Toll Yagami
Toll Yagami (ヤガミ トール, Yagami Toll, born August 19, 1962 in Takasaki, Gunma, Japan) is a Japanese musician. Known as the drummer of the rock band Buck-Tick since 1985.[1] He is the older brother of Yutaka Higuchi, Buck-Tick's bassist.
Toll Yagami | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Takashi Higuchi |
| Also known as | Toru Yagami |
| Born | August 19, 1962 |
| Origin | Takasaki, Gunma, Japan |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums, vocals |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Associated acts | Buck-Tick, Yagami Toll & The Blue Sky, SP, Shout |
| Website | Official website |
History
Toll Yagami is not his real name, in his own words; "he will not reveal his real name because he is selling music, not himself". He dropped out of high school in the tenth grade. Toll's first bands were called Shout and Spots (later known as SP). In 1984 when the Buck-Tick members moved to Tokyo, sans Atsushi Sakurai, Sakurai asked Toll if he could join SP as vocalist, but was refused. A year later, when B-T's vocalist Araki was fired and Sakurai replaced him, Yutaka then convinced Toll to join as their drummer.[2]
Throughout Buck-Tick's long career, his only writing credits have been lyrics for two songs; "Feast of Demoralization" (on Taboo) and "Dizzy Moon" (on Aku no Hana). Toll is the head of Banker, the management company that Buck-Tick formed in 1996.
Genet, vocalist of Japanese goth band Auto-Mod, is good friends with Yagami and occasionally writes about him on his blog. Yagami supported Auto-Mod at their live at Shinjuku Loft in 2006 (the live was part of a set of shows celebrating the venue's 30th anniversary.) Selia, the backup vocalist, was introduced to Buck-Tick through Genet and performed backing vocals on the songs "Mr. Darkness and Mrs. Moonlight" and "Revolver" on Buck-Tick's 2007 album Tenshi no Revolver.[3][4]
Yagami Toll & The Blue Sky
Yagami Toll & The Blue Sky is Toll's solo project, started in 2004. It consisted of himself as drummer and vocalist, Jose Tino PePe and Mr. Big Dig as The Blue Sky, and Alex Tamagi and James Norwood as the Optical Surfers on bass, guitar, keyboards. Other vocalists such as Suzu and Mike also appeared.
Their first album,1977/Blue Sky, was released on July 28, 2004. The album is said to be a highly personal album. Toll's inspiration being dealing with the loss of his older brother, who died in a motorcycle accident in May 1977.
Toll was inspired at an early age by classic rock such as The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Deep Purple. He held drum clinics in Japan in May 1994 and the summer of 1999. He has also played on the album Super Rock Summit ~Tengoku he no Kaidan~ (tribute album for John Bonham of Led Zeppelin), performing the song "Hot Dog".
Yagami Toll & The Blue Sky's second album, Wonderful Home -Thunder & Cold Wind-, will be released on August 19, 2019. It features Toll on drums, Kenta Harada on vocals and guitar, Kaname on vocals and bass, and Masato Yagi on guitar.[5]
References
- Eremenko, Alexey. "Biography: Buck-Tick". AMG. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- LOVE ME, Yasue Matsuura, Takao Nakagawa; Shinko Music Publishing Company, Ltd. 1989. ISBN 4-401-61275-2.
- Goth Diary of a Fetish Daddy official blog of Genet, vocalist of Auto-Mod
- Interview with Selia at JaME World, Kay, Rik, and Suu, May 2008.
- "BUCK-TICKヤガミ・トールが誕生日に新作リリース、REC＆ジャケ撮影は故郷高崎で". Natalie. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
