In 1998, Riki Kinoshita, moved from Osaka to Tokyo to start a solo career and after the release of his first and sold out mini-album, teenage last in 1999, he decided to start the band Art-School in March 2000 with his support musicians at that time Hinata (bass), Sakurai (drums) and later Oyama (guitar).
The same month, they gave a concert in the Shimokitazawa Shelter. Their first mini album SONIC DEAD KIDS was released on September 8th, followed by their single-tape and two other releases the following year.
Together with the band Straightener they released a split-cassette on March 6th, 2002, which has been long sold out since its release. The band's success continued into summer for two main reasons; first because of their appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival and second because of their contract with the major label Toshiba EMI. Art-School released a new single that October and their first full-length album, REQUIEM FOR INNOCENCE, the following November.
Their first nationwide tour took place in January 2003, with the gig in the Shibuya Club Quattro being sold out on the first day. Evil, their second major single, was released in April and again they were part of a big Japanese rock festival, the Japan Circuit in June. The following tour left a great impression and ensured the band's future success. The year continued with more releases and, unfortunately, ended with Oyama and Hinata leaving the band in December.
2004 began with the release of their first live album BOYS DON'T CRY in March. The support musicians Masafumi Todaka and Takeshi Uno became official band members and would become a big influence on Art-School's future musical progress. To celebrate this new formation, they gave a free concert in the Shibuya O-East, which was attended by 10000 people!
Their following releases were successful as well and made it possible for them to play at several festivals and events. They changed their label to Pony Records in the middle of the year, published a new mini-album and spent some time in Glasgow, Scottland to record their third full-studio album Paradise Lost. The following PARADISE LOST TOUR 2005 provided enough material for their fist live DVD, sleep flowers, which was released in December 2005.
Art-School continued to go strong over the next two years, with the release of two singles and two albums. Along with new material, they kept a steady live schedule and held a coupling tour with OGRE YOU ASSHOLE. 2008 however was a much quieter year for Art-School, releasing only their best of album, Ghosts & Angels and the mini-album ILLMATIC BABY along with a handful of lives.
2009 brought another lull in activity when drummer Yuichi Sakurai left the band. Despite this loss, they recruited Suzuki Hiroyuki soon after and debuted 14 Souls in August. With the following year being Art-School's 10th year anniversary, on May 15th, 2010 the band held ART-SCHOOL 10th ANNIVERSARY KINOSHITA NIGHT SPECIAL with their new mini-album, Anesthesia dropping in July.
While the summer and winter months on 2010 for Art-School were muted in comparison to previous years, the band had already announced plans for 2011 early. With their first one-man of the year selling out just days before it was scheduled on January 7th, their next performance will be one week later in Shibuya O-East.
