Artists

くるり (Quruli)

Biography

At the start of their college careers at Ritsumei University, Kishida Shigeru, Sato Seizi and Mori Nobuyuki formed a band.

They opened for Guitar Wolf in 1997. They released their debut album while still seniors at the university in 1998.

But in the years since becoming Quruli, the young trio from Kyoto have made a career of producing critically-acclaimed music that also manages to do fairly well on the Japanese charts.

Quruli started out playing well-crafted alternative rock, scoring hits in 1998 with the singles "Tokyo" and "Niji".

As the band grew more confident in its songwriting skills, Quruli's sound expanded. The band's latest album, Team Rock, includes techno, psychedelia and even a bit of Southern Americana.

Quruli continue to tour extensively, performing at a number of summer festivals. In September 2001, the band added a new member, lead guitarist Omura Tasshin. Shortly after the release of Quruli's fourth album, The World Is Mine, Mori left the band, bringing it back to a trio.

When the Dismemberment Plan toured Japan, Quruli opened for them, a task the band repeated in the States in Fall 2002.

In late 2003, Quruli announced the addition of support drummer Christopher Maguire as a full-time member. The band also released its first soundtrack score for the film Joze to Tora to Sakanatachi.

Quruli released its fifth album, Antenna, in 2004 and embarked on a three-month nationwide tour. The band also performed at SXSW in Austin, Texas that year.

In 2005, Maguire left the band, bringing Quruli back down to a trio.

Members

Kishida Shigeru: Vocal, guitar
Sato Seiji: Bass
Omura Tasshin: Guitar