Kisaki

Kisaki (妃, born March 10, 1976) is a Japanese musician who has worked with several visual kei bands, including La:Sadie's, Syndrome, Kisaki Project^[1] and Phantasmagoria.^[2] Besides playing bass and keyboards and composing music, he also works as a producer, previously for the Matina label and currently for Under Code Production.^[3] In 2008, when Phantasmagoria broke up, Kisaki once announced his retirement as a musician (although he would continue to participate in side projects, compose for other musicians, and produce the artists on his record label). However, in 2010, he announced that he was ending his retirement and debuted his new band, Lin -the End of Corruption World (凛 -the end of corruption world-).

Record Labels

Matina

Matina was an independent label that managed visual kei artists. It was formed in 1997 by Kisaki as Matina Soleil, the Osaka branch of larger visual kei label Soleil. When Soleil closed, Matina became an independent entity and eventually formed its own sub-labels (Eternal, its Kantō region branch, and Storm, its Hokkaido branch). Matina featured a large number of bands, most of whom had few releases and were short lived. After its fifth anniversary, Matina closed in 2002.

Under Code Production

Under Code Production is Kisaki's second indie visual kei label, and is a sub-label of Free-Will.^[4] It was formed in 2003 in the Kansai region, slightly after Matina's demise. Although its focus is visual bands, Under Code Production has produced several non-visual artists, including Anti-Kranke, Cious pi Cious, and Oto-oni (音鬼). The label also has established sub-labels: Road Awake, a sublabel for hardcore bands Harvest and Vagerke, and Haunted House Records, a sub-label created exclusively for the band Flesh for Flankenstein. Although Under Code Production has a public reputation as a label with many similar artists, it is one of the biggest indie visual kei labels today.

In 2013, UNDER CODE officially closed its doors.^[5] As a result, many bands signed to the label split up, such as Nega, Megaromania, DALI, Vior Gloire. A handful of other acts remained active, such as FUTURISM・BOYZ, 凛 (LIN), and REALies. Several musicians related to UNDER CODE formed their own labels, such as GOEMAN Records formed by REALies' frontman Rayka, and King Zebra formed by 朱's (SUZAKU) vocalist 樹 (Itsuki).

Career History

Kisaki began his career as a roadie for SCARE CROW in 1992. In 1993, he joined his first band, Levia. From that point, he began a career of over 15 years in various bands: Sheyde (SHËY≠DË), Garden, Stella Maria, Haijin Kurobarazoku (廃人黒薔薇族), La:Sadie's (which later reformed as Dir En Grey), Mirage, Syndrome, and Phantasmagoria. When Phantasmagoria formed, it was announced as Kisaki's final band. Thus, when the group broke up in 2008, Kisaki retired from performing to concentrate on managing Under Code Production and producing. Despite this, on February 1, 2010, Kisaki announced that he was planning to end his retirement and form a new band. In the summer of 2010, the new band was revealed to be Lin -the End of Corruption World (凛 -the end of corruption world-).^[6]

Kisaki Project

Kisaki Project (also written as Kisaki Solo Project, Kisaki Project feat. Jui (KISAKI PROJECT feat.ジュイ)) was Kisaki's solo project. The band's lineup changed often, with the only permanent member being Kisaki. Most of the time Jui (樹威) (of Vidoll) was the featured vocalist. Kisaki composed and wrote the lyrics for all of the band's songs, which consisted primarily of soft rock and pop ballads. In 2011, the band changed their name to Kisaki Project feat. Satsuki (KISAKI PROJECT feat.砂月) and featured RENTRER EN SOI's vocalist.

Brief history

The band participated in an omnibus in 2002, but did not officially form until the next year. In 2004, the band traveled to Europe and released an album there.^[7] It paused activities on October 31 as Phantasmagoria was forming. In 2006, Kisaki Project resumed activities, performing live and releasing music once again. In 2007, Kisaki Project officially disbanded at the same time as Phantasmagoria "sealed" activities.

The Kisaki project then returned briefly in 2011, featuring 砂月 (Satsuki) (of RENTRER EN SOI) as the vocalist. This lineup released two demo CDs, a single that came with a DVD, and a mini-album containing all of this era's material. The band then ceased activities in 2012, shortly before UNDER CODE PRODUCTION went out of business.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

Kisaki & Kansai Kizoku

Kisaki & Kansai Kizoku ((妃&関西貴族)) was a side project by Kisaki and Rame (from Vidoll).^[8]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

References

External links

• Under Code Production official website
• Official Twitter
• KISAKI Official Website
• Official Blog
• Official Facebook
• Official YouTube