“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 1999
June: This is when 雅-miyavi- joined Due’le quartz. During his work in this band, he wrote lyrics, songs, and arranged them. His first show with the band was at Tokyo’s popular Takadanobaba AREA live house.
November: The band’s first mini-album “Mikansei no “Jekyll” to “Hyde”” was released this month, limited to 3000 first edition copies that included booklets with serial numbers. A second pressing of the album was released in December, which included an extra song instead of the limited booklet.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2000
May: A second mini-album with 5 songs, “Jisatsu Ganbou”, was released and limited to 5000 copies.
June: Due’le quartz, along with DAS:VASSER, created a compilation single with one song from each band. It was named for DAS:VASSER’s song “D”, but Due’le quartz’s song was called “Byou”.
July: The band recorded their first demo, “Ame to Buchi wo…”, which was distributed only at the events they participated in. There were four versions, limited to 300 copies each.
August: Due’le quartz’s official fanclub ‘Baby Merry’ was established this month. They also played their very first one-man show at Shibuya’s O-WEST live house. A third release of “Mikansei no “Jekyll” to “Hyde” ~Wakaki to Itari~” was made and distributed as standard edition.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2001
January: The band’s first singles “Dear…from xxx disc-1” and “Dear…from xxx disc-2” were released. Both were limited to 10,000 copies, and contained two of four possible b-side tracks.
February: On Valentine’s day the band celebrated the two year anniversary of their formation by giving out free copies of their next single, “Bitter”, at the venue where they played a one-man show on that day.
April: A final pressing of “Jisatsu Ganbou” was released this month as standard edition.
May: Due’le quartz held their first solo tour, visiting seven locations. They also began distributing another demo called “Rob Song”, which came in seven different versions. Available for free at each show was a copy of their next single, “Meikyoushisui / 259046930439141-9 ver”.
June: The band plays at an event in Hong Kong, giving 雅-miyavi- and the rest of its members their first taste of a performance outside Japan.
August: A fan-club only tour with four performances was held this month. The band also released the “Re:plica” single. At an event hosted by PS COMPANY, Due’le quartz was featured in collaboration with Kagrra, and Ash on a single called “WARNING”, which included the eponymous song and a track of comments from each of the artists.
September: Due’le quartz returned to Hong Kong for a tour, accomplishing their very first solo performance and tour abroad.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2002
January: A final pressing of “Mikansei no “Jekyll” to “Hyde” ~Wakaki to Itari~ Renewalver” was released as standard edition.
May: Due’le quartz released their next single “Rodeo”, with six songs including the title track.
June: The band announced their dissolution at Shibuya's O-EAST live house.
September: Due’le quartz played their last show together at Shibuya’s AX venue, and released their final single, “LAST TITLE” as well as a best-of album with 13 songs. 雅-miyavi- announced via the band’s official website that he will continue to perform as a solo artist under the name “雅-miyavi-”. He still cites the break-up of Due’le quartz as a major turning point for him both professionally and personally.June: The band announced their dissolution at Shibuya's O-EAST live house.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2002
October: 雅-miyavi- released his first solo album “gagaku” on October 31st, beginning his solo career in earnest. The album included a ‘self’ cover of Due’le quartz’s “Dear From…XXX”, as well as “Girls, be ambitious”, which was his first music video. The title, ‘gagaku’, is the Japanese word for music that was played in the old royal court; the kanji, however, can also give the meaning ‘MIYAVI music’.
November: Singles “Shindemo Boogie-Woogie” and “POP is dead” were released on November 30th. Both were released as VHS boxes that included their respective music videos on tape.
December: Single “Jingle Bell (Kari)” was released on December 18th, with two b-side songs including “Ashita, Tenki ni Naare”.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2003
April: 雅-miyavi- played his first solo concert at Shibuya’s Kokaido (now C.C. Lemon Hall) on April 23rd, and on the same day his fanclub “Komiyavi Rengou” was established. This concert was subtitled “Gekokujou” (student surpassing the master). On April 16th, he released his single “Jibun Kakumei-2003-”; the disc included the song’s music video.
June: Single “Tariraritarara♪” was released on June 25th, with new versions of “Shindemo Boogie-Woogie” and “POP is dead” as b-sides.
