t-kimura and MOTSU met in the early 1990s. They had always wanted to work with each other, but because of conflicting record contracts, they did not have this opportunity until 1997 after the breakup of t-kimura’s previous project. In order to find a vocalist whose voice would flow alongside MOTSU's rap vocals, t-kimura organized auditions. His selection was not found among the audition tapes, but on a TV show he watched during his morning meal with a staff member. The following day, he received the then 20 year old YURI’s information package and arranged for her to become the vocalist of move.The name of the group, move, was chosen since they would not be sticking to only one form of music, but rather covering a range of styles such as Eurobeat, rock, techno/trance, pop, electronica, and more.
Their debut single, ROCK IT DOWN, was released in October of 2007, however it was their next single, around the world that would be their breakout hit as it was used for the opening theme to “Initial D” in January of 1998. move did a total of nine singles for the increasingly popular “Initial D” anime and in return, the anime’s popularity resulted in worldwide recognition for the group. These nine singles for “Initial D” were released over a period of time starting from 1998 with around the world to Noizy Tribe which was released in 2005. In 1998, after only releasing two singles, the group was able to release their first full-length album, Electrock in June.
In 2003, move performed their debut USA concert at the anime convention AnimeFEST in Dallas, Texas, earning them vast international success. Their next US appearance wouldn’t be until two years later in December of 2005, performing in front of anime fans at a convention in Vienna, Virginia at AnimeUSA. By the year 2005, they had already released seventeen singles and fifteen full-length and remix albums at breakneck speed. That same year move changed the formatting of their name to m.o.v.e when their releases over the American iTunes store caused trademark issues. As an acronym, however, the name has no meaning and is still pronounced as the English word "move".
Starting in the fall of 2005, the band held a remixing contest on ACIDplanet.com, which was promoting the English version of their song Disco Planet. The winner’s remix was featured in m.o.v.e‘s fifth full-length album Grid, which was released in January of 2006. This was surprisingly their only release of that year.
2007 was a busy, yet significant year for m.o.v.e as they celebrated their 10th anniversary together and performed in the USA once again, this time at the anime convention Sakuracon in Seattle, Washington in April. For their next single, released in June of 2007, m.o.v.e collaborated with 8-BALL on two versions of the main track. This single, Speed Master, is the theme to the movie of the same name.
Not only did they perform in the US once again in 2007, m.o.v.e also made their debut in Europe at the German convention Connichi in September. On October 3rd, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, m.o.v.e released a best-of album, m.o.v.e 10th Anniversary MEGA BEST, and a greatest hits DVD, m.o.v.e 10th Anniversary GIGA BEST, featuring all of their music video releases since their debut. The next couple of releases announced were also to celebrate their 10th year anniversary. The band performed on February 3,2008 as part of their 10 Years Anniversary Megalopolis Tour 2008 and from this performance came a live album, m.o.v.e 10 YEARS ANNIVERSARY MEGALOPOLIS TOUR 2008, and a live DVD of the same name. Their first single of 2008, DIVE INTO STREAM, let everyone know m.o.v.e was still going strong with their themes for “Initial D” as this was used for Playstation 3’s “Initital D Extreme Stage."
At the time, t-kimura was seen less and less with m.o.v.e until in December 2008 he announced his plans to stop performing on stage completely to focus on his producing although he will still be behind the scenes of m.o.v.e creating music. The last live for t-kimura was on April 4 just a week before m.o.v.e’s next appearance at an American anime convention. A week later and now a duo, YURI and MOTSU performed at Kamikazecon in Houston, Texas. The next month was the duo’s appearance at the large anime convention Anime Central taking place in Chicago, Illinois.
In August, m.o.v.e.’s s second album for 2009 will be Anime Kikaku Album, an anime cover album featuring collaborations with other artists such as ALI PROJECT and Haruko Momoi. With t-kimura only working behind the scenes, evidently even as a duo m.o.v.e can keep going strong.
m.o.v.e's music is constantly changing and mixing styles like Eurobeat, rock, techno/trance, pop, electronica, and more. YURI's strong and clear voice flows easily through MOTSU's rap vocals, sung in half-Japanese and half-English. Because of their musical contribution to theme songs for the anime "Initial D", m.o.v.e has earned international success.
The mastermind of the group, t-kimura, both created the band and is the main composer and producer of the project. Aside from working on his own band, he has produced other artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Shimatani Hitomi, V6 and TRF.
