MONKEY MAJIK's Member Profiles

Monkey Majik (typeset as MONKEY MAJIK) is a Japanese pop-rock band formed in 2000, consisting of two Canadian brothers (Maynard and Blaise Plant) and two Japanese members (Tax and Dick). The band is sometimes referred to as a "hybrid-band", as two members are Canadian and the other two Japanese, and the lyrics are sung in both English and Japanese.

MAYNARD PLANT

Maynard Plant (born August 6, 1975 from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Vocals and guitar. Monkey Majik Founder. Graduated from Queen's University. Fluent in English, French, and Japanese, also able to speak in the nanbu dialect (なんぶべん). While living in Canada Maynard wrote songs as a hobby, but only performed privately. Moved to Japan to work as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). Initially formed Monkey Majik in 2000 with Thomas Pritchard, Chad Ivany, and Misao Urushizaka. When Pritchard and Ivany quit the band, Maynard decided to invite his younger brother to join the band. He has high respects for Godiego, the band whose song "Monkey Magic" became the inspiration for the band's name, and even goes so far as to refer to them as "gods". Other Japanese musicians which he mentions in high regard include UA, Oda Kazumaza, and Spitz. Maynard's solo project blanc., which started as far back as 2003, has gained recognition across Asia. blanc.'s collaborations with freeTEMPO and other Japanese underground artists have given him particular recognition in Korea and China. His father is also a professional musician who has played with Paul Anka.

BLAISE PLANT

Blaise Plant (born March 18, 1980 from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Vocals and guitar. Maynard's younger brother whose full name is Blaise Joseph Anthony Plant. Fluent in English, French, and Japanese. Plays on a local ice hockey team in Sendai. He was active as a singer songwriter since he was in high school performing at clubs. While in Canada he studied at The University of Lethbridge and was a solo musician, while also pursuing an acting career. Blaise continued the band with Maynard in 2001 where they released their first EP Tired. In 2007 he began his own label, daydream PRODUCTIONS,and started his official blog. On March 3, 2008 he launched his solo project "The Alphabet Project" where every song released hit Number 1 on the Syncl Download chart. Singing in English, Japanese, and French, "The Alphabet Project" has built a reputation across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Blaise will be releasing his first full album "Painting Music" sometime this fall, and is currently working on a film, which he will be directing.

TAX

tax (Takuya Kikuchi, 菊池拓哉) (born August 31, 1975 from Sendai, Miyagi, Japan): drums. tax partakes in the majority of songwriting. He had worked as a dental technicianfor five years, after which he switched to becoming a salaryman. He was introduced to Maynard and Blaise through a friend. Before becoming Monkey Majik's full-time drummer his drumming experience only consisted of two years spent drumming during junior high school.

DICK

DICK (born March 10, 1978 from Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan): bass. Has previously been part of a funk soul band called Soul Addiction under the name Hideki Dick Mori. Also was a member of a jazz band called Private Kitchen. The 3 members invited DICK, who had become a well-known bassist in Sendai, out to a bar in Kokubun Cho "The Party District of Sendai" and forced him to drink until he agreed to join Monkey Majik. Joined the band to switch in with Urushizaka with the release of the band's second indie album "eastview".

credit : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Majik

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