Chachamaru
| Chachamaru | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | 藤村幸宏 (Yukihiro Fujimura) |
| Born |
 March 3, 1960Kyoto Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | Rock, Metal, Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, singer, composer, producer, arranger |
| Instruments | Guitar, Shamisen |
| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Labels | Nippon Crown |
| Associated acts |
Gackt, Toshi, Gerard, Vienna, Ded Chaplin, Girl U Need, Minoru Niihara |
| Notable instruments | |
|
Caparison Custom Horus Caparison Golden Horus | |
Yukihiro Fujimura (藤村幸宏 Yukihiro Fujimura, born March 3, 1960 in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, arranger and producer. Usually referred to by his stage name "Chachamaru", little is known about his early years and personal life. Besides as a member and collaborator with various bands and musical acts in the 80s and 90s, he is most known as being the lead guitarist and associate music producer for Gackt.
Biography
Yukihiro "Chachamaru" Fujimura was born in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, on March 3, 1960. He was a student at the Bukkyo University, a private university with its philosophy based on Pure Land Buddhism.
In 1983, Chachamaru co-founded progressive rock band Gerard, as a leader vocalist and guitarist. The band were signed to King Records until 1986, when the band disbanded because King no longer supported progressive music. After a two-year break, Chachamaru and Shusei Tsukamoto formed progressive/hard rock band Vienna featuring Chachamaru on vocals and guitar. In the same year they released their first album "Overture". After recording one more album and a live record, Vienna went on a hiatus. In 1989, Chachamaru was a session guitarist for Minoru Niihara's metal band Ded Chaplin for their first album "Ded Chaplin 1st".
In 1990 he participated in the Gerard reunion for a new recording, although shortly after due to musical divergences left the band. Not long after, Chachamaru and Minoru Niihara re-formed Ded Chaplin. Over the next two years, they released two studio albums and a best-of compilation "The Best Works of Ded Chaplin" before disbanding. Without another period of band activities, in 1994 to 1995 helped Toshi from X Japan on his second studio album "Grace" for composing and guitar playing, and live supporting as a lead guitarist and backing vocals. In the next year, until then being known under his real name, changed to stage name "Chachamaru" and joined the session hard rock band Girl U Need to release self-titled album on the same year. As a part of Vienna reunion, they managed to publish one more album "Unknown" until their final disbandment.
Since 2000, when Chachamaru joined the solo artist Gackt, he is an associate producer and the lead guitarist for his live support band, as well as backing vocalist. In 2010 was the tenth anniversary of their musical collaboration.
Music style and technique
Chachamaru, primarily being as the lead guitarist, is considered as a technical guitarist, known for his loose yet melodic and controlled playing and also for his unique tuning. When listening to his guitar style, one can easily hear the influence of many heavy metal guitarists who came to prominence in the 1970s–80s, one of the most obvious being Eddie Van Halen. His musical style varies from progressive rock, metal, soul and blues with experimental playing.
Guitar Legacy
At the time, Jackson/Charvel luthier Itaru Kanno designed several guitar models for the companies, among them the 27-fretter „Jackson Falcon Custom“ for Chachamaru,[1] a guitar never sold outside Japan. When around 94s Jackson's contract with the Japanese trading company Kyowa-Shokai expired and they opted not to renew their contact with Jackson guitars, Itaru as one of the main designers at the Chushin Gakki factory, in 95s established a new guitar company, the Caparison Guitars. Their new model, 27-fretter „The Caparison Horus“ made its debut in the same year, and more than ten years later, the collaboration with Chachamaru is still improving,[2] as the model being the most famous company guitar.
Discography
In 2002, Chachamaru managed to release a solo album "Air". He brought some of his old friends, Shusei Tsukamoto, Masafumi Nishida and Ryuichi Nishida, as well new friends You Kurosaki and Gackt Camui who took part in it as a guest vocalist, into the studio to record.
Albums
All songs written and composed by Chachamaru,.
| *Air (December 21, 2002) | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Air" | 1:08 |
| 2. | "Divine" | 5:11 |
| 3. | "As" | 4:22 |
| 4. | "Naked" | 4:22 |
| 5. | "Kagero" (sang by Gackt) | 6:23 |
| 6. | "Lucious" | 5:31 |
| 7. | "Matamorphose" | 4:43 |
| 8. | "Canone" | 10:38 |
| 9. | "Grieve" | 7:34 |
References
- ↑ (Japanese) Jackson*Charvel electric guitar & bass catalogue, Japan only, issued 1993
- ↑ (English) "Caparison Guitars at bmusic.com.au - Horus". Retrieved 2007.
History of the first Japanese made Jackson guitars
External links
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