Guitar Vader

Guitar Vader (ギターベイダー) was a Japanese underground indie rock band. Formed in 1998, the band is best known for their contributions to the soundtracks of Sega's Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future games.

Guitar Vader had two lead vocalists and songwriters, guitarist Miki Tanabe and bassist Ujuan Shozo. Miki's childlike voice and Ujuan's tenor are often used in harmony and call and response, but many songs are sung exclusively by one or the other. Their music generally features pop-oriented melodies, often coupled with aggressive power chords and hard rock influences, and sometimes playfully shifts between genres in mid-song. Band members claimed influences like Nirvana,The Beatles,The Pixies and the Ramones, as well as lesser influences like Air and Guitar Wolf. Others have likened their sound to bands as disparate as The B-52's and Smashing Pumpkins.

History

Miki and Ujuan first met in Kawasaki, Kanagawa while the two were in different bands. The two became friends, and after their other bands broke up, they decided to collaborate. Yuki Takumiya joined them as the band's drummer. The trio began recording at Berry Records soon after, and in October 1998, they released their first cassette tape, a collection of four songs titled Guitar Vader Vol. 1. More than 1,000 copies were sold at an independent record store in Tokyo called High-Line. The tape was followed by another release, which sold another 1000 units. Empowered by their success, the two volumes were compiled along with new material and one remix onto the two tape set, Die Happy!. The album gained distribution in Tower Records and HMV stores, but was never released officially on CD. This gave the band, who only performed live shows irregularly, their first real exposure to a larger audience. Later that year, they released one more tape, containing three new songs, including the exclusive rarity "Generation Revolution".