Tomoya

Tomoya
Personal Info
Name (Kanji)	神吉智也
Name (Romaji)	Tomoya Kanki
Born	June 27, 1987
Birth place	Hyougo, Japan
Bold type	A
Occupations	Musician, composer
Years active	2007 - present
Labels	A-Skech
Associated acts	ONE OK ROCK
Relationships
Friends	Taka Toru Ryota

Kanki Tomoya(神吉智也) Tomoya is the drummer of the Japanese rock band ONE OK ROCK. He played drums on ONE OK ROCK indie releases but didn't officially join until 2007. Tomoya came from ESP Musical Academy. Tomoya was a regular substitute drummer for ONE OK ROCK even before Tomo, the former drummer left the group to become an actor. He became a full time member in 2007 when he was 20 years old.

History

Before joining ONE OK ROCK

Tomoya was born on June 27, 1987 in Hyougo Prefecture, Japan. He was teaching at ESP Musical Academy and he was in a band that was not doing great. At that time, ONE OK ROCK just lost their drummer Tomo because of his parents' complains. ONE OK ROCK signed to Amuse and performed to their live concerts without a drummer. The band got to know a teacher in ESP Musical Academy who was a friend of Tomoya and recommended him who was about the same age as them, so they scheduled a meeting at Shinjuku Station. When they got there, they waited for Tomoya and then he showed up. They noted that he shows his good feeling and good personality. Tomoya along with them had very great fun together. The band saw Tomoya's amazing drum skills and gave him the permission to join the band. Tomoya stayed at Taka's place until he left his other band. He officially joined ONE OK ROCK in 2007.

Because of Tomoya's childish appearance, he was the most bullied by Taka and Toru since their debut.

2007-2012: Debut and New Formation

In 2007, they released their single debut single "Naihi Shinsho" and followed by their singles "Yume Yume" and "Et Cetera". Tomoya and the band released their first album "Zeitakubyou" and had their first tour, the Tokyo-Osaka-Nagoya Quattro Tour. This is Tomoya's first tour performance on stage along with ONE OK ROCK. In 2008, They released the album "Beam of Light" and followed by the "Kanjou Effect" in November 2008.

In 2009, Alex was arrested for groping the leg of a twenty-one-year-old female student on a train and because on that, the band reached their weakest point including Tomoya. All their plans have cancelled. In May 2009, it was announced that ONE OK ROCK would continue on without Alex.

In 2010, Tomoya and the band moved on with the new four-member band and released their single "Kanzen Kankaku Dreamer" and followed by "Niche Syndrome". They had their tour this is my own judgement! in five Zepp music halls across the nation in 6 days, starting Sendai, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and ending in a 2-day concert in Tokyo.

In 2011, the single "Answer is Near was released and had the Answer is Alive 2011 Tour. They released their first double A-side single "Re:make / NO SCARED and followed by their fifth album "Zankyo Reference. Tomoya and the band had their Zankyo Reference Tour and headlined many music festivals, including Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea and SETSTOCK 2011 and followed by Rock in Japan Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, Summer Sonic Festival, Monster Bash, Sky Jamboree, and Space Shower's Sweet Love Shower. At the end of the year, they headlined Radio Crazy and Countdown Japan once more.

In 2012, Tomoya and the band declared their first overseas tour in Start Walking The World on, covering Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. 9mm Parabellum Bullet, Mao Abe, Hello Sleepwalkers, and Crossfaith were the guest performers of their four concert dates in Japan. They headlined Rock in Japan Festival on the main stage, as well as Summer Sonic 2012, alongside Green Day, Franz Ferdinand and Rihanna. They also headlined Oga Namahage Rock Festival, Rising Sun Rock Festival, and Sweet Love Shower 11.

2013-2014: World Tour

Their single "The Beginning was released and followed by "Deeper Deeper / Nothing Helps. Tomoya joined with Ryota and wrote the songs "Sekenshirazu no Uchuhikoshi" and " Deeper Deeper". Tomoya and the band released their sixth full-length "Jinsei×Boku=".

