Visual Kei Music: miyavi/雅～みやび～

Miyavi (birthname Takamasa Ishihara (石原貴雅 Ishihara Takamasa^?); born on September 14, 1981) is a Japanese recording artist and entertainer. He was the guitarist for Dué le Quartz which was active from 1999 to 2002, and the guitarist for the supergroup S.K.I.N., which was active in 2007. Miyavi is active in the current visual kei and mainstream rock scene in Japan.

Biography

Early life

Miyavi was born in Konohana-ku, Osaka, Japan to a Japanese mother and second-generation Zainichi Korean father.^{[citation needed]} 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.

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 (おれさま), Miyavi also starred alongside his former band mate Sakito, from Dué le Quartz, in Ryomano Tsumato Sono Ottoto Aijin.

Miyavi is regularly featured in various Japanese rock magazines every month, such as Fools Mate, Arena 37c, and Shoxx. In the past he has also modelled 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 Japanese 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 1 spot on the Oricon indies chart.

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. He has said of MYV☆POPS, "It's like putting all the songs that I created, presenting my own attitude towards "popularity", into one album." AboutMiyaviuta ~Dokusou~ Miyavi says "...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 stylings 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 usual language school among people who had come there on their job search from all over the world. His schedule consisted of language school "from seven in the morning till after noon, after which [he] 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.”

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., so far consisting of Yoshiki, Gackt, Sugizo, Miyavi himself.

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 - to be released in July. The album, titled 7 Samurai Sessions -We're Kavki Boiz-, will feature re-arrangements of his past songs and will feature a variety of instruments such as a turntable, various drums and tap dancing. The limited edition of the album included a DVD with bonus studio recording footage however it has long been sold out. Miyavi's 7th 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 #4 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 in 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.

2008 World Tour

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’s C.C. Lemon HallDecember 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 the Shibuya AX in Tokyo, in May 2008. The circuit was composed of 33 cities in 14 countries over a 3 month period - a first in J-rock scene - with the distance travelled 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 24th of the same year, Miyavi released: This Iz The Original Samurai Style, his world tour DVD, a remix album, Room No. 382, and the Peace&Smile Carnival Tour 2005DVD (re-released after it initially sold out).

2009

Miyavi started 2009 as the headliner for the PS Company 10th Anniversary Commemorative Performance 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 famously revealed that a DVD of the event, Peace&Smile Carnival 2009 would be released on April 5, 2008, by accident.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.

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."

On February 16, 2009 Miyavi announced that following the April 5th live, he would be graduating from PS Company after 10 years with them. (Although Miyavi is a Universal artist, 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 1st of June, Miyavi released a new song named SuperHero on his official Myspace.

In the March, he announced the second world tour.

On October 21, 2009, Miyavi announced on his official Myspace that his USA tour for NEO TOKYO SAMURAI BLACK was cancelled (Seattle, New York, Atlanta, and Dallas) due to an injury.

On Jan. 1st 2010, 雅-MIYAVI- has announced a new record deal with EMI and the release of the DVD “NEO TOKYO SAMURAI BLACK WORLD TOUR Vol.1” which is set for release on March 24th, and the changing of his artist name logo to 雅-MIYAVI-.