Chiba Yusuke, frontman of garage rock band
The Birthday, will release a solo album this fall.
Chiba first rose to fame as the vocalist of the legendary punk band
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant and he has remained active in a variety of other groups throughout his twenty-one year career, but this will be his first solo venture. The project will be called
SNAKE ON THE BEACH, and a movie inspired by the album will also be released.
The movie, "Akai Kisetsu", will be directed by
Yoshino Tetsuhiko, who recently handled the planning for
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's
THEE MOVIE documentary. The plot will revolve around a hitman who attempts to leave his former life behind by working in a bike shop, only to have his peaceful new life begin to unravel. It will star
Arai Hirofumi. The movie will be screened for the first time at the Human Trust Cinema Shibuya on October 13th, with other theatres to be announced at a later date.
Chiba has also begun fronting a supergroup formed by director
Toyoda Toshiaki to record the theme for his latest movie, "I'M FLASH!." This is not the first collaboration between the two, as
Toyoda's 2002 cult film "Blue Spring" prominently featured
Thee Michelle Gun Elephant's music in its soundtrack.
The group's other members include drummer
Nakamura Tatsuya of
BLANKEY JET CITY, who has acted in two of
Toyoda's films,
dip guitarist
Yamaji Kazuhide and
RIZE bassist
KenKen, who recently played a part in
Toyoda's "Monsters Club." The group is called the
I'M FLASH! BAND, and it will release its debut album,
I'M FLASH on August 22.
The trailer for the movie "I'M FLASH!" can be found
here.
In addition to these new projects,
The Birthday are also set to release a new single. Titled
Sayonara Saishuuheiki, it is scheduled for release on June 13th. It will be followed by an album called
VISION on July 18th.
