OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND

MARTIN who takes the lead vocal, plays the guitar, violin, and mandolin is a Scottish American from Florida. As he was brought up in a family with his parents both being musicians, he started to play the violin when he was three years old. He won the Grand Prix at a violin competition in Florida three years in a row when he was a junior high-school student. But then he was very much into playing the guitar in his junior-high and high school years, and that brought him to Japan when he was 19 years old. During the days as a guitarist, he first met a studio percussionist KAKUEI (plays the conga, bongos, steel drums, timbales, paticas, and so on). Immediately they became close friends as they found out that they had a mutual friend. They had enjoyed jam sessions at home since then. In 2004, at a gig, MARTIN met TOSHI-LOW who’d become another vocalist and the guitarist of OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND later.
OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND was formed from their relationship. MARTIN called KAKUEI to join, and TOSHI-LOW called MAKOTO (bass), RONZI (drums), and KOHKI (guitar) who were the remaining members of his own band BRAHMAN. The band was formed in June 2005, after a year when MARTIN and TOSHI-LOW first met.
One day TOSHI-LOW received an offer to put a track into an omnibus album celebrating the tenth anniversary of 7STARS, a graphic designers’ office in Tokyo; the album entitled “The Basement Tracks -10YEARS SOUNDTRACK OF 7STARS” (2005). The work on it was their first studio recording, and the band performed their first show in September, 2005. They released their first album “OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND” on July 12, 2006. After that album they participated in big summer rock festivals in Japan such as FUJIROCK FESTIVAL and ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL and in September they went on their first tour in Japan. They vigorously performed on several festivals after then.
メインヴォーカルとギター、ヴァイオリン、 さらにマンドリンを務めるMARTINはフロリダ出 身のスコットランド系アメリカ人。両親とも ミュージシャンという音楽一家の中で育ち、 齢３才でヴァイオリンを手にした。その腕前 は、中学生にしてフロリダのコンテストで３ 年連続グランプリを受賞したほどである。し かしその後、中学、高校時はギターに傾倒し 、そしてその腕前を買われて19才で単身来日㠀‚ギター奏者としての仕事を請け負う中、ス㠂¿ã‚¸ã‚ªãƒ»ãƒŸãƒ¥ãƒ¼ã‚¸ã‚·ãƒ£ãƒ³ã§ã‚るパーカッショ㠃³ã®KAKUEI（コンガ、ボンゴ、スティールドラ㠃 ã€ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒ³ãƒãƒ¬ã‚¹ã€ãƒ‘チカ他を操る）と出会㠁£ãŸã€‚共通の友人がいたことから急速に親し㠁ãªã£ãŸï¼’人は、自宅でのホーム・セッショ㠃³ã‚’æ¥½ã—ã‚“ã§ã„ãŸã¨ã„ã†ã€‚ãã‚“ãªä¸­ã€ï¼’ï¼ï¼ï ¼”年に某ライブ会場でOVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUNDのもう一人のヴォーカリストであり㠀ã‚®ã‚¿ãƒªã‚¹ãƒˆã§ã‚ã‚‹TOSHI-LOWとMARTINが出会う。
　OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUNDはその後の二人の交流をきっかけと㠁—て、MARTINがKAKUEIに声を掛け、TOSHI-LOWが自ら㠁®ãƒãƒ³ãƒ‰BRAHMANのメンバーであるMAKOTO (B)、RONZI (Dr)、KOHKI (G)に声を掛け、２人の出会いからおよそ１年 後の2005å¹´6月に結成された。
　そんなおり、デザインチーム７STARSの10å‘¨å¹ ´è¨˜å¿µã‚ªãƒ ãƒ‹ãƒã‚¹ã®è©±ãŒTOSHI-LOWの元に舞い込゠“だ。『The Basement Tracks -10YEARS SOUNDTRACK OF 7STARS』である。これを期にOVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUNDでの初レコーディングを果たした彼㠂‰ã¯ã€ï¼ï¼•å¹´ï¼™æœˆã«åˆãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ–ã‚’æŠ«éœ²ã€‚ï¼ï¼–å¹´ï ¼—月１２日にはついに記念すべき1ｓｔアルバ ム『OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND』をリリースした。ALBUMリリース後だ«ã¯ã€FUJIROCK FESTIVALã‚„ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVALã‚’ã¯ã˜ã‚æ¬¡ã€…ã¨å¤ã®ãƒ•ã‚§ã‚¹ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒãƒ«ã¸ç ™»å ´ã—、９月に全国ツアーを行うと、さらに㠁ã®å¾Œã‚‚数々のフェスティバルなどに出演し㠁¦ã„る。