THE BAND |
the band -- from left: gil, simon, rina, muro, eiichiro (illustrated by lily)
the band -- from left: gil, simon, rina, muro, eiichiro (illustrated by lily)
Gil Kuno was ftp surfing for music when he stumbled upon a number of compositions that blew his mind. He wanted to form a band with the artist. He found an email address to a Simon "Raphiel" Bennett in the Read Me file, and proceeded to email the artist. When he found that Simon lived in Perth (Australia,) Gil was discouraged, as he was based in Tokyo.
However, rather than succumbing to the restrictions of locale, the two tried collaborating online to compose. A few other musicians were recruited online (Tatsuya from Hiroshima and Brett from San Francisco,) and after long hours of sending audio files over 9600 baud modems, a song was created. This got them signed to a major label in Japan, where their first single "Daisuki Me" was released.
It used to be that bands were formed in a certain city. The Beatles from Liverpool, The Rolling Stones from London, U2 from Dublin, etc. This was because band members had to meet in the same studio in order to compose. Wiggle used network technologies to allow for musical collaborations over remote locations, and thus did not have to compromise for local musicians – the world was their domain to find talent.
Being the first Internet based band to be signed to a major label, Wiggle received much media hype, with their music videos played on MTV, and being invited to perform in various countries. Their shows involved some of the members performing on stage, with other members joining via the Internet. In 2000, Wiggle were recruited by Toyota to compose music for their Scion bB (xB) series – this lasted 14 commercials over 3 years.
After several years as an instrumental band, Wiggle strengthened their live presence by recruiting vocalist Linda (Hiroshima, Japan) and drummer Murochin (Wrench, The Abnormals). Linda left after 3 years and was replaced by Rina (also from Hiroshima.) The legendary Hardcore guitarist from Hellchild, Eiichiro Suzuki (Tokyo) joined soon after.
Members of Wiggle have yet to meet in the flesh.
Raphiel(豪)、Brett(米)、Tatsuya(日)、Gil(米)が、インターネットを通じ結成。ニップギター(北米)と契約。ゲストヴォーカルにSEXY FUNKOを迎え、1st.マキシシングル『私は私が大好き』で国内デビュー。同曲のPVは文化庁「メディア芸術祭」にて優秀賞を受賞。東京での初ライヴの模様が「MTV JAPAN」でオンエアされ、多大な反響が寄せられる。
「ロッテルダム国際映画祭」,「Sprawl」含むヨーロッパツアー敢行の後、「鉄拳3」REMIXアルバムに、Ken IshiiやCaptain Funk等と参加。Cristian Vogel、Ken Ishii、SEXY FUNKO、RUINS等のサポートと共に、1st.アルバム『WIGGLE』を日本先行発売。
初の女性メンバー、LINDA(日本)が加入。トヨタ自動車「bB」のテレビ/ラジオCMに楽曲提供(14曲)。同CM曲を収めたマキシシングル『RONIN』とEP「bB The Original Soundtrack」をリリース。ドラムにムロチン(Wrench, Abnormals他)が加入。Lindaが結婚脱退し、妹分のRinaRinaが加入する。オランダのHan Hoogerbruggeとのコラボレーション、FlowがCanon Digital Creators Contestで銅賞を獲得。FlowがオーストリアArs Electronicaに入賞。実際のエレベータに作品を設置。元HellchildのEiichiroが加入、最強の編成となる。