After BLANKEY JET CITY’s disbandment in 2000, front man Asai Kenichi didn’t sit still for a second: in addition to continuing his band SHERBETS which he had started in 1996, he started the project AJICO in 2000. This band only lasted a year, before stopping activities in 2001. By 2002, SHERBETS' activities were also put on a hold, but the path was cleared for another new band - JUDE.
Together with Watanabe Keiichi (HEATWAVE) on bass and Ikehata Junji (formerly of THE ROOSTERS, HEATWAVE) on drums, Asai started the band in February 2002. He himself was responsible for the vocals, guitars, and, of course, the compositions and lyrics of the band.
It seems that inspiration had been simmering for some time as 2002 soon witnessed a stream of releases from JUDE. The singles DEVIL and SILVET came out first, released in June and September respectively. In October, not one, but two albums were released: Dirty Animal and Charming Bloody Tuesday. Dirty Animal charted 26th on the Oricon charts and Charming Bloody Tuesday sold slightly less, claiming the 27th spot.
JUDE wasn’t only to be found in the studio during their debut year, but also on stage. During the latter half of 2002, they held two nationwide tours and performed on the famous events FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL and RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL. Participating in these events became customary for JUDE, and they were also part of the line-ups in the following two years.
During their second year a change was made in the line-up, as drummer Ikehata left the band in mid-2003 and was replaced by Shiino Kyoichi (Magnolia, AJICO). That year brought many more releases as well: a compilation of their work on vinyl, their first DVD, a single and their third full length album Highway Child in October. Highway Child was pleased both fans and press, receiving a lot of praise.
The band changed drummers again in 2004, and Kido Hiroshi was introduced as their new drummer. Their next album Zhivago came out in September, and has been their best selling album so far.
In 2005, SHERBETS was resurrected again, but even though Asai Kenichi released a new album with them that same year, JUDE’s steady release pace did not falter. They released another DVD, their fifth album Electric Rainbow, and the single SHAMPOO, which would unfortunately become their last original release.
One could say fans were expecting the end of JUDE already with SHERBETS resurfacing, as well as Asai having plans to start a solo career. In July 2005, JUDE embarked on their last tour, Electric Rainbow Tour, and its twenty-eight concerts took them all across the country. The trio played their last concert in October 2005, and has been inactive ever since.
Although their activity stop was described as a pause, it is unknown if JUDE will ever come back. In the following years, Asai has been working on his solo project, resurrected SHERBETS for a third time and started up a brand new project called THE PONTIACS. Also the other two members are working on their own bands: Watanabe Keiichi is still with HEATWAVE, and Kido Hiroshi supports various artists such as unkie and Fujifabric.
