for sale on indiesmusic.com. In July, the promotional video of "labo" was made. The video was ranked number one on Access Rankings. On August 27, both Tower Records and Tsutaya held the 5,000 limited copies of the independent trial single, "labo". On September 1, they became the Campaign Song Artist for the telephone service, au KDDI "LISMO". On September 20, their song, "Hana ni Nare" was used for the campaign.

On September 5, the band was featured on Fuji TV's Mezamashi TV and performed on television for the first time. On October 1, they released "Hana ni Nare" (花になれ, "Become a Flower") as their first digital single with Amuse, Inc. under the newly created sub-label A-Sketch. In just ten days, the song reached 1,000,000 downloads (now 2,000,000). On November 5, they released their second digital single, "Over the Rain (Hikari no Hashi)" (Over the Rain～ひかりの橋～, "Over the Rain (Bridge of Light)"). The song was used as the theme song of TBS drama, Bloody Monday. On the same month, they released their 1st mini-album, Unreal on the 19th. It reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly albums chart.

2009: What's flumpool!?

On February 19, the band launched their 1st nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2009『UNREAL』" at 6 cities and 7 performances in total. Later in that month, the band released their 1st major single, "Hoshi ni Negai o" (星に願いを, "Wish Upon A Star") and reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart.

Their second single was released on July 1, entitled "MW (Dear Mr. & Mrs. Picaresque)/Natsu Dive" (MW ～Dear Mr. & Ms. ピカレスク～／夏Dive, "MW (Dear Mr. & Mrs. Picaresque)/Summer Dive") and reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly singles chart. On the same day, their 1st Live DVD, "『How did we feel then?~flumpool tour 2009 “Unreal” Live at Shibuya Club Quattro~』" was released and reached No. 1 on Oricon weekly Music DVD Chart.

A week after the releases, the band began their 2nd nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2009 “Unclose”" at 18 venues. The tour was a total of 19 performances.

On October 14, the band released their 3rd digital single, "Frame". On November 18, they released yet another digital single, "Mitsumeteitai".

The band also performed two extra concerts of their 2nd tour at Nippon Budokan on the 22nd and 23 October. All the tickets were sold out on the day they went on sale. They performed 17 songs in front of 10,000 fans in each concert.

The band released their 1st full album, What's flumpool!? on December 23 and reached No. 2 on the Oricon weekly albums chart.

On December 31, the band attended the 60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, making it their first time performing on the show.

2010: Vocalist's polypectomy and year-end arena lives

On February 3, the band released their 3rd single, "Zanzō" and reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly singles chart. The song was used as the theme song of the 2nd season of TBS drama, Bloody Monday. On the same month, they released their 2nd Live DVD, "flumpool tour 2009『Unclose』Special!! LIVE at Nippon Budokan". It also reached No. 1 on Oricon weekly Music DVD chart.

On March 5, the band started their 3rd nationwide tour, "flumpool tour 2010「What's flumpool!?~Love&Piiiis Kids Show!!~」" at 40 venues and 46 performances in total. The tour had lasted three months.

On March 14, the band released their 1st artist photobook, "fourbond".

It was made known on April 29 that flumpool's vocalist, Ryuta Yamamura will undergo polypectomy in June. On May 5, Ryuta Yamamura announced on "flumpool LOCKS!", flumpool's corner of the radio program TOKYO FM's SCHOOL OF LOCK!, that he will undergo polypectomy after their last concert of the 3rd tour in Okinawa and spend about a month resting.

The band released their 4th major single entitled "reboot~Akiramenai Uta~/Nagareboshi" (ｒｅｂｏｏｔ～あきらめない詩～／流れ星, "reboot~Don't Give Up Song~/Shooting Star") on June 23. It reached No. 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart. The song, "reboot~Akiramenai Uta~" is used as a support song of Japanese television network NTV's coverage of the FIFA World Cup.

As of July 7, Yamamura made a Tanabata return after surgery at "flumpool LOCKS!". On August 1, flumpool performed at "SETSTOCK'10" which was held in Hiroshima. It was their first live after the return of their vocalist.

It was announced on July 14 that the band is to sing the theme song entitled "Kimi ni Todoke" (君に届け, "Reaching you") of the movie Kimi ni Todoke. The song "Kimi ni Todoke" was released as a single on September 29. It debuted at number 2 on Oricon weekly singles chart. All five major single releases to date have made it to top 3 on the Oricon weekly singles chart.

The band released a Christmas DVD single entitled "Snowy Nights Serenade~Kokoro Made mo Tsunagitai~" (Snowy Nights Serenade～心までも繋ぎたい～). The release is limited to the members of POOLSIDE, the band's mobile fan club. This first time ever members limited release is a premium package which includes a Special DVD encompassing flumpool's "gratitude" and an original calendar (2011). The song "Snowy Nights Serenade～心までも繋ぎたい～(Xmas ver.)" was the main theme of their year-end arena lives which were held on December 18 and 19 at Osaka-jō Hall and on December 25 and 26 at Yokohama Arena. They express their gratitude to their fans who have supported them throughout the one year since the opening of POOLSIDE by turning the words they can't convey very well into this song.

On December 31, flumpool attended the 61st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, performing on the show for the second time.

2011–2012

flumpool held a live tour with rock band, Nico Touches the Walls in January in 3 cities.

The band released their 2nd full album on January 26. The title of the album, Fantasia of Life Stripe was revealed through a CM, which was aired on November 28, 2010. Details of the album were disclosed on November 29, 2010 on their official website. The album reached No. 2 on the Oricon weekly albums chart.

