Band of the Week: Kagrra,

Izumi (Dr.), Nao (Ba.), Isshi (Vo.), Shin (Gt./Koto) , Akiya (Gt.)

“Kagrra,” is quite an usual name, but according to vocalist Isshi it can be translated as “Music so good that it makes God happy”. The idea behind Kagrra,'s style was to combine Japanese art with rock music. For the most part of their career, costumes and lyrics were based on particular stages from the cultural history of Japan. It was only during the final years that the band had given up the heavy visual style, but the “neo Japanesque” feeling was still present in both their music and lyrics. Similar artists are D and Kra.

In 1998 Isshi, Izumi (drums) and Nao (bass) decided to start a band. The only thing missing to complete their group was a guitarist, so they posted an advertisement in a local music shop. The advertisement was answered by some people, but Akiya and Shin were the ones to complete “Crow” in October 1998. Soon after their formation they joined the record label “Key Party”. Crow was also referred to as “Kuroi Tori”, which means “black bird”. As Crow the band released one mini-album and live DVD. They also toured with their brother band “Lar~Mia”. Crow was known as the “Black Feathers” and Lar~Mia as the “White Feathers”.

2000 was the year the group switched their label to “PS COMPANY” and changed their name to “Kagrra” and left brother band Lar~Mia behind. It was thanks to this record label that Fukaya Yoichiro became the album cover designer. His work is viewed as a trademark in the Kagrra fan community. In June of that year, they played live under their new name for the first time. It was also around that time that they released a new demo tape. “Nue”, the first mini-album, was released in December. Since it sold out quickly they released a second print in March.

An other breakthrough came on March 3, 2001. On this day they played their first one-man live at Shibuya, released 2^nd mini-album “Sakura” and opened their official fan club “Auga”. That year they also released 4 singles related to the 4 seasons. In September Kagrra teamed up with “Dué le quartz” and “Ash” for the “TRIBAL WARNING” tour. The 3 bands also worked together for the single “WARNING!”.

In 2002 Kagrra was busy with the releases of the first full-length album, 3 maxi-singles, 2 singles, 2 mini-albums and 2 VHS tapes. One tape contained concert footage and the other tape had the PV for “Yume izuru chi”.

The band continued their productive schedule in 2003. Two maxi-singles, a mini-album and a live DVD were released. In December of that year they performed their last indies show and went major under “Columbia Records” on January 1, 2004. The band name was once again changed. Kagrra was now known as “Kagrra,”. They added the comma after their name to symbolize the dark side of the Chinese Yin Yang. In March 2004, they released their first major album, “Miyako”. In addition to the many releases during the year, Kagrra, also released two DVDs.

A tradition was started in 2005 by Isshi and Izumi. They did a special talk event in “Shinjuku ONE LOFT” and told ghost stories. Since that event it became a tradition for the band to this every year around Valentine's Day. At the end of the year Kagrra, played with their label-mates for PS COMPANY's “Peace & Smile Carnival” tour.

The year 2006 was kind of a breakthrough year for visual bands. They got boosts for a more mainstream audience by recording songs for anime series. Kagrra,'s “Chikai no Tsuki” was used as an opening for "Kinnikuman II Yo Ultimate Muscle 2." That summer, Kagrra, went on another tour and released another DVD, maxi-single and photo book.

Kagrra, started 2007 by releasing the album “Shizuku” in February. In May they held their first concert in the US at the “J-Rock Revolution Festival” in Los Angeles. From June until the end of the year Kagrra, worked on the recording and producing of their future releases. They also switched record labels from Columbia to major label “King Records”, along with fellow PSC artists 雅-MIYAVI- and the GazettE. With this transfer a style change followed. They went from Visual Kei to a more high fashion look. In November they played for the first time in Europe at “J-Rock Invasion” in Cologne, Germany with other PS COMPANY artists.

On January 9, 2008, the album “CORE” was released. It was the first album/single to have an English title. In March Kagrra, held a nationwide tour for “CORE” and after that they filled their time with recording and producing their new releases for the next month. August was the month that Kagrra, held their first one-man tour in Europe. They only went to 5 places but managed to gather 3000 fans. 2008 ended with the release of another single and a one-man tour.

To celebrate PS COMPANY's 10th anniversary, Kagrra, along with other PS COMPANY bands participated in the “Peace and Smile Carnival Festival” on January 3, 2009 at the Budokan. It was also announced that Kagrra, would do a South American tour in February but it was delayed due to visa problems. The new South American tour was held in July that year.

2010 was a difficult year for Kagrra, fans. In August there was news that Isshi had voice problems and had to seek medical treatment. Not two months later it was announced that the band would stop their activities. The band expressed that they didn't want to use the word "disband," but wished to call it a "demise."

As a goodbye to fans, Kagrra, released the final album titled “Hyakkikenran” on February 2, 2011, which was followed by their final tour. The tour began on February 13 and ended on March 3 at the C.C. Lemon Hall in Tokyo. After the demise of Kagrra, Isshi started a solo project called “Shiki-project”. Shin and Nao announced on the 1st of July that they would start a new support band, “PLAYERS”. But even after the demise of the band, there was bad news. Isshi had passed away in his home on July 18^th, 2011.

PS Company Official Website