Dir en Grey

Dir en grey (ディル・アン・グレイ ,Diru An Gurei?) is a Japanese band formed in 1997 and currently signed to Firewall Div., a sub-division of Free-Will. As of 2008, they have recorded seven full-length records and while the group's lineup has remained consistent since its inception, numerous stylistic changes have made its music's genre difficult to determine (though it is generally considered to be a form of rock music). Originally associated with Japan's visual kei movement, the band has opted for less flamboyant attire in recent years.[1][2]

Dir en grey has toured through Asia, Europe and North America;[3][4] Billboard commenting on the group's international fanbase, that the band "has transcended the language barrier in the United States through its music" and "gained its audience without singing in English"

The Gazette

The Gazette (ガゼット ,Gazetto?, typeset as the GazettE) is a Japanese [1] band formed in early 2002, currently signed to PS Company, King Records and CLJ Records.

In March 2002, Ruki, Uruha, and Reita (all former band mates), and Aoi and Yune (also former band mates) formed a band under the name Gazette.[2] Originally signed to Matina, they released their first single, "Wakaremichi", and a video release in April. By September they had released two more singles and another video, headlining a show for the first time in October.

In early 2003, Yune decided to leave the band, and he was replaced by Kai. Shortly after, they signed with the PS Company label, and in May released their first EP, Cockayne Soup. They started their first tour, with the band Hanamuke, and along with the tour, the bands collaborated on two songs. A second tour followed with the band Vidoll, and the bands were featured together on the November issue of Cure, a magazine focusing on Visual Kei bands.[3]

In early December they played a co-headlining show with Deadman. On December 28 they performed at Fool's Mate magazine's Beauti-fool's Fest which was later released on DVD.

On January 16, 2004 they recorded a solo performance at the Shibuya-AX, which was released on DVD as Tokyo saihan ~Judgement Day~.[2] On March 30, 2004 they released their Madara mini-album, which reached #2 on the Oricon Indie Charts. Madara was followed in May by a companion DVD, which included six music videos and an in-the-studio documentary. The same month, Gazette was featured in Shoxx magazine's Expect Rush III, a catalogue of independent Visual Kei artists.[4] A second live DVD, Heisei Banka, was released in August.[2] During September and October they toured with fellow PS Company bands Kra and BIS. Their debut album, Disorder, was released in October, and made it to the top 5 of the indies Oricon Daily Charts.

The band spent the remainder of 2004 and 2005 touring extensively, releasing Gama (another mini album) in August.

In 2005 the band released their first major label single, Cassis, in December.[5]

Starting 2006 with a name change—from Japanese characters to a romanized script—they released Nil, their second full-length album, on February 8, 2006,[2] and embarked on another Japanese tour, ending at the venue Nippon Budokan.[6] That July, The Gazette performed at the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany, their first show outside of Asia. The concerts were arranged in conjunction with the AnimagiC anime and manga convention.[7]

Three more singles were released followed by another studio album, Stacked Rubbish on July 4, 2007. It reached #2 on the Oricon charts within a day from the release. The album debut was followed by a promotional tour from July through September. In October, The Gazette started their first European tour stopping England, Finland, France, and Germany.

A single called "Guren" was released on February 13, 2008, which landed a #1 spot on the Oricon Charts, and it was announced that a new DVD would be released in August, and a new single Leech in Autumn 2008 [8], which also landed a #1 spot on the Oricon daily charts.[9]

The Gazette accomplished a one man tour through all of October called "From the Distorted City", referencing to the song "Distorted Daytime" in their single "Leech". It portrays Tokyo as a Distorted City, in terms of the society and political crisis sweeping over Japan in current days. "From the Distorted City" illustrates 'A Message from the Distorted City of Tokyo'.

On November 15, 2008, the GazettE hosted their first Secret Live in Shinjuku Station. Originally, around 250 people were to be anticipated, but instead, over 7000 came to the live, the most in history. Due to the amount of people on the streets, the police were forced to shut it down after two songs. [9][10] On 3rd January 2009, the GazettE performed alongside their fellow bands signed to the PS company label to celebrate the record labels 10th anniversary where they announce that on March 25, 2009, they will release a new single called "Distress and Coma". In addition to their new single the band have announced that they will be releasing a new album "DIM" on July 15th.

Along with "DIM"'s release, the band will be having another Japan-wide summer tour starting July 2009, the tour final to be on September 5th at Saitama Super Arena.


Members

* Ruki – vocals
* Uruha – guitar
* Aoi – guitar
* Reita – bass guitar
* Kai – drums

Former members

* Yune – drums

Kaya (Japanese musician)

Kaya (迦夜 ?) is a Japanese musician, who was a vocalist of the now defunct electro/darkwave duo Schwarz Stein (2001-2004) and also Meties and Isola under the alias of Hime. Originally on his own label, Kaya recently signed to a Japanese record label next muxic inc., and the label name was changed to next media communications inc. Aside from his vocal talents[who?], Kaya is also known for his androgynous appearance, elegant dress and collaborations with Hora (ex-Schwarz Stein) & Kalm (ex-Velvet Eden).

