It all began in Rubber Soul, the live house in Tokyo's Kokubunji district.
Late 2003 - Dom Pates (formerly of Britain's The Zamora) wandered in and met bar owner Cheryo. Dom asked for a track for an album he was producing. The song 'Hallelujah Jambo' by Cheryo & The Berovolas, originally written in Kenya with local musicians, appeared on the 'Peace Not War Japan' compilation when released in 2006.
They later decided to put their own band together. Brother Chisato was drafted in on drums and a bass player added. The name Shelf Life was suggested as everything in Tokyo seems to have an expiry date.
Shelf Life's first show was at Rubber Soul at the end of 2004, a set of rock and blues standards from pop's back pages. The first bass player left in 2006 and was replaced by Jun, a veteran of the Tokyo rock scene. The present line-up was then completed.
The same year, Shelf Life wrote their first original song. 'Vonnegut's Blues' was inspired by a diatribe from the late American writer Kurt Vonnegut against the actions of the Bush Administration.
In 2007, the band started work on their own album of original material. Dom and Cheryo set about crafting a set of songs, drawing lyrical inspiration from the Iraq War, Global Warming, expatriation and the city of Tokyo itself. Musical inspiration was drawn from The Beatles, The Who and The Clash, amongst others.
The resulting collection, 'Best Before End' was released on December 8th 2007 on Sounds Phenomenal Recordings, the 27th anniversary of John Lennon's death and Rubber Soul's 5th birthday.
Dom returned to the UK in early 2008, though the band vowed to carry on. Following a summer iTunes release of 'Best Before End', Shelf Life played their first overseas live dates with shows in Brighton and London.
The future holds distance collaborations and one-off special live events in store...
