Shintaro Sakamoto, Brainstory

Pioneer Works is excited to team up with Elsewhere Presents to bring Japanese psych-legend Shintaro Sakamoto to the Pioneer Works Main Hall on October 23, 2024.

Shintaro Sakamoto is a Japanese musician, singer/songwriter, and producer. He was a founding member and the frontman for the underground Japanese psychedelic rock band Yura Yura Teikoku. After the band's breakup in 2010, Sakamoto began independently producing music, and has released four solo albums to date.

As a student at Tama Art University in 1989, Sakamoto formed Yura Yura Teikoku with his classmates, drummer Atsushi Yoshida and bassist Chiyo Kamekaw. The band released 21 albums from 1989 to 2010, and produced music with indie labels until 1997, before moving on to Sony & DFA. After reaching a high point in reputation and popularity in Japan, Yura Yura Teikoku disbanded on March 31, 2010.

Sakamoto began working on solo projects almost immediately after Yura Yura Teikoku's breakup, and released his first solo album, How to Live with a Phantom, in 2012. His new music revealed a significant departure from his former rock persona, and its "soft, groovy, mellow" sound drew him comparisons to Todd Rudgren.

To produce his second LP, Let’s Dance Raw (2014), Sakamoto collaborated with drummer Yuta Suganuma and bassist AyA of Japanese psych-rock band OOIOO. The album blended Sakamoto's work in psychedelic rock and funk with a variety of global influences. On his own use of steel guitar, Sakamoto said, "Without making it feel too Hawaiian, I wanted to incorporate the damp style of Japanese instruments. I wanted to feel the outskirts of a city." His fourth (and latest) solo album, Like A Fable, came out in 2022.