ムック (MUCC) is a japanese rock band formed in Ibaraki, Japan in 1997. The band has four members: 逹瑯 (Tatsurou Iwakami, vocals), ミヤ (Masaaki Yaguchi, guitar), YUKKE (Yusuke Fukuno, bass) and SATOち (Satochi Takayasu, drums). In 1997, ex-member Hiro was the bassist, replaced by YUKKE in 1999. The band’s name, decided upon by guitarist ミヤ, was originally the name of a character from the Japanese children’s program "Ponkickies." The band is also known as “six-nine” from a play on words, since six-nine can be pronounced “muku” (六九) in Japanese. June 9th (6/9) is also known as "MUCC day" by their fans. In 2000 the band had their first interview in the monthly publication FOOL’S MATE, issue 221. TATTOO (on vocals) changed his name to Tatsurou and the band’s name MUCC was changed to ムック (pronounced MUKKU). On 6/9 ("MUCC day") they released their first CD single “娼婦/廃” (Shoufu/Hai) and a second press of their album “アンティーク” (Antiiku). They went on their first tour in Europe in 2005 after they had been signed by the French label Soundlicious, which released their full albums. They mainly performed in France and Germany. In 2006 they were contacted by the German label GAN-SHIN and started a new tour in Germany. In August of 2006 they performed at Ram's Head Live for Otakon, their first United States performance. Their biggest European tour was in spring 2007 when they released their album "極彩" (Gokusai). They visited the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, France, Switzerland and Germany. Their concerts in Germany were a coupled tour with the band BALZAC. In May they performed in the United States for the second time during the J-rock Revolution Festival. In 2008 their album "志恩" (Shion) was released, not only in Japan but also Europe and the United States as well. The band performed on the touring festival "ROCKSTAR Taste of Chaos 2008" in the United States from March through April, headlined by Atreyu and other bands. In June they performed at the hardrock festival Sweden Rock Festival 2008. In late July through October 2008 they continued the "ROCKSTAR Taste of Chaos 2008" tour in Europe. "ROCKSTAR Taste of Chaos 2008 International" was originally limited to the United Kingdom with a different lineup than the United States tour. However, shows were extended to Scandinavia, Netherlands and Germany upon the fans' wishes. In August 2008 they worked together with Ken from L'arc~en~Ciel. Ken produced their single "アゲハ" (Ageha) which was released on August 27th, 2008 in Japan and digitally for overseas fans. On January 28th, 2009 they released a new single "空と糸" (Sora to ito) together with Ken from L'arc~en~Ciel. On March 4th, 2009 their 9th album "球体" (Kyuutai) was released and was followed by a national and world wide tour including Europe, USA and South America in late 2009. In 2010 they released the Singles "Yakusoku" and "Falling down" accompanied by a Japan tour and followed by their full album "Karma" which came along with the "CHEMICAL PARADE" tour at the end of 2010 and a European "CHEMICAL PARADE" tour in Europe in January 2011 and some Asian dates in May. In the following time they released the singles "Arcadia" which also featured DAISHI DANCE and Nirvana before their 15th Anniversary concert named “-MUCC 15th Anniversary year Live- MUCC vs ムック vs MUCC” at Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall1-3 and their short "-MUCC 15th Anniversary year Live(s) – “97-12″ tour. They participated in a tour called "J-ROCK EVOLUTION" together with girugamesh, alice nine, D=OUT and more for an Asian tour and announced a new single called "MOTHER" and a new album called "Shangri-la" for the end of 2012. MUCC has played over 650gigs worldwide so far. Recently in May 2011, the band achieved Nippon Budokan concert 2days in a row with 15,000 audiences in total. They’ve also performed in more than 100 events abroad and make frequent visits to Europe and Asia for one-man shows. The band is now well known and very popular for their overwhelming live performances and the unique emotional expressions around the world. And for such reasons, MUCC is often invited to perform opening acts when overseas artists like GUNS N’ ROSES and Smashing Pumpkins come on tour in Japan. Loud rock, folk, ballads and electro and so on… Recently MUCC is seeking much attention for the new challenges of the musical diversity with other genres such as electro. Yet their musical principle of lyricism and nostalgia are still recognised as their solid characteristic through its process. Miya plays DJ sets as his another project and Tatsuro has been a radio DJ over 2years, which explains that MUCC also plays an active role beyond their musical performances as a rockband. Although MUCC is categorised as Visual-kei, this band is very conspicuous and has an extraordinary figure in Japanese music industry. Official homepage: http://www.55-69.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.