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 The all-girl Japanese ska band has been picked to feature in a major Hollywood production.
The teenage band caught the eye of Barry Rosenbush, the executive producer of 'High School Musical', who chose them after he saw one of their music videos. High School Musical itself was a made for TV movie that ended up winning an Emmy Award and selling more then 5 million DVDs worldwide.
The film has a music-themed story and is centered around an American student living in Japan, who befriends Oreskaband after hearing them perform at a live concert. After the American student returns to the US, her Japanese friends decide to visit her and play a few gigs. They soon then become a huge hit.
The six members of Oreskaband all hail from Osaka and they released their first mini-album last summer, titled 'Ore'. They started gathering attention after playing at the Fuji Rock Festival and also being chosen for an advertising campaign to promote the Japanese snack Pocky. Their song 'Pinocchio' was later used for an ending theme for the anime Naruto.
They graduated from their high school in March this year and then proceeded to tour the US, playing in Los Angeles and San Francisco at the SXSW music showcase. Last month, another of their songs, 'Tsumasaki' was featured for the ending of another anime, Bleach.
After Rosenbush watched Oreskaband perform in Japan last fall, he was so impressed that he immediately offered the girls the role.
The leader of the band, aptly named 'Leader', was took a lot from their experience in the US, "Our music was the only way we could express ourselves" she says. "I learned then that all we really have to do is play, all six of us."
Saki, who plays the trumpet in the band, was excited about their prospects, ""Many people will get to know about us through the film. It's a big jump-start, but we will do all we can, step by step. We plan to keep our priority on performing."
At their graduation, more then a thousand people came to see them perform at the school. "Now that we've graduated high school, we can put all our energy into our music," Ikasu, their singer and guitarist said. "I feel like we six can do anything if we stick together. There's nothing to worry about if we have each other."
The film will start shooting this fall in Japan and the US. It's planned to open in theatres next year. Oreskaband's first full album 'WAO!!' is released on the 23rd of this month.
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