KAORU
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
Und zwar eins das ich tollig finde~~ ^______^
-franzi_kuhle-: -Thoughts of an unheard soul-
Und zwar eins das ich tollig finde~~ ^______^
Ein interessanter Artikel wie ich finde~
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
For 15 years Deville Schober has run Brainzone Promotions, a Munich, Germany-based promotions, marketing and artist development company that has worked with heavyweight bands like Metallica, Tool and Deftones. He thought he knew about all things rock until he caught a sold-out show by wildy dressed Japanese rockers Dir En Grey. With minimal promotion and no music industry insiders present, the band rocked a packed house of 3,800 youngsters at the Columbiahalle in Berlin.
Intrigued and amazed, Schober soon spoke to Matthias Müssig, the show's promoter and owner of Neo Tokyo, a Japanese anime and manga store in Munich, and learned about J-Rock; more specifically, its offshoot visual kei. Here was a genre that his countrymen were oblivious to and which was on the verge of exploding.
By the beginning of 2006, Schober and Müssig teamed up to form Gan-Shin Records, went to Japan to sign bands like Dir En Grey, Moi Dix Mois, D'espairs Ray, MUCC and Nightmare, then gained German distribution through Universal. They joined forces with Antje Lange, managing director of booking company Twisted Talent Concerts, who was equally stunned at witnessing a non-promoted, sold out D'espairs Ray show in Munich that drew fans from across Western and Central Europe.
Gan-Shin soon reissued many back catalog titles by the aforementioned artists. One-off shows continued to sell out, sales started to climb, Dir En Grey hit the singles charts, and the mass media jumped on board, everything from metal, goth, and teen mags to a four-hour German MTV special and 25 other television interviews and specials.
Lange notes that part of the appeal to German youngsters to a genre that pulls in elements of goth, glam and cyberpunk comes from the fact that modern parents, despite being more tolerant of rock shows, do not know about the visual kei subculture. Kids find out about it online and unite there.
"[Parents] don't go to these Japanese things because they simply don't know about them, and they don't get it," remarks Lange. "They don't get the codes, because you're just allowed to wear special colors. The colors have to be cold. You can easily wear a red or a blue but it has to be a cold red or a cold blue."
Josephine Yun, author of the book Jrock, Ink., explains that visual kei originated in the late 1970s and early 1980s as Japan's rock scene began cultivating its own identity. "It was rock 'n roll, punk rock, glam and metal with a twist — a twist just as angry and rebellious as what came before it — but a poetic one, artistic, with painstaking attention to detail," Yun explains.
She points out that "visual kei" literally translates as "visual style" and spans a wide range of musical genres. "If you wear heavy makeup and costume or cross-dress elaborately, and you play in a jazz band, that's visual kei, too," says Yun. Japan has a history of dressing outlandishly and cross-dressing since ancient times, and a man in touch with his feminine side is viewed as a healthy, balanced individual. Visual kei "has evolved from being somewhat of an anomaly to a more widely accepted genre. Its Japanese background has also become more visible with the use of traditional Japanese dress and instruments."
Visual kei certainly is a mish-mash of styles and looks and draws on Kabuki dress as well. "Musically, it can be anything: American rock, British punk, glam, metal, Euro pop, techno, new wave, electronica," explains Yun. "Visually, the influences are diverse as well: traditional Japanese dress, S&M outfits, costumes made of vinyl, leather, lace, plastic...you name it."
"They view what they're doing as complete art — the CD covers, the designs of the bands' clothes, the hairstyles," notes Schober, now president of Gan-Shin Records. "If Kiss were from Japan, it would be a visual kei band."
