Maynard and Blaise Plant are musical brothers from Ottawa who front the celebrated rock group MONKEY MAJIK, a four-piece hybrid rock band comprised of Maynard and Blaise (vocals and guitars) along with their Japanese bandmates, Tax (drums) and Dick (bass). Since their major release through binyl records in 2006, their music has been used widely for television, film and commercials. They have also provided songs to notable J-pop stars such as SMAP and Every Little Thing. MONKEY MAJIK’s approach to music reflects the group’s members, with Japanese and English flowing naturally together through their lyrics, and melodies characterised by a universality which evokes emotions and memories in its listeners. They are a unique group producing “free and borderless” music that defies categorization.
MONKEY MAJIK’s second single “Around the World” was an explosive hit and used as the opening theme to the Fuji Television drama Journey to the West. Another hit “Sora wa marude” was used for a popular commercial and established them firmly as artists. Appointed Special Ambassadors in 2008 to promote the 80th Anniversary of Canada-Japan relations, they had the honour the following year of performing in front of Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress of Japan in Ottawa. In January 2011, MONKEY MAJIK was appointed Goodwill and Tourism Ambassadors for the Tohoku region of Japan. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami they organized a Tohoku restoration project called “SendAi” (“Send Love”). They held their third “SendAi” charity concert in December 2012, and continue to support the recovery efforts of the area.
In 2015 MONKEY MAJIK celebrated their 15th anniversary by performing for the first time at Tokyo’s Budokan in front of 8,000 fans. In October of the same year, they released an album titled, MONKEY MAJIK BEST – A.RI.GA.TO – a collection of their best songs. In March 2016, they released their latest album Southview and have been on a nationwide tour.
Japan Festival CANADA and the Consulate-General of Japan are proud to present a rare acoustic performance by Maynard and Blaise. Don’t miss their special performance on August 26!!