Abingdon Boys School (stylized as abingdon boys school) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005 and fronted by Japanese singer

Takanori Nishikawa is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, voice artist, radio personality, and businessman. He performs under the stage name T.M.Revolution (TMR), which stands for , stemming from the famous '80s pop electronic band TM ...

. Formed in 2005, the band shares a name with the British independent school

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

, in Abingdon,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

, the all-male school where the rock band

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

was established.

Biography

Formation and influences

Abingdon Boys School began in 2005 when

, known for his pop music as

TM Revolution is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, voice artist, radio personality, and businessman. He performs under the stage name T.M.Revolution (TMR), which stands for , stemming from the famous '80s pop electronic band TM ...

, decided to return to his rock roots in Luis-Mary with guitarist Sunao. They were introduced to guitarist Hiroshi Shibasaki (ex-

Wands A wand is a thin, straight, hand-held stick of wood, ivory, or metal. Wand or magic wand may also refer to: People * Günter Wand, a German orchestra conductor and composer * Hart Wand, an early white American blues musician and composer from Ok ...

) and continued to discuss forming a band until an offer came to record a song for

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series '' Nana''. The three presented a demo to producer Toshiyuki Kishi who became the fourth member of the band. The origin of the name comes from a combination of Nishikawa's love of cars'

anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti-skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maint ...

and the resemblance of the initials to the pronunciation of the Tokyo district Ebisu where the band practiced. When searching on the internet for a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

Nishikawa discovered

and the connection to

, whose members are of the same generation. A.B.S are also all from the same generation and each fell in love with music when they were in school, so they thought "it would be cool if we could go back to that feeling again." Abingdon Boys School intended to bring song structure back to pop and rock music, with elements such as "intros, vocal lines, guitar solos and instrumental sections". The band's style recalls 1980s hair-band era

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

and edgier '90s rock outfits such as

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...

History

In 2005, Abingdon Boys School released its first song, "Stay Away", an English-language song written by Nishikawa and composed by Shibasaki for the shōjo

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series '' Nana'' tribute album ''Love for Nana ~Only 1 Tribute~''. The band also recorded a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...

of the

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese rock band, formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The group has consisted of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Higuchi and d ...

song that was featured on the

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

Parade -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick- ''Parade -Respective Tracks of Buck-Tick-'' is the first tribute album to Japanese rock band Buck-Tick, released on December 21, 2005. It collects cover versions of their songs by various artists. It reflected the influence Buck-Tick had on you ...

''. The band's first live concert was performed on November 24, 2005, alongside

Uverworld Uverworld (stylized as UVERworld) is a Japanese rock band consisting of six members and originating from Kusatsu, Shiga. They have released eleven studio albums and over thirty singles and have sold over three million records worldwide. "Uverwo ...

and Tsubakiya Quartet, a show presented by music magazine ''CD Data''. On September 3, 2006, the band announced that they would make their official debut through

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is oper ...

's Epic Records, which was also the label of Nishikawa's solo project T.M. Revolution. The band performed at the Japanese leg of

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...

in Tokyo on July 7, 2007, and their first self titled album was released on October 17, 2007. Their debut peaked at no.2 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike i ...

charts. On July 16, 2008, Abingdon Boys School released a live DVD from the concert they held in February 2008. In November 2009, Abingdon Boys School went on a tour through Europe, securing a record deal with Germany label

Gan-Shin is an independent European rock music record label. History It was formed in 2004 by Matthias Müssig, Christoph Ortner-Bach and Deville Schober. The label, actively distributes physical records in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sp ...

that saw their debut available in Europe. The band played shows in Helsinki, Stockholm, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Paris, London and Moscow. In London, the band played in

Camden Underworld Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue is a part of the World's End pub, situated in the basement of the building. It has a capacity of 500 people. History Over the years The Underworld has become th ...

venue, famous in Japan as it was the place where

Sadistic Mika Band was a Japanese rock band formed in 1972. Its name is a parody of the late 60s band Plastic Ono Band. Produced by Masatoshi Hashiba on Toshiba-EMI Records (now EMI Music Japan), the band was led by guitarist Kazuhiko Katō and singer , who were a ...