July: “Shibuya Kokaido ‘Gekokujou’” , 雅-miyavi-’s debut solo performance from three months earlier, was released on DVD and VHS July 23rd. The DVD included 10 extra minutes of film from the concert, and the VHS release sold out completely. This was the last of his concerts to be released on VHS; all subsequent video would be available on DVD only.
September: “Coo quack cluck-ku.ku.ruu-” was released on September 3rd; the disc included the title song’s music video.
December: His second album, “galyuu” was released on December 2nd. As with ‘gagaku’ before, the kanji for ‘galyuu’ can be understood as ‘MIYAVI style’.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2004
February: 雅-miyavi- began his first tour, “Tokyo Dassou” (Escape from Tokyo). In July additional dates were added in Korea and Taiwan, and the extended leg was called “Nippon Dassou” (Escape from Japan). The film “Oresama”, featuring 雅-miyavi- in his first and only starring role in a movie, was released on DVD February 25th.
June: Single “Ashita, Genki Ni Naare.” was released on June 23rd. One of the b-sides was “Itoshii Hito (Beta Desuman.)”, which would later be half a double-a side single on its own. The single included a music video for the title song.
August: In an epic gesture to show thanks to his fans, 雅-miyavi- hosted “雅-miyavi- VS Tokyo Dome” at Tokyo Dome, an event that was free and for fan-club only. “Hitorigei” , a colletion of 7 music videos and 2 bonus off-shot videos, was released on the 21st. The very last day of August he held his final indies concert at Nippon Budoukan.
October: 雅-miyavi- finally made his major debut with single “Rock no Gyakushuu Super Star no Jouken / 21 Seiki Kata Koushin Kyoku”, and then held a series of secret shows for Komiyavi codenamed “Kurofuku Gentei Gig~Komiyavi no Gyakushuu~” (Restricted to black clothing~Komiyavi Counter-attack~). The single was available in three versions that included different special features, such as the music videos for either of the title songs, or behind-the-scenes footage from the “21 Seiki Kata Koushin Kyoku” music video.
December: On the first of the month, the “2004/08/31 雅-miyavi- Indies Last LIVE in Nippon Budoukan (tte Sono Mama Yanke.) ~’This is Oudo’ Hen~” DVD was released. Since it was a double layer DVD, it included two hours of film footage. 雅-miyavi- later performed at a Christmas event, then held a two-day event to celebrate the end of the year for all Komiyavi Rengou in Hamanako, southwestern Shizuoka prefecture.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2005
January: “2004/08/31 雅-miyavi- Indies Last LIVE in Nippon Budoukan (Title Nagai Na, Shikashi!!)~’Noriko no Ichinichi’ Hen~”, a DVD of the concert held on August 31st at Nippon Budoukan was released January 12th.
April: The “Shinkyoku Koukai Rehearsal “Petit” TOUR~Re: hearsal~” was held this month.
May: The “Freedom Fighters-Ice Cream Motta Hadashi no Megami to, Kikanjuu Motta Hadaka no Ousama-” single was released on the 4th. Both versions of the single included an extra: either the music video or making-of footage for “Freedom Fighters”.
June: 雅-miyavi-’s first major album, “雅-miyavizm-Shugi” was released on the 1st. The kanji mean ‘MIYAVI doctrine’.
July: The “‘Ore-sama Daare Da’~Livehouse He Ikou~” tour took place this month, with dates all over Japan.
October: 雅-miyavi-’s third single as a major artist, “Kekkon Shiki Uta / Are you ready to ROCK?” , was released on the 12th, available as two limited editions and one standard pressing. Each limited pressing included a DVD bonus of one of the songs’ music videos. Around the same time he held an event called ‘Journey in Search of a Bride-2005-’. It was also the first time his style was promoted as self-accompanied (i.e. performing totally solo without support musicians).
December: The first “Peace & Smile Carnival” events were held this month. 雅-miyavi- performed on stage alongside all the other artists of PS COMPANY. “Hitorigei 2 ~Kaette kita Mr. Visual Kei~”, a second DVD of 6 music videos, 2 off-shot videos and 2 documentary movies, was released on December 7th.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2006
August: His second album as a major artist, “MYV☆POPS”, was released on the 2nd, with ten songs that included four of his previous singles and their b-side tracks.
