Electric Eel Shock is a Japanese rock trio that powerfully combines classic rock, metal, and punk influences with a gritty garage rock delivery.
Aki Morimoto (vocals/guitar) and Kazuto Maekawa (bass) were first brought together over a mutual obsession with Black Sabbath while in school in Osaka. They played together in a pop/rock band in Tokyo, but after the band broke up, Morimoto turned to fishing while Maekawa briefly joined the popular Japanese funk band the Apollos as a session bassist. It was here that Maekawa first met drummer Tomoharu Ito — who interestingly enough loves to play naked — and upon hooking back up with Morimoto, Electric Eel Shock was born, initially as an 11-piece band. Scheduling practices quickly became too hard, thus causing EES to strip down to their present threesome.
Without wasting time, the guys started making an impact on the Japanese independent rock scene, starting Micro Music with friends to release their first full-length, Maybe I Think, We Can Beat Nirvana, following it up with Live Punctured. In 1999, EES recorded Slayer Bay Blues and pressed enough for their first U.S. tour. Initial gigs in and around N.Y.C. with friends were highly successful, so after a brief return home, they soon went back to America, touring for two years straight.