Miyavi

Takamasa Ishihara (石原貴雅 Ishihara Takamasa, born on September 14, 1981), better known by his stage name MIYAVI (雅-MIYAVI-) is a Japanese visual kei musician. His work as guitarist for Dué le Quartz and his successful solo career have established him as an accomplished musician in the Japanese music scene.

Biography

Early life

Miyavi was born in Nishikujo, Japan, to a Japanese mother and second-generation Zainichi Korean father. While young, he moved to Kawanishi in Hyōgo Prefecture. Miyavi says that as a child, he was a good student and enjoyed playing soccer.

At 15, Miyavi bought his first guitar (though he initially planned to buy a bass guitar) and a multi-effector from money he had saved up himself and began writing music after a soccer injury left him unable to play.

1999-2004: Dué le Quartz and Indies Era

In 1999, at the age of 17, Miyavi joined the visual kei band Dué le Quartz where he was credited under the name, Miyabi. Upon Dué le Quartz’s dissolution in 2002, he announced that his plan to initiate a solo career and changing his name to Miyavi, releasing his debut album Gagaku soon after. He later signed a contract with PS Company, and eventually with Universal Music Group, becoming a major label artist. Miyavi’s significant change in music and visual styles after leaving Dué le Quartz caused much of his original audience to disperse, but attracted a new audience.

Prior to starring as himself in the 2003 film Oresama, Miyavi also starred alongside his former band mate Sakito, from Dué le Quartz, in Ryomano Tsumato Sono Ottoto Aijin.

Miyavi has been regularly featured in various Japanese rock magazines every month, such as Fools Mate, Arena 37c, and Shoxx. In the past he has also modeled in the Gothic & Lolita Bible and for various brands such as the clothing line Fotus.

In 2004 Miyavi was scheduled to perform at various conventions in the United States, but was forced to cancel at the last minute due to “staff issues”. One of the planned events had been a show at Pacific Media Expo, where the band Psycho le Cému acted as a substitute, while another was at Anime Central, where then-indies band Sid was booked as a replacement. He was also scheduled for Megacon, but no replacement was provided.

In 2004 the maxi-single “Ashita, Genki ni Naare” hit the number one spot on the Oricon indies chart.

2004-2006: Majors and pop/acoustic era

Following his signing with Universal Music Group in October 2004, Miyavi released his first major single “Rock no gyakushū -Superstar no jōken-/21 Seikigata Koushinkyoku” and began to credit himself in the song writing credits in his liner notes as MYV. His first major album, Miyavizm, was released in June 2005.

In late 2005 and for most of 2006, Miyavi shifted to an acoustic/pop sound reflected in his second and third albums, MYV Pops and Miyaviuta -Dokusou-, released in August and September 2006, respectively. Reflecting on MYV Pops, he had stated “it’s like putting all the songs that I created, presenting my own attitude towards “popularity”, into one album.” About Miyaviuta: Dokusou Miyavi said “…for the album I wanted to fit in with the quality of the songs themselves and absorb myself into my performance, playing acoustic guitar alone.”

Miyavi showcased his new acoustic style for the first time in his 25 Shūnen Kinen Koen Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijo 5 Days -Dokuso- concert series held at Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijo for five days around his 25th birthday in September 2006.

Miyavi left for America for the next six months. During a 2009 interview, he revealed that he went there to study English at a language school among people who had come there on a job search from all over the world. Regarding his school schedule, he said he went to language school “from seven in the morning till after noon, after which I went to dance class. Everyday, I had about eight hours of training, dancing, running. Then, I went home to do homework. On the weekends, my friends drove me to Venice Beach, and I’d do street performances.”

2007-2008: US debut, Neo Visualizm and S.K.I.N.

On December 30, 2006 Miyavi put out a message that he would be joining a band. On May 25, 2007 at the JRock Revolution concert organized by Yoshiki at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, it was officially announced that Miyavi would be a part of a band named S.K.I.N., which also consisted of solo artists Yoshiki, Gackt, and Sugizo.

S.K.I.N. performed their debut live at the 2007 Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, California on June 29, 2007.

On February 8, 2007, Miyavi announced via his online diary that he would be performing live in Las Vegas. The performance took place on February 17, 2007 at the Tabu Ultra Lounge in the MGM Grand.

