VINUSHKA

Formed: Feb 2, 1997 – Maintained Lineup Throughout

Dir en grey is a five piece Japanese band, with a genre that is incredibly hard to pin down. Kyo’s vocals range anywhere from haunting melodies to agonizing screams. Backed up by Kaoru on lead guitar, Die on rhythm guitar, Toshiya on bass, and Shinya on drums – this is one hard act to follow. Again and again, Dir en grey have proven themselves to be amazing in every aspect a band can possibly be.

With some bands, one might find that the recorded versions of their songs are not as good as they could be, or that they fail to provide an enjoyable show when seen live. Dir en grey has neither of these problems. Their recordings are always exceptional, never lacking in the feelings they work so hard to put into them. Every live is a unique experience, something every Dir en grey fan and newbie alike should look forward to. Once you’ve been to a show, you’ll walk away a completely different person.

Formed on February 2nd 1997, Dir en grey rose from the ashes of La:Sadie’s. Kyo, Kaoru, Die, and Shinya were in La:Sadie’s with bandleader Kisaki until the demise of the band on January 15, 1997. Toshiya was recruited as bassist from his prior band D+L. He likes to jokingly say he was ‘kidnapped’ by Dir en grey. Their first show together as a test was done under the name DEATHMASK before the name Dir en grey was created.

Dir en grey is said to mean ‘grey coin’, each of the words from a different language – Dir from German, en from French, and grey from English. The a knot fanclub magazine is called Haiiro no Ginka, which means ‘grey silver coin’ in Japanese. The fanclub is currently limited to those who reside in Japan or can obtain a Japanese address to use.

Dir en grey has gone through a number of ‘eras’, each marked by a distinctive sound and visual aspect. They started out influenced heavily by the visual kei scene of the time. Over the years, they have progressed through suits kei, angura kei, and now into a more relaxed feel of basically jeans and t-shirts, though with the occasional smattering of their past showing through.

As of 2011, the band has produced 8 full-length albums – Gauze (July 28, 1999), Macabre (September 20, 2000), Kisou (January 30, 2002), Vulgar (September 10, 2003), Withering to Death. (March 9, 2005), The Marrow of a Bone (February 7, 2007), Uroboros (November 11, 2008), and Dum Spiro Spero (Augst 3, 2011). They have released 27 singles, 2 EPs, 7 compilations/remix albums, and 14 full-length DVDs. In September of 2008, the band members selected 14 songs by other artists which were put onto a compilation disk called, “The Roadkillers”.

In May of 2005, the band performed for the first time in Europe. Things snowballed from there, finding them all throughout Europe and then they made the inevitable jump to the United States in 2006, starting out with three little-announced shows in Austin, New York City, and Los Angeles. All of them sold out within days solely by word of mouth. They reappeared in the US as a part of the Family Values Tour in 2006. And then it came, the time each fan in the US had been waiting for with bated breath – a headlining tour with 17 shows throughout February, 2007. The tour was entitled ‘Inward Scream’, fitting for the performances the entire band put on at every venue. They returned again in June and July of 2007 with the Deftones. In winter of 2008, they returned to the states with 20 shows on a tour entitled ‘The Rose Trims Again’. In 2009, they planned a special leg of the “All Visible Things” tour in NA during the month of November, including 12 shows. In 2010 they co-headlined with Apocalyptica, hitting up 15 different dates in the USA. They have had numerous other tours globally since then and continue to co-exist as a band that still contains the original members.