In October 2013, the band went on their first tour outside Asia and visited Europe for five concerts. Four out of the five concerts in Europe were sold out almost immediately. In February 2014 they visited the US to hold two concerts in New York and Los Angeles and added two more dates in Philadelphia and Toronto in May. They also performed at Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio, their first festival outside Asia. In June and July 2014 they joined VANS WARPED TOUR 2014 and performed in eighteen cities in North America. On May 16, the documentary film about their last Europe and Asia Tour, "FOOL COOL ROCK" debuted and played for a limited time of four weeks at select theaters. The documentary FOOL COOL ROCK will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in November 2014.

In 2014, the band recorded and released their single "Mighty Long Fall / Decision" with their new producer John Feldmann. The song "Decision" is the theme song for their documentary film "FOOL COOL ROCK". In September 2014, ONE OK ROCK held a 2 day stadium concert in Yokohama Stadium in front of 60,000 people called "Mighty Long Fall Live at Yokohama Stadium 2014". At this live concert, Tomoya is the first member to appear on the stage and started playing drum for the first performance. This was their first time performing in a stadium.

Tomoya among with the band announced USA, South America and Europe Tour in late 2014. They performed at Knotfest, in both Japan and United States, with an additional two dates for the United States, last October 2014. They will hit Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Mexico for South America in November and France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom and Russia for Europe in December. They performed alongside Ghost Town in the US and UK, and with Tonight Alive and Mallory Knox for most dates in Europe. On November 27, they acted as guest performer in Hoobastank's Japan tour.

2015-present

They released the album "35xxxv" on February 11, 2015. The fans described this album, including the Cry Out music video as "too Americanized", yet it managed to get the first place on the Oricon Album weekly ranking being the first time the band achieved the first place. They held the ONE OK ROCK "35xxxv" JAPAN TOUR. The tour started on May 9, 2015 in Shizuoka Ecopa Arena with their support guests.

In May 25, 2015, Tomoya and the rest announced that they will add two more shows on the tour that will held on September 12-13, 2015 in Chiba Marine Stadium, Makuhari Messe. In May 27, 2015, It was announced that ONE OK ROCK will perform, along with the other bands, in the fourth annual Monster Energy Aftershock Festival on October 25, 2015. In July 2015, Tomoya and the band confirmed that they signed with Warner Bros. Records and planned to re-release 35xxxv as a deluxe edition containing all English tracks on September 25, 2015. Tomoya along with the band is set to have a North American tour in fall 2015 with a few selected cities as headlining artists, but will spend the majority of their time as the opening act for All Time Low and Sleeping with Sirens. ONE OK ROCK will also have world tour in Europe and Asia to promote their album.

ONE OK ROCK held a project called ONE OK ROCK, Yahoo! MV appeared in 24 cities around the world in the search (ONE OK ROCK、Yahoo!検索で世界24都市のMVが登場). In September 10, 2015 morning at 1:00 "Yahoo! Search" special project of ONE OK ROCK started. When you search "ONE OK ROCK" in "Yahoo! Search," you will find 24 types that change by time the release of "One o'clock" special movie. Twenty-four cities that appeared in the MV are Japan, Nepal, Moscow, Iceland, Brazil, Colorado, Gambier, Antarctica, Shanghai, India, Paris, Cape Verde, New York, Vancouver, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Bangkok, Iran, London, Greenland, Mexico, Alaska, Niue, and Sydney. It will display "1:00" and the city and carries the message "One O ' clock (ONE OK ROCK)" on the border. Two days after this project, the band released a Music Video for the 35xxxv Deluxe version of Cry Out. The song was in all English lyrics.

ONE OK ROCK started their "35xxxv" North American Tour on September 29, 2015 and ended on October 06. This tour was immediately followed by BACK TO THE FUTURE HEARTS TOUR. ONE OK ROCK became a support act in this tour along with Sleeping with Sirens and All Time Low. Tomoya went to many places and learned new music ideas from the other bands. On the week of October 17, 2015, 35xxxv (Deluxe Edition) debuted at #20 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums and its highest peak position is at #17. This chart is for new and upcoming musicians, which is usually a stepping stone towards Billboard 200 or Billboard Hot 100.

