HY . Discography . Links

MEMBERS:
Hikeyuki Shinzato (Vocal/Rap)
Shun Naka (Drums/Rap)
Shinsuke Kyoda (Bass)
Izumi Nakasone (Keyboards/Vocal)
Yuhei Miyazato (Guitar)

Formed by several high school friends in 2000, HY laid its roots under the sunny skies of Okinawa. They gained their first fans by playing gigs in the streets. At first, there weren’t too many people who watched them, but in an incredibly short time, people started to take interest in them. HY (pronounced AYCH WHY NOT HI) consists of six members, Hideyuki Shinzato on vocals/rap, Shun Naka on drums/rap, Shinsuke Kyoda on bass, Izumi Nakasone on keyboards and vocal, and Yuhei Miyazato on guitar, all of which are barely twenty years of age. Their sound is something of a soft pop-rock, kind of like Bump of Chicken meets Do As Infinity or Yellow Generation.(Now don’t take that the wrong way! That’s supposed to be good.) While they have not had much exposure overseas, HY is already taking Japan by storm with their releases. In just about four short years of existence, these guys have already toured all around Japan and in China as well as released three albums – quite a feat for any band to accomplish in their first three years. Their second album, Street Story, did well on the charts, and their most recent album, TRUNK, debuted on the Oricon at #1.

HY’s creates a unique medley of sound with the use of both a male and female vocalist, as well as soothing background music and a bit of piano from the keyboard/vocalist Izumi. Their music ranges anywhere from soft ballads to basic rock, with some rap inserted here and there. The use of both a male and female vocalist lends balance to their music. It’s not too hard too get tired of the same old male voice singing over and over again in every song. However, once my attention is starting to falter from the male vocalist’s voice, Izumi (who I personally thing sounds like Tomiko Van of Do As Infinity) will take over, giving my ears a rest from Hideyuki’s voice. Sometimes both vocalists will sing a duet together. I must say, HY’s duets are some of the best I’ve heard in the Jmusic genre.

Seriously, one has to hear HY’s music to appreciate it. I was never too into the soft-rock stuff, and I would’ve never given HY a listen unless one of my friends hadn’t recommended them to me. At first, I didn’t feel much for their music, but remembering how much my friend had recommended them, I kept listening to them. After that, it really didn’t take me too long to start to like HY. Their songs had a certain soothing quality to them that isn’t present in Jmusic enough these days. The vocalists both had voices that flowed very smoothly to the instrumentation. (I keep putting emphasis on the flowing voices because it’s TRUE!) The instrumentation itself is very adaptive – sometimes it is just barely present in the background putting all the emphasis on the vocals, and other times it just bursts all out and really puts itself in the spotlight along with the vocals.

While any talk of HY outside Japan is pretty much nonexistent at the moment, they are really worth a listen. At 23 yen each, their albums are much more affordable than the usual 30 yen or so that is the average price of an album in Japan, so listening to them isn’t that hard after all. Just wait till these guys take everywhere by storm with their wistful and heartfelt tunes!

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