Guitar Wolf

Event information

“Don’t move the needle, just the red zone” – this quote from Guitar Wolf during a recording session immediately shows what they’re all about: three men and their dedication to true Rock’n’Roll!

Unlike many other rock bands, Guitar Wolf have truly embraced Rock’n’Roll as a way of life, like no one ever has before, and you can hear it in their songs: sweat, blood, tears and pure energy. Wild, destructive Rock’n’Roll anthems! But Rock’n’Roll isn’t enough for a band like Guitar Wolf. In fact, they are the inventors of an entire genre, “Jet Rock’n’Roll”, which best illustrates their skilful blend of punk, rock and noise!

Guitar Wolf have earned their cult status worldwide like no other Japanese band before! Their ferocious live performances and participation in the Trash-Rock’n’Roll film “Wild Zero” have attracted worldwide attention.

They have released thirteen studio albums internationally as well as a live album, numerous singles, and a retrospective compilation called Golden Black. The band members have also been featured in two B-grade science fiction horror films: Wild Zero and Sore Losers. A collection of Guitar Wolf's most popular videos and live performances have been compiled into a limited-edition DVD titled Red Idol.
The band would come to develop its own unique strain of punk rock music, fusing multiple genres together into what the band described as Jet Rock 'n' Roll. Although Guitar Wolf has cited Joan Jett as an important musical and stylistic influence, contrary to some reports, the term Jet Rock is not derived from Joan Jett's name. The term's origin is, rather, attributed to the sound of a jet plane. In an interview Seiji clarified: "I love jet plane. I love noisy music, too. So...there were records...many records...every record have no big sounds. So...easy to listen. I hate that! So! I add jet sounds. Bwaaaahng! Explosion!" In the same interview, when asked who created the term Jet Rock, Seiji replied, "Me. Yeah, yeah. So we are #1 Japanese Jet Rock Band".

The period between 1994 and 2000 is when Guitar Wolf released much of their best-known material. In 1996, a performance at a New York City record store secured the band a contract with Matador Records, who issued their fourth album, Missile Me!, that same year. Guitar Wolf would continue releasing albums with Matador until 1999's Jet Generation, an album that the company claimed was the loudest ever put to wax, and which included a warning that playing it could potentially damage the listener's audio equipment.
On 24 April 2019, it was announced that Guitar Wolf's latest album, Love & Jett, would be released on Jack White's Third Man Records on 10 May 2019.
In 2002, the band made the move to Narnack Records, where they continued to release material until 2005. That year, they released the greatest hits album Golden Black. Later the same year, after completing a U.S. tour, the band returned to Japan, where bassist Billy suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 38.[11][12] In September 2005, Guitar Wolf played their first show with a new bassist, U.G, who would go on to play with the band for the next twelve years, departing in 2017. His replacement, Hikaru, remained with Guitar Wolf for less than a year, before being replaced by current bassist, Gotz.
In March 2022, Toru left the band for personal reasons. In November 2022, Takuro joined to be the newest drummer of the band.

Film appearances.

In 2000, Guitar Wolf starred in the Japanese rock 'n' roll "zombie horror" movie Wild Zero, directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi. The band play themselves as they take on crazed fans, zombies, and an alien invasion. Their music also features heavily in the movie's soundtrack. A sequel titled Wild Zero 2: The Strongest Blood of Humanity, is going to start crowd funding in 2024.
The band has also appeared in the documentaries Get Action!! (2014, dir. Jun'ya Kondō) and Garage Rockin' Craze (2017, dir. Mario Cuzic), the former exploring another well-known Japanese garage rock band, Teengenerate, and the latter looking at the formation and evolution of the Tokyo garage punk scene and its de facto founder, DJ Daddy-O-Nov. Both films feature interviews with Seiji and the latter features live footage as well.

GUITAR WOLF are.......

Guitar Wolf Seiji
Bass Wolf Gotz
Drum Wolf Takuro