In May 2007, Miyavi announced his fourth major album, as well as his first remix album, would be released in July. Remixed by TeddyLoid, the album, titled 7 Samurai Sessions -We’re Kavki Boiz-, features re-arrangements of his past songs and features a variety of instruments such as a turntable, various drums and tap dancing.^[22] The limited edition of the album included a DVD with bonus studio recording footage. Miyavi’s seventh major single (and 14th overall), a double A-side entitled “Sakihokoru Hana no you ni -Neo Visualizm- / Kabuki Danshi”, was released on June 20, 2007, and debuted at number four on the Oricon charts.The supporting tour, entitled “The Beginning of Neo Visualizm Tour”, started on July 16, and was planned for twenty venues in Japan and a stop inSouth Korea in six weeks.

On September 3, a new single “Subarashikikana, kono sekai – What A Wonderful World” was announced, and it was released on November 14, 2007.

Shortly after this release, Miyavi announced a new single—a collaboration with fellow S.K.I.N. guitarist Sugizo, entitled “Hi no hikari sae todokanai kono basho de”, which was released on January 16, 2008.

A new album was released in March 2008, titled This Iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock followed by two announcements at the last show of his 2007 Asia tour at Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall December 25, 2007; that of the release of the Official Bootleg Live at Shinkiba Coast live DVD and of This Iz The Japanese Kabuki Rock Tour 2008, his first world tour with performances in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

The tour kicked off with a fan-club only event at Shibuya-AX in Tokyo, in May 2008. The circuit was composed of 33 cities in 14 countries over a 3 month period, with the distance traveled approximately 48,385 miles, equivalent to a full trip around the world. Majority of the concerts were sold out and covered extensively by more than 200 different media organizations. It wrapped up with a performance in Tokyo on August 17, 2008.

On December 24 of the same year, Miyavi released This Iz The Original Samurai Style, his world tour DVD, a remix album, Room No. 382 (remixed by TeddyLoid), and the Peace&Smile Carnival Tour 2005 DVD (re-released after it initially sold out).

In a late 2008 interview, upon being asked where he wanted to go in the next ten years (personally or on tour), Miyavi expressed his desire to visit “Russia, Italy, Macao, Dubai, Antarctica, India,Thailand, Indonesia, New Orleans, Mexico, Argentina, Croatia, Mt. Fuji.”

2009–present: J-Glam, Inc.

Miyavi started 2009 with the 10th Anniversary Commemorative Performance along with all artists signed under the PS Company at the Nippon Budokan on January 3, for which the 13,000+ tickets sold out within three minutes of going on sale on November 22, 2008. On the day of the live, fans were sprawled in a line stretching from the Budokan to Kudanshita Station.

Near the end of the show, Miyavi accidentally revealed that a DVD of the event, Peace&Smile Carnival 2009, would be released on April 5, 2008.Two books titled PS Company 10th Anniversary Book Peace&Smile History 1998-2008 and Peace&Smile Carnival at Nippon Budokan were released on January 23 and February 9, 2009 respectively. While the PS Company 10th Anniversary Book Peace&Smile History 1998-2008 consisted of photo shoots and interviews with the participating artists (including Miyavi, Kagrra, Kra, the GazettE, Alice Nine, SuG and Screw), the Peace&Smile Carnival at Nippon Budokan in addition included exclusive backstage images, live reports, as well as a company-wide questionnaire.

On February 16, 2009 Miyavi announced that following the April 5 live, he would be “graduating” from PS Company after 10 years with them. (PS Company managed him since before his solo debut, when he was still in his previous band Dué le Quartz.) This was accompanied by a message from the president, Tomomi Ozaki. Following the live on April 7, Miyavi announced on his official website that he would be launching his own company, J-Glam, Inc., the next day (April 8), naming himself president Takamasa Ishihara.On the June 1, Miyavi released a new song named “Super Hero” through his official Myspace.

In March, he announced a second world tour. On October 21, 2009, Miyavi announced on his official Myspace that his USA tour for Neo Tokyo Samurai Black was canceled (Seattle, New York, Atlanta, and Dallas) due to an injury.

On Jan. 1st 2010, Miyavi announced a new record deal with EMI and the release of the DVD Neo Tokyo Samurai Black World Tour EO Vol.1 which is set for release on March 24, and the changing of his stage name to 雅-MIYAVI-.

On his “2010 Neo Tokyo Samurai Black World Tour”, Miyavi announced the single “Torture” would be released September 15, and his album What’s My Name? in October.