Hideto Matsumoto

Hide (real name Hideto Matsumoto , Japanese 松本 秀 人 , Matsumoto Hideto ; born December 13, 1964 in Yokosuka , Kanagawa Prefecture , Japan ; † May 2, 1998 , mostly written hide ) was a Japanese visual kei - and J- Rock musician. He became famous as the guitarist of the band X Japan , and later he was also successful as a solo artist. Hide is still considered one of the most influential guitarists in Japanese rock history.

biography

1964–1987: Beginnings with Saver Tiger

Hide was born on December 13, 1964 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Midorigaoka, Yokohama . He attended Yokosuka Tokiwa Junior High School. His first encounter with rock music was the purchase of the album Alive II of the band Kiss , when he was 15th In the same year his grandmother bought him his first electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe .

On March 11, 1980, he graduated from elementary school and then attended the Zushi Kaisei Senior High School in Zushi , Kanagawa, where he entered the marching band club. But he soon resigned because he was supposed to play the clarinet instead of the trumpet he wanted .

Hide then began his musical career in 1981 with the formation of the band Saber Tiger , where he was guitarist and songwriter. The band became quite popular in their homeland of Yokosuka, just a year after their formation they were playing in the city's clubs, such as the Rock City Club.

Hide studied cosmetics and fashion at the Hollywood Beauty Salon (now Roppongi Hills ) from 1983 to 1984 . He passed the national exam and got the beautician license, which allowed him to take up the hairdressing profession.

In July 1985 Saber Tiger released their EP of the same name , which included the songs Double Cross and Gold Digger . In November the band steered the song Vampire to the Heavy Metal Force III sampler , which also included songs by X and Jewel . Years later, Jewels guitarist Kiyoshi became a member of hide's solo band.

In 1986 the band changed their name to Saver Tiger to avoid problems with a band of the same name from Sapporo. Under the new name they are releasing Dead Angle and Emergency Express on the sampler Devil Must Be Driven out with Devil . They also continued to play lives in clubs like the 'Meguro Rokumeikan, Omiya Freaks and Meguro Live Station. On January 28, 1987 hide gave up the band after several member changes (singer Kyo and drummer Tetsu later both went to D'erlanger ). At the same time hide received an invitation from Yoshiki .

1987-1997: X Japan

Main article : X Japan

Hide followed Yoshiki invitation early 1987. He was lead guitarist and occasional songwriter for X . He contributed the songs Celebration , Joker and Scars . When X Japan (renamed 1992) took a break after the release of Art of Life , Hide devoted himself to his solo career. In contrast to the other members, who largely shed their visual kei look, Hide kept his unusual clothes and his trademark, the bright red or pink colored hair, throughout his life.

1993–1998: Solo career

Hides first solo project was the establishment of the group M * A * S * S with Luna-Sea guitarist Inoran and the bass player J . However, they only released one song, Frozen Bug , on the sampler Dance 2 Noise 004 .

The song was released again in 1994 on hide's first solo album Hide Your Face . The cover design was based on a mask made by the Swiss artist Hansruedi Giger . For the album, he recorded all the guitar and bass passages himself and also took over the vocals. For the subsequent Hide Our Psychommunity Tour he founded the support band Spread Beaver , which also supported him on his Psyence A Go Go tour after the release of his second album Psyence in 1996 . In 1994 hide also starred in the art film Seth et Holth , alongside Tusk from the band Zi: Kill .

In 1996 hide oversaw the first production of his label LEMONed (founded in 1989), an album by the band Zeppet Store . His second album Psyence followed in September, as well as the accompanying Psyence A Go Go tour . After X Japan broke up in 1997, Hide made his support band his official band and renamed them hide with Spread Beaver .

In 1998 Hide also started an international music project, the industrial band Zilch . Besides Spread Beaver - music programmer INA were also involved British and American musicians: Paul Raven ( Killing Joke ), Joey Castillo ( Queens of the Stone Age ) and Ray McVeigh (ex- The-Professionals ). The collaboration led to the production of the album 3, 2, 1 . Hide hoped to become popular with this band in North America and Europe as well, but he could no longer realize this project during his lifetime.

1998: death and burial

Hide's death has not been fully clarified to this day, and there are various rumors and speculations about suicide, an accident or a failed prank. Hide was put to bed by a roommate on May 2, 1998 after consuming large amounts of alcohol the previous evening. When she went to check his condition an hour later, she found him hanged on a doorknob with a towel. At this point, Hide was still alive, but despite the efforts of the doctors, he died that same night in the hospital as a result of his injuries. The police declared Hide's death to be suicide, and Hide's death was treated as such in the media.

