Fade (band)

History

The band that would become Fade started in 1991 as an instrumental project founded by drummer Rui Watanabe and guitarist Kansei Miyagi, who were classmates at a Japanese secondary school in New York City. After cycling through several bassists, Noriyuki Hashimoto joined the lineup in 1994. In 1999, the core members moved to Tokyo to start a new group, where they met guitarist Shingo Terasawa—known by the alias 5°, pronounced Godo—who signed on as the second guitarist.

Vocalist Jon Underdown, then an exchange student from Seattle, Washington, joined in 2001, completing the lineup. The band officially adopted the name Fade in 2002. Underdown, Watanabe, and Miyagi were all born in the United States, but only Underdown lacks Japanese heritage; Hashimoto and Godo were born in Japan.

Under the Sun and To Find A Better Tomorrow (2005–2008)

Their first release, a self-titled mini-album, came out nationwide in Japan in 2003 and reached number three on the Japan Countdown chart. In 2005, collaborating with Markku Lappalainen, Erik Gregory, and Jason C. Miller, they put out a second mini-album, A Moment of Truth. Its third track, “Beautiful,” appeared in Shunji Iwai’s 2006 film Rainbow Song. A third mini-album, Under the Sun, arrived soon after. The fourth mini-album, To Find A Better Tomorrow, produced with Ted Jensen, was released in 2008 and hit ninth place on USEN Japan’s Western Music chart; its sixth song, “Slitting Regret,” features guest vocals from Toyo of the industrial metal band Newbreed.

Age of Innocence and Kings of Dawn (2009–2011)

In 2009, Fade issued their first full-length studio album, Age of Innocence, which included tracks used in ABC-Mart marketing campaigns and the video game series Drum Mania and Guitar Freaks. Two singles, “One Reason” and “Cosmicalism,” came out in April 2011. “One Reason,” featuring Deadman Wonder Band, served as the opening theme for the anime Deadman Wonderland, and a limited edition included a bonus DVD of the show. The single ranked fourth on the Independent Label music chart.