Hiroki Kamemoto

is a Japanese musician, best known as lead guitarist of the rock band Glim Spanky since 2007. Formed while the members were in high school, the group made their major label debut in 2014 and consists of Kamemoto and vocalist and rhythm guitarist Remi Matsuo.

Early life and joining Glim Spanky Hiroki Kamemoto was born in the rural Zakoji village of Iida, Nagano, Japan on August 24, 1990. He has a younger brother. Kamemoto has always been a fan of soccer and took lessons as a child. The first CDs Kamemoto ever bought were SMAP's "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana" and Naotarō Moriyama's "Sakura". Kamemoto bought an electric guitar from a Yahoo! Auction for about 8,000 yen, but did not have enough money for an amplifier, and so played without one. He and a friend who was also just starting an instrument formed a band, and he became more and more engrossed in music. In 2007, a fellow student whom Kamemoto worked with at the same part-time job became the bassist for Glim Spanky, a band formed and fronted by their underclassman Remi Matsuo. In November, the bassist assumed it was difficult for Matsuo to sing and play all of the guitar by herself, and recruited Kamemoto into the band without her permission. Kamemoto noted that Matsuo's parents and their acquaintances were all writing original songs, so it only felt natural for them to do so as well. Kamemoto explained that he had looked for musicians to form another band with in Nagoya, but could not find anyone good. Because he knew Matsuo was a good vocalist, he was confident they would be successful and said he had no hesitation transferring and moving to Tokyo. His parents told him he could go to Tokyo and play music during his four years of college, but that he must get a normal job after graduating. However, Kamemoto never had any intention of getting a company job and figured he just had to produce results in music within those four years.

Career Kamemoto and Matsuo resumed Glim Spanky activities as a duo in April 2010, utilizing support musicians. In June 2014 the band released their second mini-album and their major label debut, Shōsō, via EMI R (now known as Virgin Records). They have since released six full-length studio albums, with 2017's Bizarre Carnival being their highest-charting to date.

Kamemoto composed the music to "Kill Bear", the ending theme song of the 2016 film Hentaida. He then provided guitar to the theme songs of the 2020 anime film Earwig and the Witch. For the film's 2022 album Āya to Majo Songbook 13 Lime Avenue, which is credited to the fictional band "Earwig", Kamemoto played on every track and Glim Spanky contributed the songs "The House in Lime Avenue" and "A Black Cat". Kamemoto was asked to produce and co-arrange Crispy Camera Club's 2022 song "Natsu no Nukegara". He is a featured artist playing lead guitar on the track and appears in its music video. In 2024, he composed the music to "Rain Bird" and "To the Mothership", two songs by singer Xai. He also played guitar on the 2024 song "Nande Desu ka?" by Nijisanji's virtual YouTuber Ryushen.

Kamemoto has also provided several songs to other recording artists, where he is credited as the arranger and co-credited for the music together with Matsuo as Glim Spanky. Such as 2019's "Lady May", which they gave to the idol group Momoiro Clover Z and which features Kamemoto on guitar, "From the Seeds", a song that Mone Kamishiraishi sang as the opening theme for the 2020 second season of the 7 Seeds anime and also features guitar by Kamemoto, and "Kagami yo Kagami", a song they provided to the virtual singer KAF.

As part of Glim Spanky, Kamemoto collaborated with Tomoyasu Hotei on the song "Savage Sun", which they co-composed and co-performed for his 2020 album Soul to Soul, and worked with Kamishiraishi again on covers of "Aozora" by The Blue Hearts and "Ikareta Baby" by Fishmans for her 2021 album Ano Uta -2-. Also in 2021, they provided the song "Mikansei na Drama" to the band DISH, which Kamemoto arranged and provided guitar to. Kamemoto co-arranged and played guitar on "Candy Moon" for Maki Nomiya's 2022 album New Beautiful. Kamemoto co-composed, arranged and played guitar on the song "Sweet Magic" for Lisa's 2026 album Lace Up.

Since 2017, Kamemoto and Glim Spanky have appeared numerous times on the NHK television show The Covers, where recording artists discuss songs and perform covers. Kamemoto and Matsuo have made three guest acting appearances in the TV Asahi show Keishichō Sōsa Ichikachō, for which they contributed several theme songs. They appeared in episode six of 2017's second season as passersby, in the sixth episode of 2018's season three as street musicians, and in episode 16 of 2020's fourth season as different street performers. Kamemoto appears in the music video for Keisuke Kuwata's 2022 song "Nagisa Hotel".

Musicianship Kamemoto started playing guitar because of Glay, then moved on to Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, Oasis, Jimi Hendrix and Cream. He started listening to Western music of the 1960s and 1970s because Matsuo insisted that he listen to it every day. He has studied the guitar playing of Glay's Hisashi, as well as Joe Bonamassa. When approaching a song, Kamemoto said he thinks about the tone and "touch" very carefully, and tries to match the image of the song.

Matsuo is the principal songwriter of Glim Spanky's lyrics and music, but when she only has a guitar riff, chord progression or drum phrase before working with Kamemoto to turn it into a song, then both get credited for the music as Glim Spanky. Kamemoto is, however, frequently credited with a song's arrangement. "I am influenced by Remi", "I believe that she has a one-of-a-kind view of the world" and put a lot of effort into the arrangements in order to interpret the original songs she creates and make them sound like Glim Spanky. But Matsuo's Gibson Les Paul Special with a P-100 pickup provided a thicker sound, so the two switched guitars and Kamemoto used her Special early in their career. Both have whammy bars, specifically Bigsby vibrato tailpieces, which are uncommon on Gibson guitars. It is equipped with a Fishman Rare Earth Blend Soundhole pickup and GHS Phosphor Bronze S325 (012-054 gauge) strings. He also uses his roadie's Shinos 50-watt amp. Momoiro Clover Z Momoiro Clover Z 2019 Co-composer KAF 2021 Co-composer New Beautiful Maki Nomiya 2022 Co-arranger Crispy Camera Club 2022 Featured artist, producer, co-arranger, and lead guitar Lace Up Lisa 2026 Co-composer