On December 02, 2015. ONE OK ROCK 2015 "35xxxv" Europe Tour started with We Came As Romans as a special guest.

Tomoya along with band returned to Japan next year for their ONE THOUSAND MILES TOUR 2016 concert along with All Time Low and PVRIS.

2016-present: Signed to Fueled by Ramen and Ambitions

ONE OK ROCK started their "35xxxv" Asia Tour on January 14, 2016 at Asia-World Expo and ended on January 22, 2016 at Fort Canning Park. They returned to Japan after the tour to perform on ONE THOUSAND MILES TOUR 2016. On February 2016, they announced that they will have another tour in North America and Europe. ONE OK ROCK went to United States and started working with with Colin Brittain, Kane Churko, Dark Waves and Bruno Agra to make new songs.

On March 11, 2016. ONE OK ROCK released a new digital single called "Always coming back". The song was first heard in NTT Docomo's television commercial for iPhone 6s. Married to a wonderful women named Kaori from Japan.

ONE OK ROCK started they're tour in The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, California. A day after that, the band performed in Self Help Fest 2016 at San Bernardo, California. After that day, Monster Energy Outbreak Tour continued and ended at House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois on April 18, 2016. ONE OK ROCK went back to their studio in Los Angeles California to continue working on their new album. In May 2016, they went back to Japan and performed in METROPOLITAN ROCK FESTIVAL 2016. In May 31 to June 08, 2016, they toured in Europe and participated in Rock am Ring and Rock im Park.

In June 10, Tomoya and the band went to Landgraaf, Netherlands to perform at Pinkpop Festival. On June 11, they went to France to perform at the first Download Festival at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. The next day, they went to the United Kingdom to perform at another Download Festival in Donington Park, England.

In June 30 to July 31, the band joined 5 Seconds of Summer on the first North American leg of their Sounds Live Feels Live World Tour along with the band Hey Violet.

Marking the 10th anniversary of My Chemical Romance's album The Black Parade, Rock Sound announces that there will be a special cover of the said album inviting some of the world's biggest bands, including ONE OK ROCK. The band covers the opening song on the album "The End".

On September 10 and 11, the band held a special live concert at Nagisaen, Shizuoka, Japan where 110,000 spectators experienced a thrilling concert. ONE OK ROCK also announces that they're going to release a digital single called "Taking Off" on September 16, 2016 under Fueled by Ramen. The song was used as a theme song for the Japanese movie "Museum" starring Shun Oguri. The movie will be aired on November 12, 2016. Later at the special live concert, Taka announces that their 8th studio album will be released early next year following an album tour.

On October 8, Sum 41 will have a Japanese edition of their album, 13 Voices, that will include the song "War" featuring Taka.

After signing with Fueled by Ramen on September 11, 2016, they released the lead single "Taking Off" from their eighth album, Ambitions, to be released on January 11, 2017. On November 18, 2016 they released "Bedroom Warfare" the second single from the album. The third single "I was King" was released on December 15, 2016. Ambitions will have collaborations from Avril Lavigne, Alex Gaskarth and the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer.

On November 19, ONE OK ROCK went to South Korea to held their ONE OK ROCK 2016 Live in Korea at KBS Arena. On November 22, the band then went to Shanghai, China to held their ONE OK ROCK 2016 Live in Shanghai at Mercedes Benz Arena. On December 22, ONE OK ROCK went to Fukuoka, Japan where Taka and Toru promoted their upcoming album "Ambition". After that day, the band participated at AIRJAM 2016 that was also held in Fukuoka.

Trivia

• Although being the oldest, Tomoya has the youngest face and became the most bullied.
• Tomoya's favorite bands are The Used, The Killers, Radwimps and Muse.
• Tomoya has the funniest accent when it comes to speaking in English among the band.
• His favorite fruit is pineapple.
• He is married with 3 sons

External link

• Official website