Plastic Tree (JP)

Plastic Tree is an alternative rock band from Chiba, Japan that was formed in December 1993 by Arimura Ryutaro and Hasegawa Tadashi. Since then, the line-up has changed a few times before settling on Ryutaro on vocals, Tadashi on bass, Nakayama Akira on guitar and Satou Kenken on drums. Tadashi is the leader but most decisions are made as a group.

Ryutaro and Tadashi wanted to combine two words to form the band name; something artificial and something natural. After trying a few combinations, they decided on ‘Plastic Tree’. Formerly, there were rumours floating around the web about the band’s name coming from Fake Plastic Trees but this was always disputed due to timing inconsistencies.

In the beginning, Plastic Tree were influenced greatly by The Cure. There was also a large britrock influence. Plastic Tree played a mix of indie rock, punk, and heavier grunge, characterized by Ryutaro’s generic Visual Kei voice and gloomy lyrics. They went through a period where they played more pop-rock and radio-style rock music, although they have recently returned from lighter music to their original roots.