Rocking with Plan-B

Plan-B, a trio featuring three former members of Johnny's Entertainment Group’s popular backup band FiVe, will be in Thailand next month and performing their first concert at trendy bar and restaurant Wine Happening on RCA.

The band, which has just released its first single “Kibou no Kuuron”, features vocalist and guitarist Rikiya Nakaegawa, bassist Ryota Uesato and drummer Koji Makino. The three quit the label at the end of 2011 along with keyboardist Ishigaki Daisuke, who was formerly with another Johnny’s Entertainment Group outfit called Question.

FiVe is best known for backing KinKi Kids, Arashi and Tackey & Tsubasa.

Drummer Makino, who started playing the broad range of Japanese percussion instruments known as taiko as a child, describes Plan-B’s sound as easy-listening rock

We are not the same as other Japanese rock bands. We want our songs to go straight to the hearts of those who listen to them,” adds Nakaegawa, who’s a fan of Extreme’s guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.

Since forming in 2012, Plan-B has toured extensively in Japan. Last year, the band released its first single, "Jan Ken Pon”, which they say was inspired by the age-old game of rock-paper-scissors. It went on to become the fourth best-selling single on the Oricon Daily Chart. Their second single “Maji in Magic” was released at the end of 2013 and this year, the band has released both “Kibou no Kuuron” and an album titled “Undonkon.”

“Everyone knows the rock-paper-scissors game and we still play it,” says Nakaegawa, “For the second single, I used the word ‘maji’ to go along with the magic that is love.”

Bassist Uesato disagrees. “Magic in love?” he laughs. “No, magic is about card tricks and bending a spoon,” as Makino adds, “ My magic is eating a bowl of ramen soup within a minute and following up with a lot of peppers.” 

“Our third single aims to give working people hope,” continues Nakaegawa, seeming unperturbed by his bandmates’ comments.

“We are musicians and that also makes us working people.”

The three were in Bangkok recently to attend a pre-concert press conference at Wine Happening and took the opportunity to play a few of their tracks, including “Ishuukan” (“One Week”).

“That song’s about a salary man,” says Uesato, who formed a band during his junior high school years and played songs by pop outfit The Yellow Monkey. 

“We got the idea while watching horse racing. ‘Ishu’ in Japanese and in the song means one round. It’s a play on words.”

The trio promoted their album “Undonkon” by riding bikes around several cities.

“Well, riding a bike is good for the health but the main reason is that we wanted to get up close and personal with our fans,” Nakaegawa says, adding that while rock and pop are still popular with Japanese fans, house music is also drawing the crowds.

“We’re looking forward to coming back to Thailand and perhaps even seeing our music in the stores here.”

 

Rock on

_ Plan-B will perform live at Wine Happening on December 16 at 6.30pm.

_ Tickets are Bt400 available at Facebook.com/PlanBLiveinBKK.com.