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Blog 04: Introduction to Buck-Tick


Who is Buck-Tick?

Since I'll probably be writing a lot about Buck-Tick here, I thought I should at least introduce who the band is.

Buck-Tick is a Japanese band that emerged from a group of high school friends in Fujioka, Gunma. The lineup has stayed the same throughout their entire career (except for a few minor changes with Araki when they first formed) with Toll Yagami; Anii (often being called "big brother" by the other members since he's U-ta's older brother and older than the rest of the members) on drums, Yutaka Higuchi; U-ta on bass, Hisashi Imai on lead guitar, Hidehiko Hoshino; Hide on rhythm guitar, and Atsushi Sakurai; Acchan on vocals. The members naturally have all sorts of nicknames, but these are the ones they're generally referred to with.

The band quickly grew in popularity as soon as they started putting themselves out there. They've made an effort to never really stick to any musical labels (goth, rock, electronic, etc.) and always be making new and different kinds of music all while still sticking out from other bands. They've dabbled in all sorts of genres and approaches to music throughout their career with Imai being their main composer and Hide writing about 1/3 of the songs Imai does. Atsushi is their main lyricist as well as a sort of "creative reference," dare I say. Both Imai and Atsushi have a lot of fine artists they adore, but Imai takes a more modern approach to the arts while Atsushi is very traditional. This is actually why he's my favorite bandmember at the moment. They started off writing youthful, energetic music without a clear direction—but still growing popular do to the immense passion and work they put into their music—but over time, grew into extremely skilled musicians credited with having beautiful ballads of all sorts; Atsushi has worked very hard to make sure his lyrics are packed tight with philosophy and politics, while Imai works on his side to bring all sorts of experimental and individualistic melodies to the table. The two both appreciate all sorts of fine artists, but like I said earlier—Imai is kind of in his own world at all times. Their differences lead to exquisite music and the performance and input of the other members just perfects everything. The experience everyone has to offer just completes the puzzle.

What are the members like?

Since I'm on the topic of introducing the members, I think this would be a perfect chance to get to talk about Atsushi (who is currently my favorite artst). I love Atsushi for just how big of a nerd he is. Imai is more notable for his love of everything weird, unique, and strange—ex: his favorite fine artist almost always alligning with surrealism—but Mr. Sakurai is notable for the extensive research he's done on his passions. I can relate to Atsushi a lot more than a lot of other artists out there. He's a huge goth and the crappy experiences and revelations he's gone through have heavily contributed to his overral "nihilistic" view on the world. However, on the flip side, he takes a very absurdist appraoch by putting a positve spin on a lot of things. Anyway, he's sort of a sucker for anything existential. He loves dark things, the fine arts, philosophy, etc. He's also always been a very political man, but that's less for a love of politics and more for just being extremely passionate when it comes to what he thinks is right and wrong—and I agree with just about everything has to say about it. Some of his favorite artists include Gustav Klimt, Salvador Dali, David Bowie, Bauhaus, Osamu Dazai, etc. Atsushi was an utterly extraordinary writer, extremely knowledgeable, and known for his amazing voice. (Trust me, this wasn't a natural talent. He worked crazy hard to keep his voice good. He would refrain from drinking at times for his voice, do excersizes for his abdomin before concerts, hired a vocal coach and was told "not to sing for fun," and strongly refused when Toll suggested he play the drums in a gig for fun; claiming "I don't do that anymore.") Unfortunately, Atsushi did pass away last year on the 19th of October, 2023. I only found out about him after seeing a couple tribute posts. I thought I should mention this since, well, people kind of get super upset when they read about a really cool artist and find out that they've left this world. I thought I would say it now instead of leaving people in the dark, only to get dissapoined later.

Buck-Tick is, however, still making music. They've said that instead of crying about it, they're going to try to stay positive and utilize the lack of a vocalist to do more sorts of things in their music. For now, all we can do is appreciate what he left us and support the band going forward. I do hope he got all of his questions about mortality answered and is, if there is an afterlife, living joyously with his loved ones. He was known for writng about love and death more than anything else.

Here are some fun facts about the other members!


What are their personalities like?

Personality wise, the members are all very different. Atsushi, for exmaple, is very shy and may come off as rude at first, but is actually a very, very, very kind man.

Imai is, once again, sort of in his own world at all times. A crew member described him as either "on or off," and I think that's a good description.

Hide is a very relaxed man. He's kind of what you picture when you think of those really casual dads that don't really get emotional about anything.

Toll "tells it like it is." All the members kind of look up to him, so you can imagine that how he's kind of their elder.

U-ta is a boyish little guy. No matter how old he gets, he never really changes—he's a very positive, childish man. Not in the sense that he's immature; he's just always joking and jumping around.

What do the members look like?

Here are what the members look like. Please click and hold for these pictures to change into another example; it should be black and white and of them in their earlier years. You might have to try a couple times for it to load.

From left to right and up to down, the members are Toll, U-ta, Imai, Atsushi, and Hide.


Where do I start if I want to be a Buck-Tick fan?

As of right now, I've only been a Buck-Tick fan for a year. That may sound kind of old, but I feel like an infant compared to other fans! Most of their fans have been following them for decades. Despite that, I've spent a lot of time looking into them and can finally say I've listened to all their music, can name what concert a picture of them is from, know their side projects, etc. The best advice I can give is to simply take it slow. They're a lot to take in. Just listen to what sounds good and other songs from albums a song you like is from. I would recommend starting with some of their earleir works, however. My first album was Aku no Hana, it was what first made me fall in love with Buck-Tick.

Here are some popular songs for you to start off with:

Here are some of my personal favorites:

Go have fun Bucking your Tick!!!!