ROTH BART BARON

Japanese musical project

ROTH BART BARON

ロットバルトバロン

Roth Bart Baron performing on the Garden Stage at Tokyo Summer Sonic Festival in 2015

Background information
Origin| Tokyo
Genres|

* Indie rock
* Folk music
* Alternative rock

Years active| 2008-present
Labels| Space Shower Music, Felicity
Members| Masaya Mifune
Past members| Tetsuya Nakahara
Website| rothbartbaron.com

ROTH BART BARON (ロット・バルト・バロン) is a Tokyo-based musical project formed in 2008 with Masaya Mifune (vocal, guitar) and Tetsuya Nakahara (drums) but is currently a solo project headed by Mifune.[1][2] The band has released three EPs and six full-length albums along with one live album.[3] The group also composed and recorded the soundtrack for the Japanese film My Small Land.[4][5]

## Biography

[edit]

Masaya Mifune and Tetsuya Nakahara met in junior high school when they were partnered up to play tennis doubles.[6] They started the band in university and, in the beginning, spent most of the time rehearsing and home recording. The band's name, ROTH BART BARON, comes from the antagonist von Rothbart in Tchaikovsky's The Swan Lake. Mifune played the role in kindergarten which left a strong impression on him being the only antagonist at that time.

The band self-released three works including the EP "ROTH BART BARON"(2010), the five-track EP "Monster Mountain and Choirboys" (13 December 2012) and "Chocolate Demo" (21 September 2012). Songs from these early works, especially those in "Monster Mountain and Choirboys" are still often performed on shows.

ROTH BART BARON signed to Felicity and released their first full album ROTH BART BARON's THE ICE AGE in 2014. The album was recorded in Philadelphia with Jonathan Low and Brian McTear.[7]

A second album, ATOM. was released in 2015. The recording was done at Hotel2Tango in Montreal. The music video for the lead track, "bIg HOPe" was filmed with 360/ VR cameras.[citation needed]

In 2017, Roth Bart Barons started a crowdfunding project on Campfire for EP and music video production in UK.[8] With the success of the funding, the band took a short stay in London and worked with Bradley Spence for the EP.

The "Atom (UK Mix)" video, as part of the project, was filmed near Brighton with the German photographer Julia Schönstädt.[9]

On July 6, 2020, Masaya and Tetsuya announced that Tetsuya would be leaving the band.[1]

In 2022, Mifune Masaya of ROTH BART BARON was featured on the song "You to You" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation which later appeared on Asian Kung-Fu Generation's album Planet Folks.[10]

In 2023, the song BLOW was released in collaboration with the Thai indie-pop band Safeplanet, as well as a new album titled 8.[11]

## Live Performances

[edit]

### Tours

[edit]

* ROTH BART BARON'S THE ICE AGE release tour 2014
* ROTH BART BARON'S THE ICE AGE release tour in North America 2014
* ATOM Tour 2015~2016 in Japan
* ASIA TOUR 2016 (18 June, Shanghai; 19 June, Beijing; 26 June, Gachuurt, 28 June, Taipei)
* HEX TOUR 2018-2019 in Japan
* The Name of the Beast TOUR 2019-2020 in Japan and Taiwan
* Loud Color(s)& Silence Festival TOUR 2020-2021 in Japan
* HAKU's Resurrection TOUR 2021-2022 in Japan
* HOWL TOUR 2022-2023 in Japan

### Festivals

[edit]

* Summer Sonic 2015 [12]
* Big Mountain Music Festival 2015[13]
* Play Time Festival 2016 [14]
* Fuji Rock Festival '16 [15]
* Rising Sun Rock Festival in Ezo '17 [16]

## Members

[edit]

* Mifune Masaya (三船雅也) - vocal, writer, guitar, bass, piano, electronics

## Discography

[edit]

### Albums

[edit]

Title  | Release Date  | Label  | Notes

|
|
|

ROTH BART BARON'S THE ICE AGE | April 16, 2014[17][18] | Felicity  |
ATOM | October 21, 2015[19][20] | Ranked 222nd on the Oricon Albums Chart[21]
HEX | November 7, 2018[22] |
The Name of the Beasts | November 6, 2019[23] |
Loud Color(s) & Silence Festival | October 14, 2020  | Space Shower Music |
The Name of the Beasts Tour Final - Live at Meguro Persimmon Hall | April 14, 2021  | A live album from the band's performance at Meguro Persimmon Hall
HAKU's Resurrection | November 24, 2021  |
My Small Land (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | April 27, 2022  | The soundtrack to the Japanese Film "My Small Land"
HOWL | November 9, 2022  |
8 | October 18, 2023  |

### EPs

[edit]

Title  | Release Date  | Label

|
|

ROTH BART BARON | October 15, 2010  | Self-Released
MONSTER MOUNTAIN AND CHOIRBOYS | December 13, 2012

### Demos

[edit]

Tile  | Release Date  | Label

|
|

Chocolate  | September 20, 2012  | Self-Released

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b BARON, ROTH BART (2020-07-06). "中原鉄也、脱退のお知らせ". rothbartbaron (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-15.
2. ^ "Biography". rothbartbaron (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-15.
3. ^ "Roth Bart Baron". Discogs. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
4. ^ "MySmallLand | rothbartbaron". 2022-06-17. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
5. ^ "ROTH BART BARON・三船雅也が「映像と音楽の関係」を語る─初の映画音楽を担当 | J-WAVE NEWS". J-WAVE NEWS | 音楽、映画、エンタメ「ここだけの話」 | J-WAVE 81.3 FM (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-08-14.
6. ^ "Roth Bart Baron gets theatrical on latest album, 'Atom' - The Japan Times". Japan Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
7. ^ "和製Fleet Foxesと称されるROTH BART BARON。The National、Kurt Vileらを手掛ける制作陣参加の1stアルバムを語る。 - ページ 2 / 3 - Qetic - 時代に口髭を生やすニュースメディア"けてぃっく"". qetic.jp. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
8. ^ "UKデビューに向け、イギリスでEP盤&ミュージックビデオを制作。 - CAMPFIRE（キャンプファイヤー）". CAMPFIRE（キャンプファイヤー）. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
9. ^ "Video Director London I Julia Schönstädt". Julia Schönstädt. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
10. ^ "ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION | プラネットフォークス". ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION | プラネットフォークス (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-17.
11. ^ "ROTH BART BARON Releases New Song BLOW feat. Safeplanet". Niew Media. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
12. ^ "LINE UP - SUMMER SONIC 2015". summersonic.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
13. ^ "PROGRAM". Big Mountain Music Festival. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
14. ^ "Хамтлагууд". Playtime Festival. Archived from the original on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
15. ^ smash-jpn.com. "FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL '16". fujirock-eng.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
16. ^ "RSR '17 Lineup". Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
17. ^ "ROTH BART BARON 『ロットバルトバロンの氷河期』". felicity (フェリシティ) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-17.
18. ^ "ROTH BART BARON 『ロットバルトバロンの氷河期 ※アナログ盤』". felicity (フェリシティ) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-17.
19. ^ "ROTH BART BARON 『ATOM [CD]』". felicity (フェリシティ) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-17.
20. ^ "ROTH BART BARON 『ATOM [LP]』". felicity (フェリシティ) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-06-17.
21. ^ "ATOM - ROTH BART BARON". oricon.co.jp. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
22. ^ "ROTH BART BARON 『HEX』". felicity (フェリシティ) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-10-29.
23. ^ "ROTH BART BARON 『けものたちの名前』". felicity (フェリシティ) (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-10-29.