Schwarz Stein

Schwarz Stein was a Japanese electronic music band formed by Hora and Kaya in 2001 (as "Rudolf Steiner") and disbanded in 2004.

Schwarz Stein was a darkwave/electronic-based project, creating dark songs during their three years of activity.

During its three years of activity, the group consisted of Kaya on vocals (ex-ISOLA) and Hora (ex-Velvet Eden) as keyboardist and programmer. The two originally worked together under the alias Rudolf Steiner until their signing to ex-Malice Mizer guitarist Mana's record label Midi:Nette. Upon their 're-formation', Mana discarded the name Rudolf Steiner and christened the duo "Schwarz Stein" (pseudo-German for "Black Stone").

Prior to their name change, two demo tapes (Queen of Decadence and Perfect Garden) had been released. A re-worked version of Perfect Garden was later created as their Midi:Nette debut single. Schwarz Stein went on to release their first full album New Vogue Children in June 2003, the single Current in November of the same year, and then their final album Artificial Hallucination in February 2004. They opened for Moi dix Mois on several occasions, played at various events, and also made a number solo appearances as well.

Following their last performance on March 29, 2004, Schwarz Stein officially disbanded due to creative differences between its two members. The band was briefly reunited for the "Dis Inferno III: Last Year Party" event on December 15, 2004, hosted by their former label Midi:Nette.

A collaboration CD "Another Cell" was released in April 2006, limited to 1000 copies and only available for order through Kaya's official site. This limited edition CD features re-mixed/re-worked versions of Rudolf Steiner's "kuro ageha" as well as several songs from Hora's first CD "INNER UNIVERSE", making up three of the eight total tracks.

Versailles (Japanesse band)

Versailles (known as Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet- in the United States) is a Japanese metal band formed in 2007. It is composed of several notable figures in the visual kei scene. Versailles' key characteristics are their renaissance-esque costumes, dueling guitar sounds and heavy but melodic arrangements.

2007: Formation

In March 2007, Versailles was formed by Kamijo (ex-Lareine), Hizaki (ex-Sulfuric Acid), and Jasmine You (ex-Jyakura). Later, Teru (ex-Aikaryu) and Yuki (ex-Sugar Trip), who were recommended by the Rock May Kan venue in Tokyo joined the band.

Kamijo and Hizaki created the concept of Versailles in the autumn of 2006 and spent six months gathering members to express it. Their band concept is “the absolute youshikibi (beauty of form) sound and extremes of aestheticism”. In March 2007 the details of the band were announced. They released promotional material through the Internet, set up an English language page on MySpace, and had several interviews with foreign press.

Versailles made their first appearance with a showcase on June 23, followed by their first performance on June 24. On these dates they also distributed their first single and DVD single, The Revenant Choir.

The band signed a contract with the German CLJ Records label and released its first album, Lyrical Sympathy on October 31, both in Japan and Europe.[1] Their song "The Love From A Dead Orchestra" also appears on a compilation album released by Sony BMG in Germany on November 9, called Tokyo Rock City.

[edit] 2008: Noble

In 2008, Versailles made their first appearances in Europe and United States. In March and April, the band performed cooperatively with Matenrou Opera across Europe.[2] Versailles was later invited to perform by Tainted Reality later performed shows on May 30 at Project A-Kon in Dallas, Texas and on June 3 at the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, California as their American debut.[3] Teru stated in the band's official blog that the concert at Project A-Kon pulled in more than 3,000 people and the Knitting Factory show sold out completely.[4][5]

On July 9, 2008, Versailles digitally released their first full album, Noble, exclusively on international iTunes Music Stores. This was followed by its general Japanese CD release on July 16 and its international CD release on July 30.

Following the release of Noble, Versailles' Japanese record label announced on August 19, 2008 that they received notice of a musician in the United States already using the name "Versailles".[6] The Japanese band was compelled to create a new promotional name in order to proceed with their plans to tour in the United States again, so they called upon their fans to send in ideas.[6] On September 14, 2008 the band announced on their website that their new name for the U.S. was to be "Versailles -Philharmonic Quintet-", but that they planned to continue using their original name in Japan and elsewhere outside of the America.[7] "Prince" is the title of their first single released under the new name and it was available as a free digital download.

[edit] 2009: Going Major

Kamijo announced at the C.C.Lemon Hall oneman that Versailles will be going major in June 2009, both in Japan and internationally on Warner Japan. They will simulatenously be releasing their first major single, 'Ascendead Master' on June 24th.

Versailles' have announced their last indies' tour in Japan, with live dates from March till April. It has been entitled 「The Fragment Collectors」.

Juka (musician)

Juka (Japanese. ジュカ, rumored to be named 藤本大樹, en. Fujimoto Hiroki; born October 4, probably 1981 in Yamaguchi, Japan) is a Japanese musician who came first into the scene when being recruited by famous Visual Kei artist Mana for his solo project Moi dix Mois.