The music of Gan-Shin is quite diverse. Dir En Grey create a blistering, guitar-driven combination of rock, metal, glam and industrial. D'espairs Ray offer a frenzied amalgam of metal, industrial, atmospheric and tribal sounds. Moi Dix Mois, lead by former Malice Mizer guitarist Mana, are more synth-heavy and espouse a gothic rock meets neo-classical, industrial, and metal style. Despite their ominous name, Nightmare play a spirited fusion of hard rock and pop, with touches of alternative, metal and funk. MUCC have an affinity for brutish modern metal tempered with melody, dynamics and blues-based rock. The vocals in these bands range from pleasant singing to harsh growling, and the musicianship is exemplary.
"We try to put our band concept as people's 'anger' and 'agony' into lyrics, music, music clips and other forms of expression," explains Dir En Grey guitarist Kaoru. "That's why there are several images [that are] aggressive, sensitive and beautiful. We try to express the dark parts in people's hearts by all works. To sum [it] up, we are affected by all things in life."
These colorfully dressed bands strongly tap into the anime and manga world. Schober says that the Financial Times in Germany deemed them "living manga" characters. Linguistically many of these groups use French names and sing in a mixture of Japanese and English, and occasionally German and French as well. This European slant, not to mention their exotic Eastern appeal, can help explain their mass appeal to European audiences.
Their appeal in Japan seems staggering. Schober claims that MUCC put tickets on sale less than 24 hours before a show and sold 16,000 tickets in three hours. Solo artist Gackt, an early member of Malice Mizer, reportedly played a show in Tokyo to 56,000 people. Schober adds that when Dir En Grey released their first three singles on the same day in 1997, they all hit the Top 10 in Japan, and their shows have all sold out since then. According to Dir En Grey themselves, 16,000 tickets each for two summer shows this year at Nippon Budokan sold out in less than 45 minutes.
The future looks bright for visual kei bands outside of Japan. D'espairs Ray have a 25-date European tour planned for November. Gan-Shin and Twisted Talent want to do complete European tours with Dir En Grey, MUCC, Moi Dix Mois, D'espairs Ray and Nightmare starting in the new year. Gan-Shin now has distribution deals all over Europe — England, France, Scandinavia, Greece, Portugal, Spain and Austria — and plan to release simultaneously albums with Japan and embark on massive touring throughout Europe. And the States will be next.
Dir En Grey sold out individual showcases in New York and Los Angeles this past March, and that landed them an opening slot on this past summer's Family Values tour. The cross-country trek allowed them to reach a whole new audience, and they hope to tour the States again next year after their next album comes out.
"They can definitely break big here," believes Christa Titus, managing editor of Blistering.com and a Billboard and Metal Edge contributor, of Dir En Grey. "With all the metal out there where you can't understand what the hell they’re screaming about anyway, the language barrier is less of an issue. Also, Dir En Grey fans have posted their interpretations of lyrics online, so these kids are interested enough in the band to take the time to figure out what the songs mean. They are already dedicated to the group and are likely to stick with them for a long time."
If the same thing happens to Moi Dix Mois, D'espairs Ray and other visual kei bands heading towards these shores, it could mean that this new glam/goth hybrid genre may become the next hot subgenre.
Quelle:
GRAMMY.com
Bryan Reesman
Danke~
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
Allen Freunden die in dieser Zeit da waren und immer ein offenes Ohr hatten und noch heute haben denen sei auf diesem Weg gesagt das ich euch unglaublich dankbar bin.
Ich weiß nicht ob ich ohne gewisse Leute heute noch hier wäre...
Von daher danke ich euch wirklich aus tiefstem Herzen. Ich liebe euch. Ein wunderschönes Weihnachtsfest wünsche ich euch.
*gewonnen @ kagerou meet&greet*
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
*rumkuller*
Ich. hab. gewonnen!!
