NATSUMEN
AxSxEx
AIN
Masashi Yamamoto
Tatsuhisa Yamamoto
Yuichiro Kato
Kenji Kakizawa
Takasada Inada
Takuji Nomura
NATSUMEN are an 8 member instrumental self described "Progressive HardCore JAZZ Aggressive Improvisation ROCK band." As a frame of reference, take the best elements of Fishbone, the Mars Volta, Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis then inject the essence of summer with its brighness, warmth and energy and you'll have the blueprint for something very close to NATSUMEN'S brilliant and unique musical style.
Two key founding members of NATSUMEN, AxSxEx and AIN, were originally in the legendary funk, soul, thrash, experimental yet unabashedly pop band: BOaT
BOaT's music became progressively more experimental and instrumental oriented. Their final album "Roro" would lay the musical foundation for what would eventually develop into NATSUMEN. One of the album's songs "Akiramujina" continues to be played by NATSUMEN although now renamed "Natsu no Mujina." And the track "Roots of Summer" is perfectly fitting since the English translation of NATSUMEN is "summer men" and almost everything NATSUMEN does carries the theme of summer.
When BOaT disbanded AxSxEx and AIN assembled some of the best musicians in Tokyo to form NATSUMEN who are now one of the greatest and most respected bands in Japan's indie/underground music scene.