Birds of Tokyo

Early years

Birds of Tokyo formed in 2004 from a collaboration between members of another Perth act Tragic Delicate and Karnivool, from which Ian Kenny came.

The band formed when guitarist Adam Spark asked Kenny to sing on some demos intended to be sold for publication rights. The results were so good, they decided to form a band and release the songs themselves. They took their name from an article one member had read about the absence of birds in Tokyo's high-density CBD due to pollution and overcrowding. "We thought that was interesting, no birds in Tokyo — we thought, we'll be the birds of Tokyo", he says.

In January 2005, Birds of Tokyo released their debut EP, Birds of Tokyo. In October 2005, Birds of Tokyo released a double A side single "One Way/Stay". It was recorded in Melbourne with acclaimed producer Forrester Savell (Helmet, Full Scale, Karnivool).

Day One (2006–2007)

2006 saw the band touring regional WA on a three-week tour in January, before returning to Melbourne to finish working on their debut album, Day One. The album was released on 3 February 2007 and debuted at No. 88 on the ARIA Albums Chart and No. 3 on the AIR albums chart.

Directly following the release, the band embarked on extensive touring, starting with their "Day One" tour, playing in five capital cities around Australia. Birds of Tokyo also performed at the Perth leg of the 2007 Big Day Out and the at Blackjack 2007 (the relocated Rock-It festival).

Birds of Tokyo were nominated for two awards in the 2007 AIR Awards (Australian Independent Record Association) for Best Performing Independent Album and Most Outstanding New Independent Artist. "Wayside" was voted in at No. 61 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2007.

They were also recognized in Rolling Stone magazine as 'Artists to Watch' in 2007.

Universes (2008–2009)

The band recorded their second album Universes in Margaret River, Western Australia, which was mixed in Los Angeles by Tim Palmer (Pearl Jam, Porcupine Tree). The debut single from the album, "Silhouettic", was released as a free download on 14 April 2008. The album was released 5 July 2008 and debuted at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart and at No. 1 on the AIR albums chart. The album reached gold status in Australia in January 2009.

The band played all Australian shows at the Big Day Out in 2009. "Broken Bones", "Silhouettic" and "Wild Eyed Boy" were voted in at No. 20, No. 22 and No. 51 respectively in the Hottest 100 of 2008.

In late 2009 the band embarked on the Broken Strings tour, which featured acoustic interpretations of a selection of their work to date, accompanied by a string quartet and grand piano arranged by producer Anthony Cormican. The supporting artist was Glenn Richards (lead singer of Augie March). A CD and DVD featuring recordings from the tour was available to preorder at the shows, and was released in early 2010 as The Broken Strings Tour. Birds of Tokyo were nominated for the 2009 Channel V Oz Artist of the Year.

Birds of Tokyo (2010–2011)

In early 2010 the band returned to the studio to work on their self-titled third album. In March 2010 the band released the single "The Saddest Thing I Know" and announced an Australian tour by the same name. They are touring with the New Zealand-based band Midnight Youth. The second single "Plans" was premiered on Sunday 20 June. The album was released on 23 July 2010. They toured with Silversun Pickups in September and October 2010. Birds of Tokyo received six 2010 ARIA Music Awards nominations. "Wild at Heart" was the album's third single. "Plans" was voted at No. 4 in the Hottest 100 of 2010, while "Wild at Heart" and "The Saddest Thing I Know" also appeared at No. 47 and No. 87, respectively. The band also played at the Big Day Out in 2011 for their third time.

In March 2011 the band announced via their Facebook page that bass player Anthony Jackson was leaving the band. Ian Berney from Sugar Army later filled the position.

In April 2011 they played alongside Art vs Science, The Jezabels and local Joshy Willo at the Triple J One Night Stand at Tumby Bay, South Australia.

The band were nominated in five different categories at the 2011 West Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMi), including Most Popular Act, Most Popular Album, Best Male Vocalist, Best Instrumentalist and Best Bassist. The band won for Most Popular Album and Best Instrumentalist.

In late April/early May 2011, Birds of Tokyo played at the annual Groovin' the Moo music festival alongside other Australian artists like Gotye, Washington, Art vs Science and Architecture in Helsinki.

The band toured through September and October 2011, their final national tour for the year. The tour was called the Closer Tour due to the fact that they opted to play smaller venues than they had played prior.

During an interview on Radar, Adam revealed that the band would be heading back in to the studio to record their new album over the summer.

March Fires (2012–2014)

On 1 February 2012, the band announced that they had finished writing their new album and would start recording the week after. Creating the new album was a journey of "exploration and reinvention" for Birds of Tokyo, telling the story of burning down the old and coming together to build something new. In October 2012, the band released an EP titled This Fire, which featured two songs ("This Fire" and "Boy") from the album. On 14 January 2013, "Lanterns" was released as a single, with its video coming out on 8 February. After being available for preorder on iTunes for 3 months, March Fires was released on 1 March 2013.

Led by the first two singles, March Fires debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the band's first No. 1 record. The album was certified gold within four weeks of release and the triple platinum single "Lanterns" was the most played song on Australia radio in the first six months of 2013. "When the Night Falls Quiet" was later released as a single, with its video coming out on 22 April.

Birds of Tokyo completed a sell-out tour of Australia to accompany the release and received positive reviews for shows across their March Fires album tour. They also performed at the 2013 AFL Grand Final, Splendour in the Grass 2013 and were announced as the sole support for Muse on their national Australian tour across November and December.

Playlist (2015–present)

On 24 April 2015, the group released their third EP, Anchor. The EP was supported by a national tour and the release of a single of the same name. The music video for that song was released the following month. Birds of Tokyo subsequently debuted a new song, "I'd Go with You Anywhere", confirming the release of a compilation album, Playlist, which was released in November 2015 and peaked at number 4.

Members

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".