You’ve heard of visual-kei, and you’ve heard of “air guitar.” What about the combination of both, and more?
ゴールデンボンバー (Golden Bomber) is one such band. They dress up in mild visual style and perform as a rock band. Except that they do not play instruments. Apparently, as they revealed on a program recently, none of them can play any instruments. Well, probably at least not those who play the role of instrumentalists in the band.
While they make millions of dollars now that they are so famous, 3 of the 4 members practically do nothing and only get to hear their new songs AFTER their singles are released. Which means, at the same time as the public. Why this is so is because, they really don’t have to do anything since they don’t play instruments, which takes away the need to practice. The only member who actually does something is the vocalist who writes both the lyrics and melody, and does the recording all by himself. Put simply, he can pretty much go solo as a singer-songwriter. And as the host of しゃべくり007 (Shabekuri 7) would say, the rest of the members are pretty much dispensable. But I guess probably not the drummer since he is one of the most recognizable faces in the band.
When the recording is done, and the CD released, the vocalist hands it to the rest of the band members. And only then, do they come together to discuss how they want to perform it, or in other words, choreography.
I’ve seen their performances on TV a number of times and wonder why they’re called an air band because they spend more time dancing than pretending to play instruments. If you have an answer, let me know.
