ORANGE RANGE originated in a small island called Okinawa in Japan. Kitao Kazuhito (Katchan) and Hiroyama Naoto, both, created and started the band.
Originally, the band consisted of just Katchan, Naoto, Yoh, and Hiroki as the only MC in the group. Later, Yoh's younger brother, Miyamori Ryo, decided to join the band as a low vox. Finally, after paying a small fee and watching them perform, Ganeko Yamato joined the group as a high vox.
Before signing a contract with Spice Records, ORANGE RANGE performed in small clubs and houses as a indie band. Their music style reflected off the multi-cultural island of Okinawa, which consisted of several American bases, which let them play a wide range of music of any genre from Hip-hop to Rock to Pop. Eventually, Spice Music Records discovered ORANGE RANGE and released their first indie album, "Orange Ball" with a single of "Michishirube".
Years later, Sony Music picked up ORANGE RANGE and later they got their first, official release of "Kirikirimai" and later, "Shanghai Honey". Their newly released singles hit the music charts throughout Japan, giving a boost to their popularity.
Anime, dramas, Movies, and Commercial companies started to use ORANGE RANGE to their advantage as their singles started to raise in the Oricon charts. The well known American movie, Fantastic Four used Orange Range's song, "Kirikirimai" in their movie. Making their first overseas movie appearance."Viva Rock" became the third official ending theme to a popular anime called, "Naruto". Daiichi Kosho Mero Dam also used ORANGE RANGE'S "Rakuyo" track to be featured in the CM. Fire Boys featured ORANGE RANGE's "Michishirube ~A Road Home~" gave the single a number one spot on the Oricon charts. It was their first single to hit number one.
After ORANGE RANGE released their first album, 1st CONTACT, it was able to sit at the number two spots on the charts and became the fifth highest selling album in the year, 2004.
ORANGE RANGE's eigth single, Hana, was their best single ever sold in Japan that dominated the number one spot for over 50 weeks. It sold over 999,000 copies throughout Japan and was featured in the award winning movie, Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu. This began the height of their popularity. Musiq, their second album, was able to hit the number one spot with a winning award of Best Artist of the Year for 2005.
Kazuhito Kitao, the main founding member of the band, left in mid 2005. Katchan was experiencing difficulty in drumming due to tendonitis in his pinkie finger that worsened over time. However, the other reason why he left was because the band, itself, was moving away from it's main genre of "Rock" and moving to "hip-hop". For a couple of months it devistated the band members which also gave a huge impact to his fans. This marked ORANGE RANGE's new beginnings.
