ARTISTE PROFILE

HY

HIDEYUKI SHINZATO（Vo&Gt） 1983.4.12
SHUN NAKA（Dr） 1983.5.10
SHINSUKE KYODA （Ba） 1983.7.17
IZUMI NAKASONE （Key&Vo） 1983.11.1 (*Izumi Nakasone will not be able to join this concert in Singapore due to her pregnancy. )
YUHEI MIYAZATO （Gt） 1984.1.2

HY was formed in 2000 and hails from the city of Uruma located in Okinawa prefecture. The group name, HY, comes from the initials of the neighborhood they grew up in, Higashi Yakena. Members of the band continue to live in Okinawa, and from there share their music with all of Japan and the rest of the world.

They released their first album, Departure, in 2001. Their second album, Street Story, released in 2003, was a great success. It was the first to debut and stay at the top of the Oricon charts as an indies artist record for four consecutive weeks and went on to become a million seller. Since then they have released 13 albums, selling a total of six million records. They have become hit-producing artists, and one of their traits is that they do not release singles, only albums.

The most alluring aspect of HY is their live performances. To date, they have undertaken three live tours visiting all 47 prefectures in Japan as well as a nationwide arena tour. In 2007, they toured overseas for the first time, visiting seven major cities in Canada and the U.S., including NY and LA, as well as the state of Texas. In NY they played a collaborative concert together with human beatbox king Doug E Fresh. In 2009, as they approached their 10^th anniversary, the packed in 20,000 fans for a live street performance in their native Okinawa, establishing themselves as a top live performance band in Japan. In 2015, they added Taiwan to their nationwide tour as their activities continue to generate worldwide interest.

Another point to note is that in December of 2011, HY organized and sponsored its first culture/arts event, SKY Fes 2011. The festival combines music, art, and traditional performing arts under the concept of connecting the hopes, dreams, and imaginations of children through the SKY, something which represents the true feelings of the band. Additionally, they implemented the HeartY Village project, an outdoor workshop which suggests new ways of having fun with music.

Media appearances

In 2010, the band appeared for the first time on NHK’s year-end song festival show, Kohaku Uta Gassen.

Their song Ichiban Chikaku Ni was chosen as the theme song for the NHK television drama series Jun to Ai, which started in October of 2012, and another of their songs, Futari De Iko, was also featured as background music for the series.

In 2012, they also appeared for the second time on NHK’s Kohaku Uta Gassen (Year-end Song Festival).

More LOCAL, More GLOBAL.

HY is active not only in Japan but increasingly overseas as well. In February 2018 they will hold performances in Peru and Brazil, and a performance in Singapore in March has also been confirmed!! With Okinawa as its base, the band is working to bring the Okinawa Rock Sound, a mix of J-POP and various other genres, to the rest of the world.