About Zwei

Zwei means "two" in German and, of course, the band consists of two members: Ayumu (vocals) and Megu (bass). They are produced by British producer Nick Wood, and you can hear their European influences. Their music is described as a mix between J-pop and UK rock. Zwei officially started in June 2003, but the two women actually met during the spring of 2002. They met at a live show, and Megu (of Pineal) asked Ayumu (of Cherry Feel) to become the vocalist of the band she wanted to create. One year later, it became official when they were signed to the record label VAP. It took over a year before their first release. In May 2004, they released their first maxi-single entitled "Movie Star." A few months later, in July, they released their second maxi-single, "Watashigai no Uta", and it didn't take long for their first album to be released. "Pretty Queen" was released on October 14. Containing eleven songs, it was an impressive first album for the band, featuring versatile styles from upbeat pop/rock songs to slow ballads. After a brief period of silence, the band released their third single, called "Hikari" on March 23, 2005. Commemorating the release, the band set off on the "Zwei Live Tour 2005 ~Feel The Light~" tour in April, playing in live houses throughout Japan. In July they kept the pace with their next single, "Dragon", followed by the "FAKE FACE" single in November, and ended the year with their second full album on December 21 entitled "Z (Zeta)". In 2006, they released their first DVD in February: "Zwei in the Box". The DVD consisted of two discs, one containing five PVs and the other containing bonus live footage that included TV spots. In spring of that year, the two began shooting the PV for the song "Denny" from their new album. The PV was quite controversial with imagery of graphic bondage between the two women that the PV has two versions: one that is severely edited and the uncensored version that was obtainable only on their official website. Later that fall, an announcement was made on September 2, 2006 that the band switched labels from VAP to Universal Music Japan. After another period of silence, the band promoted their first new single in almost two years titled "1+1=2 (Ichi Tasu Ichi wa Ni)" which was due for it's highly anticipated release on June 20, 2007. The release, however, did not have a large turnout as was hoped. 1+1=2 was soon forgotten among the list of many artists and singles coming from Universal. On April 15, 2007, they participated in the live event titled "SHOCK TREATMENT" at Omotesandou FAB with other bands such as GLAMOROUS HONEY. June 16 they appeared at a second live event, "TRIANGLE FISCHER 003" with S.Q.F. and The Seventh Sense at Ebisu LIVE GATE TOKYO. In 2008, almost one year after the release of "1+1=2," Zwei released a new single titled "DISTANCE/Koe." Zwei wrote lyrics for the first time for "Koe." It is unknown if a new album will be made anytime soon, however, this single is more reminiscent of their earlier work.