The Winking Owl

The Winking Owl is a pop rock band hailing from Takasaki, Gunma, Japan, founded in 2010 by guitarist Yoma. As the founding guitarist, Yoma enrolled in a music school in the United States after completing high school, where he also played in the band Cloud Highland. During this period, the band explored a genre reminiscent of female-vocalist bands like Paramore, which left a significant influence on Yoma. Although he initially planned to stay in America, visa and band-related challenges led him to return to Japan when his visa expired. Despite the setbacks, Yoma's passion for music persisted, and he decided to recruit members to a new band in Japan. Luiza, the band's vocalist, had been Yoma's junior in high school, and the two previously played together in their school's light music club band. When seeking a vocalist for The Winking Owl, Yoma decided to invite Luiza, who brought her unique sensibility as a person of Japanese-Romanian heritage, infusing the band's sound with an expansive and captivating vocal style. Luiza grew up listening to Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears and other pop stars. She later discovered Evanescence, which ignited her interest in diverse genres, including instrumental music and jazz. Ranmalu got inspired to play instruments by bands like Sex Pistols and The Clash during his upbringing. In his teenage years, he delved into the screamo genre and became a guitarist. He later embraced becoming a dedicated bassist after joining The Winking Owl. Ranmalu left the band, but decided to rejoin in March 2019. KenT became the band's drummer in September 2015, succeeding former drummers Yosuke and Hiroki. Raised in Mie Prefecture, he grew up watching bands perform due to his parents being event organizers. This led him to start playing drums, and he became a fan of Slipknot. The Winking Owl's distinctive musical style emerged from an amalgamation of diverse influences, including emo, alternative rock, pop punk, and anime rock. The band has expressed that there are few female vocal rock bands of this type, and while playing with other bands, they sometimes found it challenging to find a perfect match and felt slightly out of place, but acknowledged that this uniqueness was part of the band's appeal. Unfortunately, The Winking Owl is currently on an indefinite hiatus following the departure of Luiza on July 15, 2020. The band announced on their official website that Luiza would be leaving the group due to differences in direction, leading to the decision for the band to be on hiatus. After receiving Luiza's intention to withdraw, each member, along with the staff, re-evaluated their future activities and lives, leading to the conclusion of the hiatus. In addition, scheduled performances of PRAISE "MAKE A RIOT TOUR 2020 FINAL" and "KNOTFEST JAPAN 2020" transfer performances were canceled. Since the hiatus, Luiza has embarked on a solo career. The band members currently on hiatus include Yoma on guitar and as the main songwriter, alongside Ranmalu on bass and KenT on drums. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.