Happy 8th anniversary Band Maid
Formation Of The Band
In 2012, Miku Kobato (vocal and guitar) decided that she wanted to start a group; a combination of a band and maids. Thus, BAND-MAID® was born. Miku had worked for 3 years in Maid-Cafes previously, and loved the maid outfits and culture. Before forming the band, Miku thought that the contrast of the cute outfits and rock music was very interesting.
Miku discovered Kanami Tono through online guitar cover videos and approached her about the band. When they had the meeting, Kanami's first impression was that Miku was very cute.
Miku asked Kanami if she knew anybody who played the drums. Previously Kanami was a singer-songwriter who would play the guitar and sing at the same time, though she was not in a band, Akane Hirose played the drums to support her. Kanami then invited Akane along to the meeting. Akane was initially apprehensive about the thought of wearing maid outfits and asked Miku if she could think it over once before she agreed. However, Akane had listened to the demos of the hard rock songs they wanted to make and the idea of hard rock music with the maid costumes appealed to her so she joined.
At that time Akane was attending the same music school (Tokyo School of Music) as Bassist MISA and, since the band didn't have a bassist, Akane invited her along. MISA joined the band despite thinking that the maid costumes were strange at first.
Lastly Saiki, who had been singing solo, joined the band. Despite the fact that they already had Miku as a vocalist, Miku wanted more powerful vocals and thought that twin vocals would be a lot more interesting. When Saiki was invited she was not initially told about the maid outfits as Miku thought she wouldn't join. Instead, Saiki was told they would simply be wearing 'cute clothing' whilst playing hard rock music. After hearing the demo songs, Saiki agreed to join. When Saiki got into the studio and saw the maid outfits she was shocked - she hated her apron and discarded it shortly after.
When they formed the band, their purpose was world conquest and they are very much on their way. The band always perform their best and try to go beyond their musical capabilities to push themselves as hard as possible. Band-Maid wants the audience to enjoy the contradiction between the costumes and the music. Miku believes the band appeals to multiple audiences, being that people who like idols can enjoy their performances (though they are not idols) and people who like hard rock and bands can enjoy them as well - Band-Maid wants to break the stereotypes and beliefs about Japanese idol groups, and show that they are a real band with real instruments, however, they do respect idols for doing things they cannot do (like dancing).
By the time BRAND NEW MAID was released, BAND-MAID® were seemingly no longer using their ® and the band's logos and official texts refer to them now as simply BAND-MAID.
