ELLEGARDEN

ELLEGARDEN, or just ELLE, is a popular indie band in Japan that has also established a reputation in the USA. One of the most distinct feature about ELLEGARDEN that caught many music lovers' attention is the lyrics of their songs. Surprisingly, most of their songs are in English with a couple in their native language, Japanese. Unlike other Japanese bands, ELLEGARDEN's English-written lyrics (mostly written by vocalist, Takeshi) are mostly accurate and grammatically correct, even though there are a couple that still sound awkward. Takeshi's English pronunciation is also on par with those of a native English speaker (read more). Hence explaining why ELLEGARDEN is widely popular among their Japanese fans.

In addition, ELLEGARDEN's music style is similar to that of well-known American punk band such as Blink182, SUM41 and Good Charlotte. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, they are also well received by fans in America and have done a couple of lives in said country.

What made ELLEGARDEN different from that of other bands is they despised appearance in the media, hence explaining why they refused to go into mainstream despite of the possible chance in further taking their music into the next level. This is definitely true as they have made very minor magazine and TV appearances. Being indie, they have more flexibility when it comes to media appearances and also the releases of their singles and albums. As you might have noticed, ELLEGARDEN's releases are inconsistent, unlike that of a mainstream band. However, there are rumours saying that they are currently receiving a lot of pressures from the Japanese music industry.

ELLEGARDEN much prefers to spread their popularity through their live performances, gaining much support and respect from their fans. Many of the fans who had seen ELLEGARDEN's lives claimed that they had highly enjoyed them. Even this atmosphere was able to be captured on the DVD, much enjoyed by fans and fellow musicians (read trivia). Therefore solving the mystery on why ELLEGARDEN's tickets are hard to get and are already sold out even though the performances are still months away. To date, ELLEGARDEN are often seen in many festivals in Japan and sometimes in Korea.

Memorable events

Still pretty much incomplete. Will keep on editting this section whenever possible.

Trivia

• 'Niji', found in album 'RIOT ON THE GRILL' was written when Takeshi saw a rainbow with Masafumi Gotoh (Asian Kung-fu Generation) and Horie Atsushi (Straightener) when they were heading back towards the hotel after a live performance 'NANAIRO-ELECTRIC TOUR'

• 'Pizza Man', found in album 'Pepperoni Quattro' was based on Takeshi's experience with a pizza delivery person in his stay in San Francisco.

• Other Japanese well-known musicians such as Yuna Ito and UVERworld also think highly of ELLEGARDEN. Both UVERworld's vocalist, Takuya and Yuna own ELLEGARDEN's Doggy Bags DVD.

• ELLEGARDEN was sued on 5/16/2007 by fashion magazine, ELLE for infringing their trademark. ELLEGARDEN has to stop all sales of their goods.

• Their full-length album names are related to the songs recorded in between the album's release and the one before it.

Discography

Coming soon. At the meanwhile, visit wiki.theppn ELLEGARDEN page.

Associates

• ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION - Takeshi is a close friend of fellow vocalist/guitarist, Masafumi Gotoh.
• ACIDMAN
• Straightener
• 10-FEET
• NICOTINE
• STANCE PUNKS - Takeshi is a close friend of vocalist Horie Atsushi.
• B-DASH
• the pillows
• Maximum the Hormone
• Yano Akiko
• Aquarium Stars
• ALLiSTER
• Pink Ribbon Gun
• GOOD 4 NOTHING
• BEAT CRUSADERS
• EASY GRIP

sources

• ELLEGARDEN official site
• Japanese Wikipedia
• Wiki.thePPN
• ELLEGARDEN LJ community