Swinging Popsicle was formed in 1995 when singer Mineko Fujishima and guitarist Osamu Shimada joined bassist Hironobu Hirata through a newspaper ad. The band’s first effort was the Sunny Silent Park EP. In 1998, their first self-titled full-length album Swinging Popsicle debuted from Sony Music Entertainment at Number 1 in the New Artists category, producing the hit singles “Joy of Living,” “I Love Your Smile,” and “Parade.” After extensive touring, the band returned to the studio for their second album Fennec! (2000).
After starting strong with multiple Sony-label releases, Swinging Popsicle continued to build their international fan base with their independent releases of Change and Orange. Four solid years of writing and performing live throughout Japan produced their most mature and powerful CD titled Transit (2004), featuring signature song “I Just Wanna Kiss You.” In 2005, the band embarked on their first tour to Korea.
2006 marked their United States debut at Fanime MusicFest in San Jose, CA. The same year their song “Clash” was included in a compilation CD with the Korean manga “Cracker.” Performing to regular sold-out one-man live shows in Japan, (some running as long as 3 hours) the band continued to develop new material for their full-length album Go on (2007), which featured “rainbounds,” “Clash,” and “Chocolate Soul Music.” In June 2007, they returned to America to perform at Anime Mid Atlantic in Richmond, VA, and New York Anime Festival at NYC’s Knitting Factory.
Swinging Popsicle has also contributed music to the Nitroplus PC games Star Mine Girl, Axanael, Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo to Koi, and various songs for the Nitroplus mascot Super Sonico’s band, Daiichi Uchuu Sokudo (First Astronomical Velocity). In 2009, the band released the CD Loud Cut, collecting their soundtrack work and remastered versions of some of the member’s favorite early tracks including “Afterglow” and “Let Me Fly”.
Swinging Popsicle members have kept busy in recent years with various solo projects. Guitarist Osamu Shimada formed his own shoegaze band The Caraway and lends support to Seikama II’s Ace Shimizu Project, Face to Ace, Korean pop vocalist Taru, and popular J-Pop artist Fujii Fumiya. Vocalist Mineko Fujishima has performed backing vocals with top-selling J-Pop R&B artist Kusuo and formed the jazz-rock band alma-grafe in 2017. From: http://resonance-mms.com/artist-profiles/swinging-popsicle/