“雅-miyavi- Recollections” episode 1
•”The Beginning Of NEO VISUALIZM Tour 2007 -下剋上/Gekokujo-” at Shibuya Kokaido on December 25th, 2007
musicJAPANplus met with 雅-miyavi- for the first time during “The Beginning of NEO VISUALIZM Tour 2007 –Gekokujo-“ concert on December 25th, 2007. It was an additional concert for the tour. At that time, this webzine had just recently begun, and he became the first artist I interviewed with. His concert at Shibuya Kokaido was so unique and so much different from other artists’ concerts. In every single moment, I could feel his special and varied abilities, especially his free performance using a BMX bike and the so-called “独奏/Dokuso (Solo performance)”, in which the real Miyavi plays along with his double, projected onto a large screen. I fully enjoyed his talented performance. After the show, I and one of the other staff members who also attended the show went backstage to greet him. Although it was the first time we had met him, he was very friendly and offered to shake our hands. He spoke English fluently, pronouncing the name of our American staff member perfectly, even after hearing it just once. She was very impressed by that. I also remember he was very attached to calling the venue “Shibuya Kokaido”, the original name of “C.C.Lemon Hall”. This venue is known as a gateway to success for Japanese musicians. “Shibuya Kokaido” was a memorable venue for him to have his first solo concert (on April 25th, 2003) and I could feel that the venue is a special place for him.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2007
November: His next single, “Subarashiki Kana, Kono Sekai –WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD-” was released on the 14th. Two limited editions featured DVDs with bonus music videos, making-of videos or live footage, and the standard edition included an extra track.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2006
January: His next single “Señor Señora Señorita / Gigpig Boogie” was released January 18th. The limited editions both included a music video bonus of either “Señor Señora Señorita” or “Gigpig Boogie”.
March: A Komiyavi only trip to Japanese hot springs was held, under the title “Miyavi to Iku Ongaku to Meitou no ‘Rainen Wa Chouki Kyuuka wo Itadakimasu’ to Iu Wake De, Onsen Ryokou Shichaimasu-2006-”, with events going on in April as well.
April: “Dear My Friend-Tegami wo Kaku yo- / Itoshii Hito (Beta Desuman.)” single was released on the 12th. The standard edition included a bonus track, while each of the two available limited editions included a music video for either “Dear My Friend-Tegami wo Kaku yo-” or “Itoshii Hito (Beta Desuman.)”.
July: His next single, “Kimi ni Negai wo”, was released on the 5th. The single was limited to 10,000 copies, and included a DVD with the song’s music video.
August: His second album as a major artist, “MYV☆POPS”, was released on the 2nd, with ten songs that included four of his previous singles and their b-side tracks.
September: Another album, “雅-miyabi uta-Uta~Dokusou~” was released on the 13th, just over a month after his last full album release. For the five days following, 雅-miyavi- held a huge event in celebration of his 25th birthday called “25 Shunen Kinen Kouen Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijou 5days~Dokusou~”. When it was finished, he left Japan to move to Los Angeles, California, for six months, for the purpose of studying and honing his skills as a musician.
“雅-miyavi- Recollections” episode 1
•”The Beginning Of NEO VISUALIZM Tour 2007 -下剋上/Gekokujo-” at Shibuya Kokaido on December 25th, 2007
musicJAPANplus met with 雅-miyavi- for the first time during “The Beginning of NEO VISUALIZM Tour 2007 –Gekokujo-“ concert on December 25th, 2007. It was an additional concert for the tour. At that time, this webzine had just recently begun, and he became the first artist I interviewed with. His concert at Shibuya Kokaido was so unique and so much different from other artists’ concerts. In every single moment, I could feel his special and varied abilities, especially his free performance using a BMX bike and the so-called “独奏/Dokuso (Solo performance)”, in which the real Miyavi plays along with his double, projected onto a large screen. I fully enjoyed his talented performance. After the show, I and one of the other staff members who also attended the show went backstage to greet him. Although it was the first time we had met him, he was very friendly and offered to shake our hands. He spoke English fluently, pronouncing the name of our American staff member perfectly, even after hearing it just once. She was very impressed by that. I also remember he was very attached to calling the venue “Shibuya Kokaido”, the original name of “C.C.Lemon Hall”. This venue is known as a gateway to success for Japanese musicians. “Shibuya Kokaido” was a memorable venue for him to have his first solo concert (on April 25th, 2003) and I could feel that the venue is a special place for him.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2007
January: “Hitorigei 3”, 雅-miyavi-’s third music video collection, was released January 17th. This DVD included 7 music videos and was released as both limited and standard editions. The limited edition included many bonus features and videos.
