fra-foa

The vocalist of fra-foa, Chisako Mikami seemed to be responsible for most of the creative aspects of fra-foa's songs. This woman definitely knew how to use her voice to create emotional sounding music, and could easily distract you from the instruments supporting her by her moving lyrics and strong voice.

Lead by the singer Mikami Chisako, the band formed in 1998. Without looking for a label, they started performing in several livehouses and at some festivals around Sendai. By 2000, they signed a contract with Toys Factory, a label which is focused on underground bands. Their debut album Chuu no fuchi sounded like garage rock. It was full of creativity and shows the vocalist’s feelings and emotions through the lyrics. Still, it was hard for some people to get used to this piece of art with its raw sound.

Their second album 13 Leaves surprised the fans, since it seemed to be the opposite of what they were used to. The garage sound was gone and replaced by gentle songs and somewhat pop type tunes. Chisako's voice had started getting softer and more professional. Due to this change, the band drew in many more fans.

At the end of 2002, Mikami Chisako announced that she was to be married to someone who also worked for the music industry. This was accompanied by the news of her pregnancy. On May 10th, 2003 she gave birth to a daughter, but breaking the normal conformity in Japan of quitting her job, Mikami continued with the band. She even released a solo album; Watashi ha anata no uchuu, which contained calmer sounding music with electronic influences.

In 2004, fra-foa had a live in Tokyo's metropolitan area, the first concert after a long time. The tickets were sold out on the first day. However, a year later at a live on May 14th, 2005 they announced their disbanding without giving any reasons for their decision. The band broke up shortly thereafter.