FROIDE~~~~~~~~~~
D’espairs Ray – Glauchau 24.11.2006
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
Wir haben uns ein paar Minuten vor Beginn des Einlasses aus unserem Auto begeben und uns n bissl in die Schlange gedrängelt und waren dann glücklicherweise auch ziemlich schnell in der Halle. Unten an der Bühne wollten wirs nicht versuchen. Die Leute haben da einfach zu gedrängt gestanden (was total dumm is, wenn man bedenkt wie viel Platz ist. Aber ich denke mal das ist ein ‚normales’ Fangirlie Verhalten...) Egal~ wir haben und jedenfalls oben auf die Empore gestellt, und zwar ganz vorne, sodass ich direkt rechts über der Bühne stand.
Die Vorband Limbogott war recht gut. Ich fand die Musik ziemlich toll und war ziemlich enttäuscht als unten in der Menge die D’espairs Ray Rufe immer lauter wurden. Na ja~ ne halbe Stunde hat die Band ca. trotzdem gespielt.
Dann war Umbauen angesagt... Ewig langes Warten...
Nyah~~ als es dann endlich losging und die Vier einzeln die Bühne betraten war das Geschrei natürlich groß... Alle sahen ziemlich gut aus, Hizumis Oberteil hat irgendwie mehr gezeigt als es verdeckt hat... Das Auftreten der Band war extrem selbstbewusst und einfach phänomenal.
Joah~ die Songs waren toll. Ich hab mich richtig austoben können. Ich hab heute noch Nackenschmerzen vom Headbanging... *lach*
Und da auch mein Lieblingssing Abel to Cain performt wurde war ich eh der glücklichste Mensch in dieser Halle. XD~
Ansonsten hab ich’s sehr genossen, weil ich viel Platz hatte und Karyu zu uns hochgegrinst hat.
Außerdem hab ich mir sagen lassen das mein Headbanging wohl sehr lustig aussah weil eine Hälfte meiner Haare auf drei Millimeter abrasiert is und nur die andere Halte meiner Haare noch relativ lang is... *lach* Ich hoffe das Karyu nich deswegen gegrinst hat. *lol* Aber das is seeeeeeeeeeeehr unwahrscheinlich. XD~~
Ansonsten hab ich das Tourshirt mit dem pinkfarbenem Aufdruck gekauft. Und ja, ich liebe Pink.
Etto~~ gibt’s noch was zu sagen?! Ja: ZERO hat sich ins Publikum fallen lassen!!!! O.o Ich hab gedacht ich sehs nich richtig. Ich war echt beruhigt das die Leute ihn wieder vor zur Bühne geschoben haben, wer weiß was sonst passiert wäre. So n bissl Angst hat ich in dem Moment echt um ihn.
Soah~ und ansonsten, mein Fazit: Das Konzert war GENIAL. Ich hab es sehr genossen und hoffe das diese meisterhafte Band bald wieder kommt.
T__T ... Dir en grey
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
T___T
Ich bin so neidisch...
Agitated Scream of Maggots
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
T__T Mein Handy is kaputt~~
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
*hoil*
Ey~ ohne mein Handy geht gar nix. Wenn das nich bald wieder funzt bin ich n seelisches Wrack.
Das einzig gute an der Sache is, das dann meine Rechnung nich so hoch wird... T__T
*bet das es bald wieder funktioniert*
Ouran High School Host Club - Anime
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
Das is ja echt total kawaii~~
Ich hab den Manga und gestern schon den ersten Teil von Anime gesehen. ich find den Zeichenstil echt total niedlich und joah, guckt ihn euch an, wenn ihr noch nicht gemacht habt.
Links zum downloaden sind im Internet relativ leicht zu finden.
^____^v
Despa - 21 days to go
Autor: -franzi_kuhle-
*lach*
Mal wieder.
XD
Nee~ ernsthaft ich freu mich echt schon total aufs Despa Konzert in Glauchau am 24.11.
Zum einen weil die Musik geil is und zum anderen weil ich endlich mal wieder n paar Leute sehe, die ich schon ne Weile nicht mehr zu Gesicht bekommen hab. Ich hab euch lüb~~
*alle mal flausch*
Soah~ und nu geh ich weiterarbeiten... *hust*