Dir En Grey
News
{September}
28.09.2006 -- Tainted Reality aired the Iron Otaku Network's interview with Toshiya and Die taken at the Washington DC stop of the Family Values Tour
23.09.2006 -- A Family Values Tour DVD is planned to be released in December. More information is located here.
{August}
31.08.2006 -- Agitated Screams of Maggots single will be released in November on 2006.11.15
The tracklisting is:
Agitated Screams of Maggots
孤独に死す、故に孤独。(KODOKU NI SHISU, YUENI KODOKU.) [LIVE]
Spilled Milk [LIVE]
OBSCURE [LIVE]
28.08.2006 -- At the Family Values Live stop in Toronto, Kyo fell off his red cage/platform & hit his head on the drum set but he got up & finished the rest of the set. He received a concussion & was taken in an ambulance to the hospital (most likely as a precaution). He was fine & returned to the bus shortly after that. More information here [if you want to wade through pages of people claiming Kyo's body parts].
04.08.2006 -- Dir en grey join the Family Values Tour
{July}
26.7.2006 -- Ryoujoku no Ame single released
Tracklisting:
凌辱の雨 (RYOUJOKU NO AME)
THE FINAL [LIVE]
悲劇は目蓋を下ろした優しき鬱 (HIGEKI WA MABUTA WO OROSHITA YASASHIKI UTSU) [LIVE]
Mr.NEWSMAN [LIVE]
{June}
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Dir en grey are a band that hail from Japan. They began as a visual-kei band [emphasizes appearance & visuals] & as their popularity grew, they eventually dropped the VK look as most VK bands do. Their lyrics are often sadistic, masochistic, & depressing because they derive from the singer's past. Their music ranges from depressing to aggressive to sweet. Whatever mood you're in, they have a song for it. The band meshes extremely well & they know how to do their job. Despite language barriers, many have come to accept & love Dir en grey for the passion they exude in their music. As many have said before, Dir en grey is one of the few Japanese bands to break through to the American music scene & they have only started. The world is next. Now let's get to the story behind the band.
Bio
Dir en grey began with the disbanding of La:Sadies which was made up of Kyo, Kaoru, Die, Shinya, & Kisaki as the bassist. Rumour has it that Kisaki had problems with some of the other band members, so when on tour in Nagano, they saw Toshiya playing with his band & "kidnapped" him. So, Dir en grey formed on February 2, 1997. They released the mini-album MISSA on February 25th of that same year. Jealous &
-I'll- were released as singles which gained them popularity. -I'll- broke the record for indie singles sales & placed #7 on the Oricon charts.
The former drummer of X Japan, Yoshiki, saw potential in Dir en grey produced the singles Yurameki, Akuro no Oka, & -ZAN-. Not only that but he took Shinya (Dir en grey's drummer) under his wing & imparted some of his drummerly wisdom. The first full-length & major release was Gauze,released on July 28, 1997. Proceeding it was a tour including a well-known performance of theirs at Osaka-Jo Hall in December which was released on video in 2000. That same year on Kyo's birthday (February 16), the Myaku single was released. Later that year on September 20, Macabre was released putting 2 full-lengths under their young belts. A tour spanning 2000-2001 followed which had to be postponed several months due to an unfortunate ear problem Kyo met with; he is supposedly still partially deaf in his left ear. The tour finished at the Budoukan in April of 2001.
After this, a few singles were released, as well as -Kai-, a remix album. The third album, Kisou, was released on January 30, 2002. After the release they performed their first shows outside of Japan, touring
in China, South Korea, & Taiwan. A few months later, they performed five consecutive shows at Akasaka Blitz which was later relased on a DVD set of 5 discs entitled Blitz 5days. six Ugly the mini-album & Child Prey the single were both released on July 31, 2001. The 5 Ugly Kingdom tour followed in 2003.
