Dry & Heavy is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese dub

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

 and reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 band, formed in 1991 by drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 Shigemoto Nanao (Dry) and bass player

Bass Player

Bass player can refer to:*Bass Player , an album by Rhombus*Bass Player , a magazine for bassists*Bassist, or bass player, a musician who plays the bass guitar...

 Takeshi Akimoto (Heavy). Their names come from the Burning Spear

Burning Spear

Winston Rodney, OD , also known as Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer and musician. Burning Spear is known for his Rastafari movement messages.-History:...

 album of the same name. The line-up which recorded the album Dry & Heavy came together in 1995, with Naoki Uchida on dub controls, Mitsuhiro Toike on keyboards, Kei Horiguchi on guitar, and the vocal duo of Likkle Mai and Ao Inoue.

They were influenced by the 1970s Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n dub sound of King Tubby

King Tubby

King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...

, Lee Perry and others.

In 2001, during Fuji Rock (Japan's largest music festival) founding member Takeshi Akimoto (Heavy) announced he was leaving the group, Audio Active

Audio Active

Audio Active were a Japanese reggae band who released several albums between the mid-1990s and the early first decade of the 21st century.-History:...

's current bassist Pata, stepped in to fill the void. Takeshi Akimoto was the former bassist for Audio Active, and Shigemoto Nanao the former drummer of the same band.

As well as appearances at every major Japanese rock and reggae music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

, the band have enjoyed success with their own headline dates in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. Concert dates include the Reading and the Hanover

Hanover

Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

 based Womad Festivals, and guest appearances in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 with Asian Dub Foundation

Asian Dub Foundation

Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...

 and Buju Banton

Buju Banton

Buju Banton is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae musician.Banton has recorded pop and dance songs, as well as songs dealing with sociopolitical topics....

. They also played in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 with Primal Scream

Primal Scream

Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...

 and Adrian Sherwood

Adrian Sherwood

Adrian Sherwood is an English record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing a number of popular acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy...

, and created their own Japanese dubfest, Echomaniacs. This has featured Adrian Sherwood, Andrew Weatherall, Dennis Bovell

Dennis Bovell

Dennis Bovell is a reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer. He was a member of the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym 'Blackbeard'....

 and 3 Head, and Dry & Heavy have played in concert with Lee Perry, Horace Andy

Horace Andy

Horace Andy is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "Angel", "Five Man Army" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....

, Jah Shaka

Jah Shaka

Jah Shaka has been operating a South East London-based, roots reggae Jamaican sound system since the early 1970s. His name is an amalgamation of the Rastafarian term for God and that of a Zulu warrior, Shaka Zulu.-Career:...

 and Mad Professor

Mad Professor

Mad Professor is a dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music’s second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He is a prolific producer, contributing to or...

.

No new music has been recorded since 2002's New Creation, although the band continues to tour.

Band members

• Shigemoto Nanao: Drums
• Pata: Bass Guitar
• Likkle Mai: Vocal
• Ao Inoue: Vocal
• Mitsuhiro Toike: Keyboard
• The K: Guitar
• Naoyuki Uchida: Dub Control

Discography

• Dry & Heavy (1997)

1. Law of the Jungle

2. Runs Good

3. Flash Flood

4. I'm A Likkle Lioness

5. Steppin' Out

6. Strange Flute

7. Bow and Arrow

8. Meditate Rocka

9. Mighty Gun

• One Punch (1999)

1. Mr. Blueflame

2. T.K.O.

3. Triumph

4. Harmony

5. Lost World

6. Say No More

7. Don't Give Up Your Fight

8. Herbal Wise

9. Night Flight

10. Gassy Disco

11. The Athlete

• Full Contact (2000)

1. Dawn Is Breaking

2. Heavy Special

3. Knife

4. King Cobra Syle

5. Rumble

6. Love Explosion

7. Love Explosion Version

8. Private Plan

9. Life In The Jungle

10. Less Is More

11. Less Is More Version

12. The Smoker's Cough

13. Landing

• King Jammy meets Dry and Heavy in the Jaws of the Tiger (2000)

1. Do Dub Up Your fight

2. Rumble Dub

3. Dub World

4. Radical Dubber

5. Mr. Dub

6. Breaking Dub

7. Private Plan Dub

8. Harmony Dub

9. Night Flight Dub

10. Tiger Claw Dub

11. Less Is Dub

12. Love Explosion Dub

• New Creation (2002)

1. Reverse Again

2. Strictly Baby

3. Silent Drive

4. Still Silent

5. Dog And Chicken

6. New Creation

7. Riders Version

8. Right Track

9. Don't Make The Children Cry

10. Kombu

11. Bright Shining Dub