Psy・S was a Japanese progressive pop/rock band, formed in 1983 by Masaya Matsuura alongside female vocal powerhouse Chaka. After Japanese hits and successes throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, they disbanded in 1996. The musical style of Psy・S was an experimental mixture of electronic synthesizers, highly accomplished electric guitar riffs, and haunting, piercing vocals. Psy・S is perhaps best known in the West for their significant role in the soundtrack of the cult anime title To-Y. Frontman Masaya Matsuura went on to create several video games for the Sony PlayStation.
Members
Masaya Matsuura 松浦雅也
– from Osaka. The leader of the band, both composer and arranger. Matsuura created Psy・S' music on a Fairlight CMIsynthesizer, and also able to handle keyboard, guitar and bass. After the band's breakup, he moved into producing and creating music for video games via his own company, NanaOn-Sha, and is well known in both Japan and the west for his innovative approach to music-based gameplay. He created the well-received Sony PlayStation titles PaRappa the Rapper, UmJammer Lammy and Vib Ribbon, along with Vib Ripple for the PlayStation 2. In 2004, Matsuura won the First Penguin Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in San Jose. This was in recognition for his "trailblazing work with beat-rhythm and music games."
– from Osaka. Chaka was the vocalist and lyricist of the band. She began her career at age eighteen, working as a professional jazz singer in an Osaka jazz club, and joined Psy・S soon after. With Psy・S, her voice was intensely powerful and lent the band a vocal style instantly recognizable amongst the pop scene of 80s and 90s Japan. After the band's breakup, Chaka began her solo career, reverting to her jazz roots and releasing the albums Delicious Hip, I Found Love, Chaka Jazz, and Love. In 2004, she released an album titled Believin' ~Chaka Jazz in New York, in which she collaborated with famous faces from the jazz world such as Henry "Hank" Jones. Chaka also recorded some anime songs like "Hare tokidoki Buta" ; "Card Captor Sakura – Ashita e no Melody" ; "Zenmai Zamurai". Today, Chaka performs live jazz gigs in her native Japan and lend her awesome voice to many famous Japanese artists. Among them, she recently participate in chorus for the Tsuyoshi Doumoto' solo unit "Endlicheri Endlicheri" and in the single "Man & Woman" from Chage & Aska.
History
Chaka met Masaya Matsuura in 1983, and two years later they released an independent album under the band name Playtechs. At this point they were merely an indies unit, and performed no live shows for the album. However, this became the basis of what would become Psy・S. Psy・S debuted in 1985 by releasing their first Psy・S album, Different View, with Sony Music. Their first single from the album, Teenage, went on simultaneous sale. This was their major debut, and a music video was created for Teenage. Psy・S' activity and popularity continued through the late 80s to mid 90s, where their music was used on TV shows, anime, and movies. In particular, Masaya Matsuura was given full musical supervision over the sound of the acclaimed anime adaptation of Atsushi Kamijo's manga To-y, creating a soundtrack which has garnered much praise in anime journalism. As the Anime News Network notes, "No mention of TO-Y is complete without speaking of the music, which plays like a best-of album of Japan's progressive pop scene… For TO-Y, Psy・S' amazing opening and ending themes, Lemon no Yuuki and Cubic Lovers, are as essential to the show as the characters themselves." During their 1985–1996 history, Psy・S released eleven original albums, one live album, three "best of" collections, seven videos and a DVD. Finally, in the June 1996 issue of Japan's PC Music magazine, Masaya Matsuura officially announced the breakup of Psy・S. In 2002, a CD collection of their best singles, Golden Best, was released, and a live DVD was released in 2005 containing footage from their 1988–1989 Non-Fiction Tour, when the band were at the height of their popularity.
