Birds of Tokyo

Birds of Tokyo formed in 2004 from a collaboration between members of the Perth bands Tragic Delicate and Karnivool, from which Ian Kenny came. The group formed after guitarist Adam Spark asked Kenny to sing on a handful of commercial demos.^[2] The pair were happy with the results and decided to form a band to release the songs themselves. They took their name from an article one member had read about the absence of birds in Tokyo's high-density central business district due to pollution and overcrowding. "We thought that was interesting, no birds in Tokyo – we thought, we'll be the birds of Tokyo", he says.^[3][2]

In January 2005, Birds of Tokyo released their debut EP, Birds of Tokyo. In October 2005, they issued the double A side single "One Way/Stay".^[2] It was recorded in Melbourne with producer Forrester Savell (Helmet, Full Scale, Karnivool).

2006 saw the band playing shows across Western Australia on a three-week tour in January, before returning to Melbourne to finish working on their first album, Day One. The record was released on 3 February 2007 and debuted at No. 88 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 3 on the AIR albums chart.^{[citation needed]}

Directly following the release, the band launched their Day One tour, playing in five capital cities around Australia. They also performed in the Perth leg of the 2007 Big Day Out^[4] and the Blackjack 2007 (the relocated Rock It festival).^[5]

Birds of Tokyo were nominated for two awards in the 2007 AIR Awards for Best Performing Independent Album^[6] and Most Outstanding New Independent Artist.^[7] The song "Wayside" was voted in at No. 61 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2007.^[8]

They were also recognized in Rolling Stone magazine as Artists to Watch in 2007.^[9]

Birds of Tokyo recorded their second album, Universes, in Margaret River, Western Australia, and it was mixed in Los Angeles by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, Porcupine Tree). The debut single, "Silhouettic", was released as a free download on 14 April 2008. The record came out on 5 July 2008 and debuted at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart^[10] and at No. 1 on the AIR albums chart.^[11]

The songs "Broken Bones", "Silhouettic", and "Wild Eyed Boy" were voted in at No. 20, No. 22 and No. 51, respectively, in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2008.^[12]

The band subsequently played at the Big Day Out in 2009.^[13] Later that year, they embarked on the Broken Strings tour, which featured acoustic interpretations of a selection of their work, accompanied by a string quartet and grand piano and arranged by producer Anthony Cormican. They were supported by Glenn Richards, lead singer of Augie March. A CD and DVD featuring recordings from the tour was available to preorder at the shows and was released in early 2010 as The Broken Strings Tour. Birds of Tokyo were nominated for the 2009 Channel V Oz Artist of the Year.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2010, the band returned to the studio to work on their eponymous third album. In March 2010 the band released the single "The Saddest Thing I Know" and announced an Australian tour by the same name. They toured with the New Zealand-based band Midnight Youth. The second single "Plans" was premiered on Sunday 20 June. The album was released on 23 July 2010. They toured with Silversun Pickups in September and October 2010. Birds of Tokyo received six 2010 ARIA Music Awards nominations.^[14] "Wild at Heart" was the album's third single. "Plans" was voted at No. 4 in the Hottest 100 of 2010, while "Wild at Heart" and "The Saddest Thing I Know" also appeared at No. 47 and No. 87, respectively. The band also played at the Big Day Out in 2011 for their third time.

In March 2011, the band announced via their Facebook page that bass player Anthony Jackson was leaving the band. Ian Berney from Sugar Army later filled the position.^[15][16]

In April 2011, they played alongside Art vs Science, The Jezabels and local Joshy Willo at the Triple J One Night Stand at Tumby Bay, South Australia.

The band were nominated in five different categories at the 2011 West Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMi), including Most Popular Act, Most Popular Album, Best Male Vocalist, Best Instrumentalist and Best Bassist.^[17] The band won for Most Popular Album and Best Instrumentalist.

