KELUN was formed in 2006 by the multi-talented Ryousuke Kojima, who serves as vocalist, guitarist, and pianist, bassist Satou Shuusaku, and drummer Masahiro Kajitani . When they first started, the band was named UTARI. Under the sweet honey record label, they released their first mini-album, self-titled UTARI, in November of that year, barely six months since their formation. UTARI reached a high spot on the indies chart, and the early initial success prompted a range of public activities, including their first tour, the February Tour that ended in February 2007.
In September 2007, the name UTARI was changed to KELUN. Coinciding with the change of name, the band signed with the Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The first CD released under this label, Astral Lamp, came out in November 2007; additionally, one of Astral Lamp's songs, Signal, became the ending theme for the anime "Gintama." Shortly afterwards, KELUN held their first one-man live in January 2008 at CLUB QUATTRO in Shibuya. The success of their first one-man spurred on their first national tour, Astral Circuit, which was held in multiple cities throughout February 2008.
In the same month, KELUN released their first major single, Sixteen Girl, and it was subsequently chosen by the popular music show, JAPAN COUNTDOWN, as its opening theme. Though they had only finished their first national tour less than two months before, in April, they continued promotion with a new tour in Japan's Kantou region, April Tour. Unfortunately, in May, the bassist Satou Shuusaku left the band, but he was quickly replaced by Yukito.
In July 2008, their second single CHU-BURA was released and chosen as the 8th opening theme of the popular anime "Bleach." To date, it is KELUN's most famous single. Since the release, KELUN has become a popular band in Japan. In September, they released a new self-titled album with a whopping 17-song tracklist that included CHU-BURA and Sixteen Girl.
Though the band has been quiet since the end of 2008 and into 2009, a new release has recently been announced that has fans eagerly anticipating further details.