Still during 2003, the singles Drain Away & Kasumi were released. Their next full-length entitled Vulgar followed suit on September 10. The Over the Vulgar Shudder tour ran from September 12th to November 14th. In 2004, the singles THE FINAL and -saku- were released.
In 2005 for the It Withers and Withers tour in 2005, they went to Berlin and Paris; this tour sold out with little promotion. In addition, they performed at Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. They had not performed with other bands since signing to a major label, but now they had the French band Eths open at their Paris show & later had Wednesday 13 & his band play at one of their shows in Japan [Die & Piggy are actually good friends & met at Rock am Ring/Rock im Park]. They did some more touring on the Japanese leg of the Taste of Chaos Tour. Withering to death. was released on March 9, 2005. This was the first CD they had released in Europe & it climbed to #31 on the Finnish charts - the first non-Asian charts they made it onto. On May 3, the TOUR05 It Withers and Withers tour DVD was released. Later, the CLEVER SLEAZOID single was released on September 9 which reached #15 on the same charts.
With no airplay & almost no promotion (save for their loyal fans & news posts on official websites), Dir en grey managed to sell out tickets to their showcase tour of 3 dates in America very quickly in March of 2006. Dir en grey graced Austin, Texas [SXSW'06], New York [Avalon Club], and L.A. [Wiltern Theater] with their presence for this tour. Withering to death. was released in America on May 16, 2006. Then, their first release in more than 9 months [their latest single], Ryoujoku no Ame,was released on July 26, 2006. Also in July '06, Kyo was hospitalized with acute tonsillitis which postponed the Osaka shows to early October for TOUR06 INWARD SCREAM. Fortunately, Kyo recovered quickly. In addition, Dir en grey is part of the Family Values Tour & joined it on August 4th. Hopefully, a new album & a proper tour in America as well as other countries will come in the near future.
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Members
(as with traditional Japanese names, last name comes first)
Stage name: Kyo
Birth name: Niimura Tooru
Position: vo.
Date of birth: 16 February 1976
Hometown: Kyoto
Height: 160cm (5'3")
Blood type: B
Supposed facts: Kyo wasn't a good student & one time he fought with his father over grades. Kyo told him he would leave home to which his father said "Then take off those clothes because I bought them for you." Kyo then stood outside for 3 or 4 hours, naked, until his parents went to apologize to him. || Kyo does not like sports, however, he does enjoy swimming [& I think he won some awards for it].
Stage name: Kaoru
Birth name: Niikura Kaoru
Position: g. & leader of the band
Date of birth: 17 February 1974
Hometown: Hyougo
Height: 170cm (5'7")
Blood type: A
Supposed facts: When he was younger, Kaoru used to piss on things when he was angry. He has peed ON his neighbor (accidentally) & peed in a kid's hat (purposely). || Kaoru gradually dyed his hair brown when he was a teenager. His parents noticed & asked him about his hair; his response was that he went swimming & the chemicals were the cause. Ironically, he can't swim.
Stage name: Die
Birth name: Andou Daisuke
Position: g.
Date of birth: 20 December 1974
Hometown: Mie
Height: 178cm (5'10")
Blood type: B
Supposed facts: Die almost crashed Diru's bus one time. Luckily, Karou was there to yell & wake Die up. || When there was a fire in his apartment, he wanted to combat it but instead sprayed the fire extinguisher around his feet & ran outside later saying something like "that was so uncool".
Stage name: Toshiya (fans also call him Totchi)
Birth name: Hara Toshimasa
Position: b.
Date of birth: 31 March 1977
Hometown: Nagano
Height: 178cm (5'10")
Blood type: B
Supposed facts: When Deg were doing the typical tossing of waterbottles & picks, Toshiya once accidentally threw a waterbottle into a girl's face. He felt really bad & apologized for nearly five minutes to her. || Totchi's bedroom is red because it's one of his favourite colours since it is "exciting". His bathroom is blue to compensate for the excitement & because that's where he feels the most relaxed.
