THE PREDATORS

The Predators is a Japanese rock band, made up of Jiro (Yoshihito Wayama), Sawao Yamanaka, and Shinpei Nakayama.

Jiro of Glay became a fan of The Pillows during the "Runners High" tour in 1999, and he and Sawao Yamanaka of The Pillows became good friends. In 2001, JIRO and Sawao did a cover session together on Nirvana which they both enjoyed, and decided they would work together. In 2004, Jiro participated in the recording of The Pillows' 15th anniversary tribute album Synchronized Rockers, where he met Shinpei Nakayama from Straightener. Jiro saw his drumming style and thought he was really cool. And so the chance came as Jiro and Sawao asked Shinpei if he wanted to form a band together, and he was very interested. The formation of the band was officially announced in print and on radio on May 14, 2005. Their debut mini-album Hunting!!! was released on July 6, 2005 and debuted at number 5 on the Oricon chart.

After the release of the mini-album and participation in some festivals, the band went sabbatical as members continued their main bands activities. In August 17 and 18, 2007, The Predators returned with a performance at the "Rising Sun Rock Festival", in Ezo. In October 15th, 2008, the band released its second mini-album, "Kiba no Misero", which debuted at # 4 on Oricon daily charts. Afterwards, the band is going to play the tour "Shoot the Moon" in November.

Sawao Yamanaka
Name in Japanese: 山中さわお
Vocals/Guitar
Born 1968-12-07
Comes from The Pillows

Jiro
Name in Japanese: ジロウ
Real name is Yoshihito Wayama
Bass
Born 1972-10-17
Comes from Glay

Shinpei Nakayama
Name in Japanese: ナカヤマシンペイ

Drums
Born 1978-05-09
Comes from Straightener

The name of their record label, Three Mountain, was chosen because all three members have the word "yama" (mountain) in their last name. · close