Japanese funk-rock band OKAMOTO’S are set to release their energetic first single of 2021, “Young Japanese”. Having spent 2020 celebrating their 10th anniversary with their first “best of” album 10’S BEST and then following that up by kick starting the next phase of their musical journey with the hit single Welcome My Friend and an EP of the same name, the four-piece are looking to continue to build on that success with this alternative/funk track. “Young Japanese” captures lead singer Sho Okamoto’s experience as a young person in Japan while showcasing each individual member’s considerable strengths; Hama Okamoto’s funky baseline, Reiji Okamoto’s energetic drums, Koki Okamoto’s cutting guitar riffs, and Sho’s bilingual lyricism and punchy vocals.
“This song is about myself and my bandmates, as well as all of the young people living in japan. We’re struggling to find our own path in this era when it feels like everything has been built or done by somebody else by the time we were born, and it feels like there’s no space for us to create something completely new by ourselves. With that being said, we’re not living ‘sad sad lives’ – we know we’re pretty lucky and happy, but there still has to be something out there that only we can do. In the 10 years we’ve been playing as OKAMOTO’S, I think this is our best song so far, so I hope you enjoy it!” -Sho Okamoto (Vocals)
ABOUT OKAMOTO’S
Dubbed “the Japanese Red Hot Chili Peppers” by Japanese media and fans alike, OKAMOTO’S is an energetic funk-rock four-piece from Tokyo, Japan, formed by a group of friends from junior high school: Sho Okamoto (vocals), Koki Okamoto (guitar), Hama Okamoto (bass), and Reiji Okamoto (drums). Their name is a tribute to the avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto and the legendary punk band Ramones, whom they both highly respect. The band burst onto the scene in 2010, making their debut age 18 years old, and have since released 9 singles and 8 albums to date.
The band themselves site RHCP as an important influence, along with The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Stooges, and of course The Ramones. They’ve also performed with legendary rock acts such as The Verbs and Paul Weller for their Japan tours, and continue to merge generations and music genres by collaborating with a wide range of artists, including writing songs for DISH//, Kanjani8, and more recently working with rappers Gottz, Tohji, and Shurkn Pap on the OBKR/Yaffle remix of their song “ART(FCO2811)” off of their 2019 record BOY.
Most recently, the quartet released their 6 track EP Welcome My Friend, featuring the titular hit song, in August 2020. Despite having released their first “best of” compilation 10’S BEST in April 2020, as well as the EP later in the year, the band have spent most of 2020 unable to tour or perform for a live audience like many other musicians, and have been working on new material, and look forward to getting back on the road and perform for music-lovers all around the world, hopefully in the near future.
Each of the members is highly active outside of their work as a band as well, Koki having released his solo debut album GIRL in 2019, and Sho having released his first solo singles in 2020 (collaborations with Japanese hiphop artist Pecori and AAAMYYY of psychedelic pop band Tempalay). Hama frequently collaborates with other artists, while Reiji is an active DJ spinning at many popular nightclubs in Tokyo.
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