BESPA KUMAMERO was formed in 2001 with Azumi Kuwadate on vocals and Monkichi Irikura on keyboard and programming. Before, BESPA KUMAMERO Monkichi worked as a techno style solo artist while also writing articles for local magazines. Meanwhile, Azumi was in school studying jewelry design; writing lyrics was only a hobby.
One day, Azumi accidentally came across one of Monkichi's articles, which impressed her, and she decided to get in touch with the author. After they met in 2001 BESPA KUMAMERO was born.
The group held many concerts in Japan and, in 2006, became popular outside the country. Information about BESPA KUMAMERO began appearing in different magazines and mass-media in Germany, England, France, Russia, the USA and Hungary. In 2007 the band toured the UK with six dates, marking the start of their activity in Europe.
The first full-length album, Romantic waves, was released on January 20, 2008. More than that, European fans could get the album via JapanFiles.com (USA) and the first week of sales showed that it was already in great demand.
In March 2008 the band performed at Anime Matsuri 2008 in Houston, Texas and, in July, at Animex 2008 in Monterrey, Mexico. They were also nominated by American magazine Shojo Beat as the best new band.
BESPA KUMAMERO continued to appear regularly at shows during 2008, including jetting to Moscow, Russia, to appear at Tokyo Cyber Eve vol 2. They returned to Japan to play several more shows right into the new year, performing at Gothic Bar Heaven vol 9 in Shibuya on January 2009.
The spring remained busy for the duo as they appeared at many events, including Alamode Night 36 and performed alongside DJ SiSeN and GPKISM. On May 22, BESPA KUMAMERO released their second full album, PLASTIC CONFUSION.
The duo's summer will be a busy one, with numerous cyber shows planned throughout the warm months at Shibuya Live In Rosa.