February: 雅-miyavi- performed in a session band with a local percussionist and DJ at a club in the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
May: “25 Shunen Kinen Kouen.Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijou5days~Dokusou~” was released on DVD May 2nd; a limited edition included several bonus videos. At the now legendary Jrock Revolution two-day festival in Los Angeles, California, 雅-miyavi- appeared along with several other popular visual kei artists. He also announced that he would be the fourth and final member of the epic unit “S.K.I.N.”, which already included j-rock legends YOSHIKI, SUGIZO and Gackt.
June: After S.K.I.N.’s one and only performance in Los Angeles, California, at the Anime Expo convention, 雅-miyavi- returned to Japan to resume his solo musical activity, releasing single “Sakihokoru Hana no You Ni / Kabuki Danshi” on the 20th. The single’s two limited editions included a music video for one of the a-side tracks, and all three editions featured different b-side “JAM session” tracks.
July and August: The “雅-miyavacation- Kyuuka ‘07” tour took 雅-miyavi- back to Los Angeles, as well as to Germany and Korea. A performance was planned for China, but technical difficulties forced the organizers to cancel it. July also saw the release of “7 SAMURAI SESSIONS –We’re KAVKI BOYZ” on the 18th.
November: His next single, “Subarashiki Kana, Kono Sekai –WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD-” was released on the 14th. Two limited editions featured DVDs with bonus music videos, making-of videos or live footage, and the standard edition included an extra track.
December: On Christmas Day, 雅-miyavi- held a concert at Shibuya’s C.C. Lemon Hall, the place where he’d held his very first solo concert in April of 2003. The concert was given the title “The Beginning Of NEO VISUALIZM Tour 2007”, and subtitled “Gekokujou” just like the show four years before.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2008
January: On the 16th, 雅-miyavi- released a single called “Hi no Hikari Sae Todokanai Kono Basho De feat. SUGIZO” which was born of his friendship with SUGIZO of LUNA SEA. The two had become friends while working together in the epic superband S.K.I.N. in 2008. The single was released in only two editions; the limited edition came with a DVD with the song’s music video and bonus film related to its making.
January: Alongside fellow PS COMPANY artists SuG, SCREW, Kagrra, Kra, alicenine. and the GazettE, 雅-miyavi- performed at the Peace & Smile Carnival 2009 on January 3rd at Tokyo’s Nippon Budoukan. All 13,000 seats in the round hall were sold within hours of going on public sale. 雅-miyavi- and Kra’s vocalist Keiyuh acted as MCs for the day.
“雅-miyavi- Chronology” 2009
January: Alongside fellow PS COMPANY artists SuG, SCREW, Kagrra, Kra, alicenine. and the GazettE, 雅-miyavi- performed at the Peace & Smile Carnival 2009 on January 3rd at Tokyo’s Nippon Budoukan. All 13,000 seats in the round hall were sold within hours of going on public sale. 雅-miyavi- and Kra’s vocalist Keiyuh acted as MCs for the day.
February: Just a day after Valentine’s Day, 雅-miyavi- made the official announcement that he would be graduating from PS COMPANY as of his planned performance at Hibiya Park’s Yagai Dai Ongakudou on April 5th. Using his blog to make the announcement, 雅-miyavi- allowed his fans a glimpse of his innermost thoughts as he struggled to make this monumental decision. In the announcement, he wrote about taking a long time to ponder such a choice, revealing that he was finally reduced to tears after staying awake all night to continue considering what to do. Vowing to keep singing “Peace & Smile” as he had always done, he finished with “I think I should live in a way I won’t regret when I’m looking back on myself 10 or 20 years from now.”
