Biography

STEREOPONY is a Japanese all-girl rock band that formed in Okinawa in 2007, consisting of AIMI (Vocal/Guitar), NOHANA (Bass), and SHIHO (Drums). The band gained their first opportunity on the Japanese rock radio program SCHOOL OF LOCK!!.

Their debut single “Hitohira No Hanabira,” released on November 5, 2008, was the 17th ending theme for the famous anime series Bleach and ranked #25 on the Oricon Weekly Charts. Their second single “Namida No Mukou” was the second opening theme for the second season of the Sunrise series Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and it ranked #2 in the Oricon charts.

In March 2009, the girls performed at SXSW 2009 in Austin, Texas, and received a thunderous ovation.

Their third single “I do it,” released on April 22, 2009, is a collaboration with fellow Sony Music Entertainment Japan singer YUI. Their debut studio album Hydrangea ga Saiteiru was released on June 17, 2009 and ranked #7 on the Oricon weekly charts. The song “Seishun ni, Sono Namida ga Hitsuyou da!” from the album was featured in a Japanese Lipton Iced Tea television commercial. Shortly after, the band went on their first tour, A hydrangea blooms. Along with the tour goods, there were 50 signed score band books in each venue for purchase.

In August 2009, Stereopony released their fourth single “Smilife.” “Smilife” was used as the theme song for the 2009 anime film Yatterman: Shin Yatter Mecha Daishūgō! Omocha no Kuni de Daikessen da Koron!. Their fifth single “Tsukiakari no Michishirube” was also released with a tie-in with the second season of hit anime series Darker than Black: Ryūsei no Gemini; it ranked #8 on Oricon. Stereopony released the DVD 1st Tour: A hydrangea blooms 2009 on December 16, 2009. Stereopony’s seventh single, “Over Drive”, was released on May 12, 2010 and was used for the opening theme for the Japanese drama Pro Golfer Hana.

After releasing four singles, in June 2010 the girls released their much anticipated second studio album OVER THE BORDER and returned to the United States to perform at AnimeNEXT. It would be the first time for the band to perform at an anime convention in the United States. Their eighth single “Chisana Mahou,” the opening theme of anime series Letter Bee: REVERSE, was released on December 8, 2010.

Stereopony performed at Anime Boston 2011 as special guests at the Hynes Convention Center on April 23, 2011. They played a wide selection of songs from both albums and their latest single, as well as a cover of Green Day’s “American Idiot.” Shortly after returning from their appearance at Anime Boston, the group announced they would be providing the theme song to the 2011 film Tengoku kara no Yell (天国からのエール).

Stereopony collaborated with the band Kariyushi58 to produce the single “Tatoeba Utaenakunattara” (たとえば唄えなくなったら) released on August 10, 2011. Stereopony contributed the song “Akashi” (証) on the Zone tribute album Zone Tribute: Kima ga Kureta Mono (ZONEトリビュート～君がくれたもの～) released on August 10, 2011; “Akashi” is a cover of Zone’s 2002 single. On July 16, 2011 Aimi officially started an Ameblo blog. The band’s tenth single, “Arigatō” (ありがとう?), will be released on September 28, 2011. The music video for “Arigatō”, released on September 1, 2011, features film actor Abe Hiroshi; he also will be on the cover of the version B release of the single. Stereopony released their third studio album More! More!! More!!! on December 7, 2011.

Stereopony released two DVD’s at the beginning of 2012. Stereopony to Moushimasu: Miseinen-hen was released on January 25, 2012, and Stereopony to Moushimasu: Seijin-hen was released on February 1, 2012. In April 2012 Stereopony performed at Sakura-Con 2012 in Seattle, Washington and went on a U.S. Tour in California. Their 11th single “stand by me” was released on May 30, 2012.

AIMI

Guitar / Vocals

Full Name: Haraguni Aimi (原国愛海)
Hometown: Naha, Okinawa
Birthday: Sept. 4, 1990
Height: 148 cm
Favorite Food: omelette rice, pine, mozuku
Disliked Food: none
Hobbies: reading manga
Favorite Animal: cat
You want to do: sky diving
Favorite artist: YUI
Guitar: Fender 60′s Telecaster Candy Apple Red

NOHANA

Bass

Full Name: Kitajima Nohana (北島乃花)
Hometown: Shimabara, Nagasaki
Birthday: Sept. 16, 1989
Height: 158 cm
Favorite Food: meat, rice, noodles, sweets
Disliked Food: seafood, mushrooms
Hobbies: collecting Marimokkori
Favorite Animal: rabbit
You want to do: live at Budokan!
Favorite artist: Namie Amuro
Guitar: Fender Deluxe Active P Bass Black

SHIHO

Drums

Full Name: Yamanoha Shiho (山入端志帆)
Hometown: Naha, Okinawa
Birthday: Oct. 18, 1990
Height: 158 cm
Favorite Food: coffee
Disliked Food: peppers
Hobbies: cuisine
Favorite Animal: iguana
You want to do: snowball fight!
Favorite artist: Maximum