Moi dix Mois

When Mana discovered Juka in 2002, nothing in particular was known about him. Like his band colleague Kazuno he was a newcomer to the Japanese music scene. While Juka was in Moi dix Mois, they produced three singles, two albums and two live DVDs as well as countless live concerts with the band, even in Germany and France. Juka left Moi dix Mois right after the Invite to Immorality Tour Final concert on April 30, 2005. The official reason given for his departure was musical differences. As a result of lacking a vocalist, Mana's fellow band members Kazuno and Tohru also decided to leave the band soon after. From there, Moi dix Mois had to be formed completely anew.

[edit] HIZAKI grace project

At the end of 2006, the Japanese guitarist HIZAKI announced that he would release a new album named Dignity of Crest in the beginning of 2007 with his solo project, HIZAKI grace project, which included Juka as their vocalist. The participation of Juka caused all copies to be sold out within two months (Source: CDJapan.co.jp). A live DVD named 紋章 (en. monshou) was released on May 5, 2007. It contains the complete live footage of HIZAKI grace project's Japan tour final concert on February 17. Furthermore, HIZAKI released a second album called Ruined Kingdom on September 19 which contained some tracks of the live again as well as three new songs featuring Juka in his last recordings for HIZAKI grace project. He officially left the band after the concert at Omotesandou FAB on October 5, 2007. During the 日本耽美革命 (en. nihon tanbi kakumei) tour in November 2007, Juka performed as support vocalist along with KAMIJO and Kaya.

[edit] ノード・オブ・スケルツォ (Node of Scherzo)

In March 2007, the ノード・オブ・スケルツォ (en. Node of Scherzo) event took place. Juka takes the role of vocalist alongside Kamijo and Kaya while HIZAKI and Jasmine You support the three on guitar and bass. According to KAMIJO, the show is supposed to be a theatrical show combined with music and illumination effects. While Juka and Jasmine You represent the dark side, KAMIJO and HIZAKI form their opposite as the light side. Between them stands Kaya personifying beauty. A certain focus is cast on the tragic love story of Juka and Jasmine You. When the three vocalists performed a new specifically created song at the end of the show, the song found so much approval of the audience, that they decided after a second Node of Scherzo show in May 2007 to record this song on a CD. It was finally released on October 31, 2007. The buyers of all Halloween releases by the labels トロイメライ (ger. Träumerei, en. reverie) and Sherow Artist Society, which are Carmilla (by Kaya), Saint Croix (by Juka), Lyrical Sympathy (by Versailles) and for sure the Node of Scherzo single were given the possibility to obtain a special live clip DVD by sending all the coupons to be found on the obi slip wrapped around the CD case on a special slip of paper together with 5 80 Yen stamps to the label by December 12, 2007. The DVD contained a 5 minutes live clip accompanied with the Node of Scherzo song. Further performances of the song could be seen during the national tour 日本耽美革命 (translation see above).

[edit] Solo career

In the middle of February 2007 Juka announced the start of his solo career while continuing the activities with HIZAKI. He also announced the upcoming release of his first maxi single Aravesque on March 28, 2007 which is produced by the vocalist of the Visual Kei band Lareine KAMIJO as well as HIZAKI and Juka himself. The three tracks provide a large style selection. While the first song Aravesque makes the listener remember of Mana's sinister gothic sounds, the second track S is definitely leading into the direction of metal music. The third track aimless has much in common with a French song called Chanson and doesn't share any kind of style with one of the first two tracks. Furthermore, all tracks are on the disc as instrumental tracks too. Another release called Luxurious in the shape of a mini album was announced for June 2007. However, the official homepage does not contain any live dates as of now. Juka released his second single "Saint Croix" on October 31, 2007. Juka announced he will be "pausing" all of his musical activities at the end of 2007 due to circumstances of personal matter; all future plans are on hold/cancelled.

[edit] Seventh Sense

Seventh Sense was going to be a new band for Juka to sing for, tentatively featuring Kazuno, the first bassist of Moi dix Mois. However, due to Juka withdrawing himself from the music scene, this band is to be canceled and the new Omnibus that Seventh Sense would have been featured on, will now feature Juka singing 水面華 (en. suimenka) instead. Juka will release a best album on February 6, 2008 called Seventh Sense.

Kazuno (musician)

Kazuno is a Visual kei and Japanese rock artist

Kazuno became popular after being recruited by the popular visual kei artist ,Mana (musician) ,to be the bassist for the band, Moi dix Mois in 2002. Kazuno was new to the visual kei/Japanese rock music scene and this was one of his first bands. Kazuno along with drummer Tohru left Moi dix Mois soon after the lead vocalist,Juka, quit in 2005.On January 12,2006, Kazuno played a solo session with ex.X JAPAN bassist, Heath.The support band was called Lynx. Kazuno's former bandmember, Tohru played drums for this session. Kazuno was a live guest for ex.Schwarz Stein Vocalist,Kaya for one concert. The latest activity of Kazuno was with ex.Moi dix Mois vocalist, Juka. Kazuno and Juka created a band called Seventh sense but, this band was cancelled after Juka announced that he would put a halt on all musical activity.