TEE is a five piece flute-front progressive rock band from Tokyo, Japan.
The origin of TEE was formed in 2005 as an euro-rock (PFM, Area, etc.) cover band named ‘Euro Express’. After the 1st gig in May 2006, the band decided to play original materials then the band name was changed to ‘The Earth Explorer’. The original line-up was Katsumi Yoneda (guitar), Ryuji Yonekura (keyboards, ex Interpose+), Kenji Imai (flute) and Yukio Iigahama (bass). The line-up was completed with the addition of drummer Takayuki Asada later.
The band started to play regularly in the Tokyo area. A live recording for their first demo album were carried out on their 3rd gig in July, 2007. 'First Voyage –
Live in Crazy Jam' was released in December 2007. With regular gigs and the demo live album release, TEE was building up reputations among Japanese prog lovers. TEE’s sound was being
recognized as ‘European’ because of its non-Japanese taste and the background of the band.
In fall of 2008, the band recorded their first studio album 'The Earth Explorer'. The official band name was changed to 'TEE' upon the release. TEE was invited to play in the most famous Japanese prog festival, POSEIDON festival, in November 2008 and the performance was praised by prog critics. The 1st studio album 'The Earth Explorer' was released from Musea Records for worldwide distribution in March 2009.
In May 2010, TEE performed in Prog'Sud 2010、one of the largest prog rock festivals in Europe, at Marseille, France.
In summer of 2011, the band recorded their second studio album 'Trans-Europe Expression'. The album was released in January, 2012 from Musea Records. The album was nominated Best Foreign Record 2012 by ProgAwards, Italy.
In winter of 2015 - 2016, the band recorded their third studio album 'Tales of Eternal Entities'. The album was released on March 11th, 2016 from Musea Records.
In winter of 2021 - spring of 2022, the band recorded their fourth studio album 'Total Edge Effect'. The album will be released on July 2nd, 2022 from Pretentious Dinosaur Records.
Click on the photo for biography