Mean Machine

In 1998 J-Pop vocalist Chara teamed with musician and DJ Chiwaki Mayumi to launch the all-girl Japanese rock band Mean Machine. Within months the pair assembled what amounted to a J-Pop supergroup by enlisting ex-Judy & Mary frontwoman Yuki, solo performer and the Thrill saxophonist Yukarie, and actress Ito Ayumi, Chara’s co-star from the 1996 film Swallowtail Butterfly. Conceived strictly as a diversion, the project operated under one strict guideline: each participant had to perform on an instrument she had never played before. Consequently vocalists Yuki and Chara took up drums, Mayumi handled guitar, Yukarie switched to bass from her customary tenor saxophone, and Ayumi assumed lead vocals.

Rehearsals commenced in spring 1999, with tracking following in 2000. The band surfaced publicly in 2001 via the single “Suuhaa,” whose title referenced breathing techniques Chara had acquired while pregnant, and through an extensive Tower Records advertising campaign. Later that year the group issued the fourteen-track garage-rock album Cream, every song written and produced internally. Mean Machine closed the year with a second single, Knock on You, before its members resumed their individual careers.