When looking at the pedigree of rock quartet Muddy Apes, it's hard not to mention the term "supergroup." After all, the band's members — which consist of bassist Taka Hirose of British rock act Feeder, guitarist Kiyonobu "Inoran" Inoue of Japanese arena-rock band Luna Sea, vocalist Masaki "Maeson" Maenosono of Japanese rock group 8otto, and Feeder supporting guitarist Dean Tidey — are all established and successful musicians, albeit in different scenes, genres and countries. But for the musicians themselves, it's just about getting together with a couple of friends and making music.

"To be honest, I only knew of Luna Sea by name. I didn't know what they sounded like," says Hirose with a laugh while speaking to The Japan Times at a rehearsal space in Tokyo's Sangenjaya neighborhood. Hirose, who is based in London, just flew into Tokyo a day earlier. "But I thought Inoran was a good guy. He would take Feeder out for drinks when we were in Japan and would take really good care of us."

Formed in 2012, the idea for the group was planted by Hirose and Inoran, who knew each other through mutual acquaintances. Initially just drinking buddies, the two gravitated toward each other and ended up working together on one of Inoran's singles. As the two began exchanging ideas, Hirose brought on Tidey, who he had previously played with in Feeder. Hirose then turned to Masafumi "Gotch" Goto of rock band Asian Kung-Fu Generation, as well as Takahiro "Dawa" Wada of Flake Records in Osaka, asking for recommendations for singers.