Oreskaband is an all-female ska band from Sakai, Japan. As well as performing regularly within Japan, they have toured in North and South America, as well as Europe. The band name, "ore ska band," literally translates as "we're ska band." While "ore" is normally considered a masculine pronoun and an informal way to say "I" in Japanese, and the suffix "-tachi" is added to personal nouns when emphasizing that they are plural, in this context the term "ore" means something more along the lines of "we fellows." The choice of "ore" is also one of gender play, as the band would typically appear wearing boys' school uniform in their early videos and concerts.
History
Oreskaband began in 2003 when the members were still in middle school. Ikasu saw Tae playing in a local band and asked her to form a new one with her and some of their other friends. They self-produced their first album, Penpal, in 2005 and were signed by Sony Music in 2006 while they were still in high school. The band received media attention from their appearance in a commercial advertising the popular Japanese snack Pocky, as well as having their song Jitensha featured as the 13thNaruto: Shippuden anime ending theme. In July 2006, their major debut album Ore was released and a month later, they appeared at the Fuji Rock Festival attracting 1,000 attendees, a record for a new artist. In March 2007, the band members graduated from high school and toured in the United States appearing in Austin, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as part of the Japan Nite tour. In April 2007, their song, Tsumasaki, was featured as the 11th ending for the anime Bleach. They played at Anime Expo in Long Beach, California in July 2007 and at the Vans Warped Tour in Marysville, California and Portland, Oregon. The band also played the entire 2008 Vans Warped Tour. The band was featured in executive producer Barry Rosenbush's film, Lock and Roll Forever, which was set for a 2008 release in Japan. Oreskaband also performed at the Otakon 2015 convention. In 2016, long-time saxophonist Morico left the band to start a family, and the band released their third full-length album Slogan the same year, with new saxophonist ADD. In December 2018 it was announced that trumpeter Saki would be taking time off from Oreskaband to pursue a songwriting career; support member Hisae Ōtomari began playing trumpet with the band in live performances from January 2019 and in recording beginning the following month. At the band's Stay Irie, Go Rudy event in October 2019, they announced the new addition of keyboardist CC to their lineup. A further lineup change soon followed, as bassist Tomi announced in February 2020 that she would be leaving to pursue other musical endeavours, following a final pair of performances with the band in Tokyo and their hometown of Sakai, Osaka Prefecture that April. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the postponement of both concerts until August.