The band will be in charge of the set piece for the Junior High School section of the 78th NHK National Music Contest. The composition of the set piece was arranged to be sung in a choir, was scheduled to be announced in March as a new set piece. The theme of the contest is “Companions”. It was announced later that the title of the set piece is "Akashi" (証). "Akashi" will be NHK’s “Minna no Uta” music broadcast in August to September.

The band released their 3rd Live DVD entitled "3rd Live DVD flumpool Live at YOKOHAMA ARENA!! Special Live 2010「Snowy Nights Serenade~Kokoro Made mo Tsunagitai~」" (3rd Live DVD flumpool Live at YOKOHAMA ARENA!! Special Live 2010「Snowy Nights Serenade～心までも繋ぎたい～」) on April 6. The DVD reached No. 3 on Oricon weekly Music DVD chart.

The band started their 4th nationwide tour entitled "Fantasia of Life Stripe~Bokutachi wa Koko ni Iru~" (『Fantasia of Life Stripe～僕達はここにいる～』) from April in 10 big cities and 19 performances. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the band kicked off their tour on April 9 in Fukuoka instead of Yokosuga, Kanagawa on April 4. The two shows which were scheduled in Yokosuga, Kanagawa are replaced by concerts at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall in Kanagawa on June 3 and 4. The concerts scheduled May 7 and 8 in Sendai, Miyagi was cancelled. The band will hold a live at Zepp Sendai on August 12 instead. The title of the live is "4th tour 2011“Fantasia of Life Stripe ～僕達はここにいる～” Zepp Sendai Special Live". In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the band's members and their record label A-Sketch made a donation of 10 million yen to the Japanese Red Cross as part of the fund raising campaign by their agency Amuse. The band will also donate some of the revenue from sales of concert tickets and official goods. They also set up donation boxes at each concert and encourage donations from the crowds.

In May, it was announced that the band will be in charge of the image song for the “Rugby World Cup 2011”.

In June, flumpool's vocalist, Ryuta Yamamura appeared solo in the CM for the mobile game site "Mobage". The song used in the CM is the band's new song which will be released as a double a-side single entitled "Donna Mirai ni mo Ai wa Aru/Touch" (どんな未来にも愛はある／Ｔｏｕｃｈ). The song "Touch" is used as the tie-up song for "au AQUOS PHONE IS11SH" commercial. The single is set to release on July 27.

2012 - present

On December, flumpool released an album titled 'experience'. With the album they made a debut into Taiwan. With a Chinese cover 証明 written by Mayday AShin.

On April 17, a concert EARTH X HEART was performed along with Mayday in Japan. In September 2014, Flumpool makes a Single for Indonesian Tokusatsu Series Satria Garuda BIMA-X titled 'Let Tomorrow be'.

Band members

• Ryuta Yamamura (山村 隆太, Yamamura Ryūta) (born January 21, 1985, Osaka)
  • Vocals and Guitar
• Kazuki Sakai (阪井 一生, Sakai Kazuki) (born February 26, 1985, Osaka)
  • Guitar and Backing vocals
• Genki Amakawa (尼川 元気, Amakawa Genki) (born November 27, 1984, Osaka)
  • Bass
• Seiji Ogura (小倉 誠司, Ogura Seiji) (born February 27, 1984, Hyōgo)
  • Drums

Discography

Singles

Album

Compilation Album

DVD

Concerts/tours

• flumpool tour 2009 『UNREAL』　(February 19 – March 7, 2009)
• flumpool tour 2009 “Unclose”　(July 8 – September 5, 2009)
• flumpool tour 2009 『Unclose』Special!! LIVE at Nippon Budokan　(October 22 and 23, 2009)
• flumpool tour 2010 「What's flumpool!?~Love&Piiiis Kids Show!!~」　(March 5 – June 5, 2010)
• flumpool Special Live 2010 『Snowy Nights Serenade ～心までも繋ぎたい～』　(December 18 and 19, 2010 – Osaka-jo Hall), (December 25 and 26, 2010 – Yokohama Arena)
• NICO Touches the Walls × flumpool Split Tour 2011 (January 19, 2011 – Zepp Osaka), (January 21, 2011 – Zepp Nagoya), (January 24, 2011 – Zepp Tokyo)
• flumpool 4th tour 2011 『Fantasia of Life Stripe～僕達はここにいる～』 (April 9 – August 19, 2011)

Books

• flumpool virginal year – released: December 19, 2009
• fourbond – released: March 14, 2010

Radio

• SPEAK OUT! (J-WAVE) (2009.01.02 - )
• SCHOOL OF LOCK! Hana no Keibiin flumpool LOCKS! (SCHOOL OF LOCK! ハナの警備員 flumpool LOCKS!) (Tokyo FM, Wednesdays 23:05-23:30) (2009.10.07 - Present)

Awards

Billboard Japan Music Awards

References

1. ↑ "New band flumpool does Bloody Monday music". Tokyograph. 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2010-02-10. 
2. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2008年12月 (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
3. ↑ "Flumpool album ranking" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2010-02-10. 
4. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2008年12月 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved 2010-02-10. 
5. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2010年1月 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved 2010-02-10. 
6. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2011年2月 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved 2011-02-10. 
7. ↑ 一般社団法人 日本レコード協会 (in Japanese). RIAJ. Retrieved 2016-03-09. 
8. ↑ "Flumpool album ranking" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2014-12-01. 
9. ↑ "Billboard Japan Music Awards: EXILE named Artist of the Year". Tokyograph. 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2010-02-10. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flumpool.

• Official website
• Oricon profile
• Amuse artist page
• flumpool blog on Amuse
• flumpool community on GREE
• flumpool on sonic form (Updates ended)