Lamp (band)


Lamp is a Japanese indie band formed in 2000.

Members

Formation

Someya started playing guitar in middle school. In folk song club during high school, he became friend with Nagai through their common love of 60s music. During college, when a friend introduced Sakakibara to Someya, he decided to start Lamp.

Early years

On 9 April 2003, Lamp released their first album Soyokaze Apartment Room 201. Someya has cited manga artist Yoshiharu Tsuge as influence for the first album's lyrics.
On 11 February 2004, they released their second album For Lovers. Despite selling worse than their first album, For Lovers has become a fan favorite over the years.
On 25 May 2005, they released their third album Komorebi Dori Nite.
On 7 March 2007, they released their compilation album Zankou.
On 3 December 2008, they released their fourth album Lamp Genso.
On 4 August 2008, they released their fifth album The Poetry Of August.
On 9 February 2011, they released their sixth album Tokyo Utopia Correspondence.

Botanical House & Tours

On 5 February 2014, they released their sixth album Yume. In 2014, they started their own label Botanical House. They performed at BEATRAM MUSIC FESTVAL in Toyama Castle Park. They collaborated with San Francisco-based band The Bilinda Butchers on their debut album Heaven.
In 2015, they performed at HELLO INDIE in Sendai.
On 13 March 2015, they released their compilation album Ame ni Hana.
In 2017, they toured in China, including Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai. On 20 April, they performed in Taipei.
On 15 May 2018, they released their seventh album Her Watch. On 23 July, they released the single Tabibito/Place in my dream. On 1 August 2018, they released the split single Blue/Girlfriend, a collaboration with The Bilinda Butchers. In August and September, Lamp held the Lamp Asia Tour 2018 "A Distant Shore", performing in cities such as Beijing, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Taipei. In October, they performed at Kirari Music Festival in Fujimi.

Style

Their style has been described as Shibuya-kei, City-pop, and café music, but it's hard to fit them into one genre. They often incorporated elements of bossa nova, jazz, soul, and funk. They cited Brazilian music, bossa nova, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Simon & Garfunkel as influences to their music.

Discography

Album