had played in 1975, the first Japanese rock band to ever tour in Europe. In Helsinki,

Andy McCoy Antti Hulkko (born 11 October 1962), better known as Andy McCoy, is a Finnish musician. He is best known for his role as the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the rock band Hanoi Rocks, but has also played with Iggy Pop and a variety of oth ...

of 1980s hair-metal band

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving accide ...

showed up unannounced, one of the groups idols. A B-sides compilation album was then released in Japan titled ''Teaching Materials''. Shortly after, a second studio album was announced for January 27, 2010, titled ''

Abingdon Road Abingdon Road is the main arterial road to the south of the city of Oxford, England. The road passes through the suburbs of Grandpont and New Hinksey. It is named after the town of Abingdon to the south. History Part of the road was known as ...

''. In addition to 6 new tracks, the album contained singles released since the band's first full album and a cover of "Sweetest Coma Again", originally found on '' Luna Sea Memorial Cover Album -Re:birth-''. They released a book containing scores of their singles on November 12, 2010. On August 7, 2012, Abingdon Boys School released "We Are" internationally, their first single in two and a half years. The title track was featured as the theme song for the PlayStation 3 video game '' Sengoku Basara HD Collection'', which was released on September 5, 2012. Abingdon Boys School performed at Inazuma Rock Festival 2018, marking their first live in six years. They performed at the festival again the following year and announced their first tour in 10 years for March 2020. However, the tour has been postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Work used in media

All of the band's singles are songs that have been used in anime and video games; perhaps owing to Nishikawa's personal interests, having gone so far as to voice a few anime roles himself. " Innocent Sorrow" was used as the opening for the ''

D.Gray-Man ''D.Gray-man'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. Set in an alternate 19th century, it tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order. They use an a ...

'' anime; "

Howling Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are generally lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, ...

" and "From Dusk Till Dawn" for ''

Darker Than Black , is a Japanese anime television series created and directed by Tensai Okamura and animated by studio Bones. Twenty-five episodes were broadcast on MBS, TBS and their affiliated stations from April to September 2007. The series is s ...

'' and its sequel '' Ryūsei no Gemini''; "

Nephilim The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or people in the Hebrew Bible who are large and strong. The word ''Nephilim'' is loosely translated as '' giants'' in some translations of the Hebrew Bible, but left untranslated in others ...

" for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

game ''

Folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

''; " Blade Chord" and "Jap" for the ''

Sengoku Basara is a series of video games developed and published by Capcom, and a bigger media franchise based on it, including four anime shows, an anime movie, a live action show, a magazine series, a trading card game, and numerous drama CDs, light nov ...

'' series; "Strength" for the '' Soul Eater'' anime, and "Kimi no Uta" for ''

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is a Japanese anime television series produced by Fuji TV, Asmik Ace, Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Dentsu, Bones, and Kinema Citrus. It first aired on Fuji TV's noitamina timeslot in july 2009, running for 11 episodes until September. The a ...

''. "Fre@k $HoW", the b-side off their "Innocent Sorrow" single, was also used in a tribute compilation CD for the movie '' Death Note 2: The Last Name''. A slightly modified version of the b-side off their "Jap" single, dubbed "Valkyrie -Lioleia Mix-", was also featured in the ''

Monster Hunter is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fantasy-themed action role-playing video games that started with the game '' Monster Hunter'' for the PlayStation 2, released in 2004. Titles have been released across a variety of platforms ...

'' tribute album ''Monster Hunter 5th Anniversary''.

Members

* – vocals * – guitar * Sunao – guitar * – keyboards, turntables, programming

Support members

* Ikuo – bass guitar * – drums

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

Abingdon Boys School Abingdon Boys School (stylized as abingdon boys school) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005 and fronted by Japanese singer Takanori Nishikawa. Formed in 2005, the band shares a name with the British independent school Abingdon School, in Abi ...

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2010)

References

External links

*
Sony Music Japan page

Nippon Project interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abingdon Boys School Gan-Shin artists Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Japanese alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 2005 Musical quartets Musical groups from Tokyo