Dir En Grey

Dir en grey (ディルエングレイ) is a modern Japanese rock band. It was formed in 1997 from the ashes of the visual kei band La:Sadie's, and has kept a steady member line up consisting of Kyo on vocals, Kaoru and Die on guitar, Toshiya on bass and Shinya on drums. The band's name is taken from a Lareine demo of the same name; the exact English translation of Dir en grey is not confirmed. Some possible names provided include: Coin in Grey, Grey/Silver Coin, and Greyish Silver Coin. Dir en grey's international fans who speak a Latin-based language often use the abbreviations Deg and diru when both speaking and typing for sake of brevity.

File:Deg2004.jpg

Dir en grey (2004) From left to right: Toshiya, Shinya, Kyo, Kaoru, Die

Brief History

Dir en Grey released their first mini album MISSA on 25.07.1997. They gained major attention in after their second single I'll (12.08.1998) broke Indies sales record by reaching #7 on the Japanese Oricon charts. The band’s success caught the eye of X JAPAN's YOSHIKI who went on to produce their first major album, GAUZE (28.07.1999). Three of the singles from GAUZE hit the top 10 in the Oricon charts.

In the next few years, the band went on to release MACABRE (20.09.2000), Kisou (30.01.2002) and Kai (08.22.2001); the last one being an album with remixed versions of songs, some by the band themselves. Although it is easy to see the progression of the band's psyche across the tracks, these albums retained a strong visual theme.

In 2002, they toured outside Japan for the first time, playing in many Asian cities. In Shanghai, the fans became so excited that the authorities wanted to cancel the Segundo concert. But Kaoru refused to do it and the band played the show.

The shockwaves came in 2002 with Dir en grey's release of six Ugly (31.07.2002); six 'ugly' tracks of American styled music, but still with the faint undertones of Dir en grey's delightful vocal lines in the choruses and bridges. Dir en grey's next album, VULGAR (10.09.2004), featured a very aggressive, metal-influenced sound. It remains one of the band's most controversial releases.

Though they no longer consider themselves a ‘visual’ band, Dir en grey still enjoys surprising and shocking people with each new release. They have released hard tracks like "Pink Killer" and "ZAN", rock ballads such as "mushi" or "24ko Cylinder", pop songs like "yokan” and tracks such as "Mr.NEWSMAN" with profound lyrics, but a heart wrenching vocal bridge, or "umbrella" with its catchy chorus. With the large variety of albums and singles produced from this band, it's hard to be let down.

The band's latest single saku (14.07.2004) contains 4 songs; new recordings "Machiavellism" & "saku", long-time techno show-opener "G.D.S.", and a hidden live track of "shoku beni". Their next album, Withering to death is highly anticipated but remains a mystery as to what type of music it will contain. The album’s support-tour will be called It withers and withers.

Band Members

The band member's real names have long been disputed both by Japanese and International fans. The general accepted names are in parenthesis ( ), with the Japanese equivalent after that. Toshiya, Die, and Shinya generally write their names in English, so their names are followed with the most probable hiragana spelling. For Die, katakana is used because his stage name is not of Japanese-origin.

Vocals: 京 (kyo) (Nishimura Tooru) きょ　（にしむら　とおる）
DoB: 16 February, 1976
Age: 28
Hometown: Kyoto

Guitar: 薫 (kaoru) (Niikura Kaoru) かおる　（にいくら　かおる）
DoB: 17 February, 1974
Age: 30
Hometown: Hyougo

Guitar: Die (Andou Daisuke) ダイ　（あんどう　だいすけ）
DoB: 20 December, 1974
Age: 30
Hometown: Mie

Bass: Toshiya (Hara Toshimasa) としや　（はら　としまさ）
DoB: 31 March, 1977
Age: 27
Hometown: Nagano

Drums: Shinya (Terachi Shinya) しんや　（てらち　しんや）
DoB: 24 February, 1978
Age: 26
Hometown: Osaka

Discography

Singles

'JEALOUS' (5/10/1998)
'-I'll-' (8/12/1998) (First song as a group.)
'Akuro no Oka' (1/20/1999)
'ZAN' (1/20/1999)
'Yurameki' (1/20/1999)
'Cage' (5/26/1999)
'Yokan' (7/14/1999)
'Myaku' (2/16/2000)
'[KR] cube' (6/7/2000)
'Taiyo no Ao' (7/26/2000)
'ain't afraid to die' (4/18/2001)
'FILTH' (9/12/2001)
'JESSICA' (11/14/2001)
'embryo' (12/19/2001)
'Child prey' (7/31/2002)
'DRAIN AWAY' (1/22/2003)
'Kasumi' (4/23/2003)
'THE FINAL' (3/17/2004)
'saku' (7/14/2004)

Albums

MISSA (7/25/1997)
GAUZE (7/28/1999)
MACABRE (9/20/2000)
Kai (8/22/2001)
Kisou (1/30/2002)
six Ugly (7/31/2002)
VULGAR (9/10/2003)
Withering to death. (3/09/2005)

Video

'Kaede' ~ if trans... ~ (12/15/1997) - A limited edition
'Kaede' ~ if trans... ~ (1/15/1998) - A clear plastic boxed edtition
'Kaede' ~ if trans... ~ (7/8/1998)
Moso Tokaku Geki (10/7/1998)
Moso Kakugai Geki (10/7/1998)
GAUZE -62045- (11/17/1999)
1999.12.18 Osaka jo Hall (2/16/2000)
TOUR 00>>01 MACABRE (7/25/2001)
Kimon (3/20/2002)
Retto Gekishin Angya FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM (5/21/2003)

DVD

GAUZE -62045- (4/19/2000)
1999.12.18 Osaka jo Hall (4/19/2000)
TOUR 00>>01 MACABRE (8/22/2001)
Kimon (3/20/2002)
Retto Gekishin Angya FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM (5/21/2003)
TOUR04 THE CODE OF VULGAR[ism] (10/06/2004)

Fandom and Other Information

The Dir en Grey fandom is a clearly divided base; fans and ex-fans on both sides of the world have almost never been united. Disagreements on both the music and style have long plagued the fans of the band. These disagreements are most notably missing in other facets of the Japanese rock scene.

The most clear break occured in the "Vulgar" time period; accused of having too many American influences, the album is both hated and loved, and one of the favorite arguing points of many fans. Also missed by many is the visual kei style that dominated the first 2/3 of Dir en Grey's career; it was later dropped for a more laidback approach with less feminine influence.

Internal Links

ja:Dir_en_grey Japanese Dir en Grey Wiki Page

ja:オリコン Japanese Oricon Music Charts