Stage name: Shinya
Birth name: Terachi Shinya
Position: dr.
Date of birth: 24 February 1978
Hometown: Osaka
Height: 170cm (5'7")
Blood type: B
Supposed facts: Shinya adores dogs & has a little chihuahua named Miyu. His parents have a dog named Puppy but it doesn't like him anymore & when he attempts to pet it, it tires to bite him. || Shinya did not know how to do stage make-up, so his mother would help him before lives...(shows)...(concerts)....
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PVs/Videos
YOKAN
embryo
umbrella (tour '04 Code of Vulgar[ism])
THE FINAL
RYOUJOKU NO AME
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Discography
[singles are indented]
MISSA || 1997.7.25
JEALOUS || 1998.5.10
-I'll- || 1998.8.12
Akuro no Oka || 1999.1.20
-ZAN- || 1999.1.20
Yurameki || 1999.1.20
Cage || 1999.5.26
YOKAN || 1999.7.14
GAUZE || 1999.7.28
Myaku || 2000.2.16
【KR】cube || 2000.6.7
Taiyou No Ao || 2000.7.26
MACABRE || 2000.9.20
ain't afraid to die || 2001.4.18
-KAI- [remix album] || 2001.8.22
FILTH || 2001.9.12
JESSICA || 2001.11.14
embryo || 2001.12.19
KISOU || 2002.1.30
Child prey || 2002.7.31
six Ugly || 2002.7.31
DRAIN AWAY || 2003.1.22
Kasumi || 2003.4.23
VULGAR || 2003.9.10
THE FINAL || 2004.3.17
-saku- || 2004.7.14
Withering to death. || 2005.3.9
CLEVER SLEAZOID || 2005.9.21
Withering to death. {American release} || 2006.5.16
Ryoujoku no Ame || 2005.7.26
Videos & DVDs
「kaede」 ~if trans・・・~ (video box) || 1998.1.15
「kaede」 ~if trans・・・~ (clip video) || 1998.7.8
mousou toukaku geki (clip video) || 1998.10.7
mousou toukaku geki (live video) || 1998.10.7
GAUZE-62045- (clip video) || 1999.11.17
Osaka-Jo Hall (live video) || 2000.2.16
GAUZE-62045- (clip DVD) || 2000.4.19
Osaka-Jo Hall (live video & DVD) || 2000.4.19
TOUR 00>>01 MACABRE (document live video) || 2001.7.25
TOUR 00>>01 MACABRE (document live DVD) || 2001.8.22
Kimon (music clip collection video & DVD) || 2002.3.20
Rettou Gekishin Angya Final 2003 5 Ugly Kingdom (live video & DVD) || 2003.5.21
Blitz 5Days (「a knot」 release) || 2003.6.30
TOUR04 THE CODE OF VULGAR[ism] (live DVD) || 2004.10.6
AVERAGE FURY (music clip collection DVD) || 2005.6.29
AVERAGE PSYCHO (music clip collection DVD) || 2005.7.27
TOUR05 It withers and withers -Bootlegged- (「a knot」 limited DVD) || 2006.3.31
Tour of It Withers and Withers (limited & regular edition) || 2006.5.3
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The Band
From left to right: Toshiya, Kaoru, Kyo, Die, Shinya
From left to right: Shinya, Toshiya, Die, Kaoru, Kyo
Yes, they are normal people & wear normal clothes! Kyo is wearing some massive lifts.
Back row: Kaoru, Toshiya, Shinya, Die; Front row: Kyo
From left to right: Toshiya, Shinya, Kyo, Die Kaoru
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Links
TSUKIYO || sevenUGLY || immortala mortis || pics: visual attraction
Credits
This biography was based on information from:
& the official website: Dir en grey.co.jp
fun facts from: embryo
Biography compiled by/page made by: IanBrody
Please do not reproduce without permission or credit [credit to IanBrody].
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