Kenta Hayashi

Kenta Hayashi

Kenta Hayashi is a Japanese solo musician and “one man band” known for building layered live performances with vocals, guitar, effects, percussion and electronic beats. His sound combines rock, funk, blues, acoustic music, psychedelic music, trance, electronica, dub, jam and jazz, often with overtone harmonies over a rhythmic base.

Background

Hayashi comes from Gifu, Japan, and moves to the United States after graduating from high school at 18. He settles in Los Angeles, where he forms the alternative funk rock band Four Minutes Til Midnight, also known as FMTM.

Four Minutes Til Midnight

Four Minutes Til Midnight gains attention for its live shows and wins battle-of-the-bands competitions in Los Angeles in 2006 and Las Vegas in 2010. The group tours internationally and works with Common Sense, Ozomatli, Greyboy Allstars, The Expendables, Bargain Music, Norwood Fisher of Fishbone, Lenny Castro, and Larry Dunn of Earth, Wind & Fire. In 2009, the band reaches No. 1 on the USEN Japanese indie music chart.

Solo work

Alongside the band, Hayashi continues as the Kenta Hayashi Solo Project, performing more than 160 solo shows a year around the world. His solo live set uses looping to create an orchestral scale of sound from a single performer. A release titled The Resonance In Your Soul is listed among his recordings.