Remi Matsuo
Formed by Matsuo in her first year of high school, the group made their major label debut in 2014 and consists of her and lead guitarist Hiroki Kamemoto.
[1] This saw her fall in love with classic rock, and she started listening to The Beatles and Led Zeppelin and watching Woodstock DVDs.
[7] Eventually, the bassist assumed it was difficult for Matsuo to play all of the guitar by herself and recruited another guitarist into the band without her permission in November; Hiroki Kamemoto.
[1][7][11] Matsuo found that Kamemoto was not only committed to the band, but was also able to immediately understand and provide the guitar parts she wanted for songs.
[7] Matsuo would go to the closed down karaoke bar they rented in Iida, Nagano directly after school, practice all day, and have her parents pick her up at night.
[5] However, her father strongly felt she should attend a foreign university and Matuso said it might have been harder to get his permission than it was to study for the entrance exam.
[13] Matsuo and Kamemoto resumed Glim Spanky activities as a duo in April 2010, utilizing support musicians.
[4] Matsuo stated that their first four years playing live houses in Tokyo were difficult, but because they were particular about their sound, stage presence, costumes and artwork, she was confident that the music industry would not leave behind a band with such a complete package.
[18] Matsuo has provided several songs to other recording artists, where she is credited for the lyrics and co-credited for the music together with Kamemoto as Glim Spanky.
Such as 2019's "Lady May", which they gave to the idol group Momoiro Clover Z,[19] "From the Seeds", a song that Mone Kamishiraishi sang as the opening theme for the 2020 second season of the 7 Seeds anime and which Matsuo participated in the chorus on,[20][21] and "Kagami yo Kagami", a song they provided to the virtual singer KAF.
[22] As part of Glim Spanky, Matsuo collaborated with Tomoyasu Hotei on the song "Savage Sun", which they co-composed and co-performed for his 2020 album Soul to Soul,[23] and worked with Kamishiraishi again on covers of "Aozora" by The Blue Hearts and "Ikareta Baby" by Fishmans for her 2021 album Ano Uta -2-.
[26] Matsuo wrote, composed, produced and sang backing vocals on "Candy Moon" for Nomiya's 2022 album New Beautiful.
[31] Matsuo and Kamemoto have made three guest acting appearances in the TV Asahi show Keishichō Sōsa Ichikachō, for which they contributed several theme songs.
[37] In 2017, merchandise featuring Matsuo's variation on The Rolling Stones' tongue and lips logo was sold as part of an official collaboration between the English band and Glim Spanky.
[38][39] She took the selfie used as the artwork for her band's cover of "Whiskey ga, Osuki Desho" (2022),[40] and designed the logo used in 2024 for the 10th anniversary of their major label debut.
[41] From October 2015 to January 2017, Matsuo wrote a column on the website FanplusMusic titled "LOVE FAV LIFE".
[12][50] However, she is not a particular fan of Joplin and this comparison and the subsequent assumption that she was influenced by her because she covered one song for a commercial bothered Matsuo until Kamemoto convinced her it was a positive thing.
[57][58] She also continues to use the first guitar she ever owned, a Gibson Les Paul Special that was probably made in the late 1980s and has had its pickups replaced and other modifications.
[1] Early in Glim Spanky's career, the Special and its P-100 pickup provided a thicker sound than the single coil guitar Kamemoto was using, so the two switched and used each other's instruments for a period of time.
[59] For acoustic play, Matsuo has used a Heritage Cherry Sunburst Gibson Hummingbird since the band's major debut in 2014.
