Jrock: High and Mighty Color

by Whitney

Jrock bands: High and Mighty Color (HandMC) were part self-formed band, part bionic creation by a Sony mogul. They are no more, but their legacy and vast fanbase live on...

The JRock band High and Mighty Color (Often shortened to HandMC or HnmC; Shortened to "Haikara" in Japanese) consists of six members: Halca (lead vocal), Yuusuke (vocal, rapper), Kazuto (lead guitar), Meg (rhythm guitar), mACKAz (bass), Sassy (drums), and former lead vocalist, Maakii.

In 2000, Meg and Sassy, native Okinawans, who were a Metallica cover band at the time, decided to leave the band and invited Kazuto and mACKAz to join the band. Strangely, Yuusuke the vocalist was the last one to join the band, after a persistent effort on Meg's part to get him to join. Yuusuke continued to deny it because of his own hope to become a solo singer, but eventually joined. That was the beginning of Anti-Nobunaga. Although every major record label turned them down, they continued to play in coffee shops and small theatres.

During the summer of 2003, HandMC went to a Okinawan summer music festival and played for a sold out crowd. In that crowd was a scout from Sony Entertainment Japan who noticed the band and recognized their talent, offering them a spot on the various artist CD Okinawa 2003, which included their two only original songs under the name Anti-Nobunaga, Meaning and Hate You!. The same scout found vocalist Maakii at the Music Picnic Festival. He didn't think the projects on their own were that amazing, but he noticed that if they were to combine, they would produce something amazing. And they did. Maakii joined the band, and at that point the name was officially changed to HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.

Some of HandMC's best singles are "OVER", "PRIDE", "Tadoritsuku Basho/Oxalis", "Ichirin no Hana", and "Dreams".

In 2008, Maakii left the band due to marriage, and HALCA joined to replace her as the new lead vocalist. With HALCA in the band, they released one album and three digital singles. The album, Swamp Man, which was released in September 2009, included two of their digital singles, XYZ and good bye, and new content. Their final digital single, RED, was released in 2010.

Due to differences in musical style and aspirations for future projects, the band decided that on August 11, 2010, that they would break up with the release of their final single, Re:ache. The single would include three new songs and a live version of RED. The band had been around for ten good years, and it's definitely a depressing thing to hear for their rather large fan base, which I am a proud part of.

For more information, go to their official website, handmc.jp. You can try youtube for some good tunes, or you can download some albums at japanesemusicdream.wordpress.com. Always remember that the files posted on those sites are just for evaluation purposes only. Support the artists. :)

See more female-friendly music on Mookychick