In late April/early May 2011, Birds of Tokyo played at the annual Groovin' the Moo music festival alongside other Australian artists like Gotye, Washington, Art vs Science and Architecture in Helsinki.^[18]

The band toured through September and October 2011, their final national tour for the year. The tour was called the Closer Tour due to the fact that they opted to play smaller venues than they had played prior.

During an interview on Radar, Adam revealed that the band would be heading back into the studio to record their new album over the summer.^[19]

On 1 February 2012, the band announced that they had finished writing their new album and would start recording the week after.^[20] Creating the new album was a journey of "exploration and reinvention" for Birds of Tokyo, telling the story of burning down the old and coming together to build something new. In October 2012, the band released an EP titled This Fire, which featured two songs ("This Fire" and "Boy") from the album. On 14 January 2013, "Lanterns" was released as a single, with its video coming out on 8 February. After being available for preorder on iTunes for 3 months, March Fires was released on 1 March 2013.

Led by the first two singles, March Fires debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's first No. 1 record. The album was certified gold within four weeks of release and the triple platinum single "Lanterns" was the most played song on Australia radio in the first six months of 2013. "When the Night Falls Quiet" was later released as a single, with its video coming out on 22 April.

Birds of Tokyo completed a sell-out tour of Australia to accompany the release and received positive reviews for shows across their March Fires album tour. They also performed at the 2013 AFL Grand Final, Splendour in the Grass 2013 and were announced as the sole support for Muse on their national Australian tour across November and December.

On 24 April 2015, the group released their third EP, Anchor. The EP was supported by a national tour and the release of a single of the same name. The music video for that song was released the following month. Birds of Tokyo subsequently debuted a new song, "I'd Go with You Anywhere", confirming the release of a compilation album, Playlist, which was released in November 2015 and peaked at number 4. The group released their fifth studio album Brace in November 2016. The album peaked at number 3 on the ARIA charts.

In September 2018, Birds of Tokyo released "Unbreakable". The song was chosen as the theme for the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney. Birds of Tokyo performed the track at the official Closing Ceremony on 27 October at Sydney Super Dome.^[21] In February 2019, Birds of Tokyo released "Good Lord" which peaked at number 19 on the ARIA charts. This was followed by the singles "The Greatest Mistakes" and "Two of Us".

In February 2020, AFL team West Coast Eagles revealed a revamped official club song, which was produced by bass player Ian Berney and sung by vocalist Ian Kenny.^[22]

In February 2020, the band announced the forthcoming release of their sixth studio album, Human Design, released in April 2020.^[23] The album debuted at number 1 on the ARIA charts, becoming the band's second chart topper. That November, the band released a stand-alone single entitled "Weekend".^[24]

On 17 September 2021 the band released "Superglue" with Stand Atlantic. The song was described as the "first taste of a new batch of tunes" the band have spent the past year working on.^[25]

For the second time, Birds of Tokyo performed at the AFL Grand Final. At the 2021 Grand Final half-time show, they played "Lanterns", a cover of Silverchair's "Straight Lines", and the song "Unbreakable", which was dedicated to hospital workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 18 March 2022, the bands released "Smith Street", which was written in the depths of the 2021 Victorian and NSW COVID-19 lockdowns and is an ode to the street in Melbourne's north of the same name.^[26]

On 18 November 2022, the band released "Daylight".^[27] The band performed a run of shows with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in September 2023.^[2] In November 2023, the band released the single "Lion".^[28]

Current

• Ian Kenny – lead vocals (2004–present)
• Adam Spark – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (2004–present)
• Adam Weston – drums, percussion (2004–present)
• Ian Berney – bass (2011–present)
• Glenn Sarangapany – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (2011–present)

Past

• Anthony Jackson – bass (2004–2011)

• Day One (2007)
• Universes (2008)
• Birds of Tokyo (2010)
• March Fires (2013)
• Brace (2016)
• Human Design (2020)

The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".^[32]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.^[55]

The West Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMIs) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on annually by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM).^[56][57][58]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Birds of Tokyo (band).

• Official website