Friends (Japanese band)
History. The band's activities began in 2015 when Hirose Hirose, a member of the band Nicoten, decided to hold a live performance to celebrate his 25th birthday. He wanted to form a band with a female lead vocalist for the occasion, and decided to collaborate with musician Emi Okamoto, who at the time was a member of the band The Love Ningen and someone whom he had collaborated with previously. Needing a bassist, Hirose invited a friend, Ryōhei Nagashima of the band The Telephones, to join the band; Nagashima in turn invited Louie Sakaguchi to serve  as the band's drummer. The band debuted on June 8, 2015 as a highlight of Hirose's birthday live. The band's name came after Okamoto saw a bar named Philippine Pub Friends and sent photos of it to the other band members, who decided that the word Friends would make a good band name. In 2016, Tarō Miura, formerly of the band Holidays of Seventeen, joined Friends. Many of the band's early releases were only released at their live performances or by mail order, although their first mini-album "Show-Time" sold over 3,000 copies. Their first  full album was released on April 5, 2017. Their next release was the mini-album on November 22, 2017. This was followed by the extended play on March 21, 2018. They released their second album on August 1, 2018. The band released the single on June 26, 2019; "Tanoshimou" was used as the theme song to the film "Bento Harassment", while "I o You" was used as the ending theme to the television drama "What Did You Eat Yesterday?". In December 2020, it was announced that Hirose would suspend activities with the band and would not appear in their upcoming  performances; he would ultimately leave the band in April 2021 after his contract was canceled over unspecified issues. The band released the single on March 17, 2021; the title song was used as the ending theme to the anime television series "Horimiya". They released their third album "Solar" on August 4, 2021.