Tragically, three fans also committed suicide within a week. On May 7th, Hide's memorial service was held at the Tsukiji Hongan-ji Buddhist Temple in Tsukiji, Tokyo . The former band members of X Japan played the song Forever Love , and Yoshiki gave a very emotional speech in which he referred to Hide as a brother and expressed his incomprehension about Hide's death. In total, more than 70,000 people attended the ceremony. The police had to put up road blocks and activate special forces to monitor the situation. Even so, 60 people had to be hospitalized; around 200 people had to be looked after on site. To this day, a book of condolence can be found in the main hall of the temple.

Speculations about Hide's circumstances of death were also fueled by the lyrics of the song Pink Spider , recorded by Hide the day before his death , which contains autobiographical references and deals with the transience of life. The assumption that it must have been an accident was mainly supported by Yoshiki and the former X-Japan bassist Taiji . Taiji also wrote in his biography that Hide did exercises to relax his back and neck muscles on the evening of his death. These exercises were used early on by members of X Japan, and they included the use of a towel and a hook, such as a door handle.

Yoshiki's emotional speech

"I'm very shocked to hear about his death. I still can't believe what has happened. Right now, he's sleeping with a beautiful face. I tried to wake him up many times, but he's still sleeping. Between the five of us, Hide was the one who kept his calm and thought out things. Even though I was the leader, he was the calm one who gave me good advice when I was being short tempered and emotional. Of course with all of that pressure, he too almost lost his identity. But during those hard times, he'd always give me a call. We would talk about X, music, friends, life, fans, almost anything. He was like an older to me and sometimes like a younger brother too. We'd drink together and sometimes fight. But the next day, he'd come to me and say, "Yoshiki, did I do something last night? I'm sorry, I don't remember a thing. “But this time, he didn't say anything back to me, sleeping. To all fans and friends, you must all be confused. I too can not express this sadness in words. But we must understand that this is a reality. Everyone please watch over his eternal sleep warmly. "

“I am very shocked to hear of his death. I still can't believe what happened. Now he sleeps with a peaceful face. I've tried many times to wake him up, but he's still asleep. Between the five of us, Hide was the one who stayed calm and thought about things. Even though I was the leader, he was the calm one who gave me good advice when I was irritable and emotional. Of course, he too almost lost his identity from all the pressure. But during these tough times he would visit me. We'd talk about X, music, friends, life, fans, almost anything. He was always like an older brother to me, sometimes like a younger brother. We'd go out drinking and sometimes arguing. But the next day he would come up to me and say, “Yoshiki, did I do anything last night? I'm sorry, I can't remember anything. ”But this time he didn't say anything to me, he just slept. To all fans and friends, you must be confused. I cannot express this sadness in words either. But we have to accept that this is the reality. Everyone should please watch over their sleep gently. "

1998-present: obituary

Hide Museum in Yokosuka

In 1998 the recordings for Hide's third album Ja, Zoo began. However, Hide died during the recording. The album was completed using screen tests and with the help of his brother Hiroshi. The single Pink Spider was released in May and soared to number 1 on the Oricon charts. The song also won the MTV Video Music Award in the Japan Viewers Choice category. The following single, Ever Free, sold very well, as did the single Rocket Dive, which came out shortly before Hide's death . The American journalist Neil Strauss summed up the following trend with the following words: “In just a few weeks, pop culture in Japan had gone from mourning Hide's death to consuming it.” Zilch's guitarist Paul Raven had criticized hide until his death I was only able to finish three songs and questioned the authenticity of the album Ja: Zoo .

A sold out tour followed, with his former support band Spread Beaver performing using video recordings from previous concerts. They were supported by numerous musician friends like J or Sugizo ( Luna Sea ). In the years after his death there were numerous tribute projects for Hide and his music. Exactly one year to the day after his last appearance, the album Tribute Spirits was released on May 1, 1999 , on which bands such as Glay , Luna Sea , Buck-Tick or Oblivion Dust but also former bandmates from X Japan recorded cover versions of Hide's songs. In addition, the best-of album Psychommunity was released, followed by further compilations with singles and remix versions. In 2004 the album King of Psyborg Rockstar was released, which included remixes, live recordings and versions of songs by X Japan played exclusively by Hide . The latest is The Devolution Project , from 2010, the consecutive release of Hides Singles on a special record, the Picture Disc .

Two years after Hide's death, on May 2, 2000, the Hide Museum opened in Yokosuka, which was supported by Japan's Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi , among others . The museum displayed many personal items and also displayed his guitars, costumes, and music videos. Contrary to the original plan of three years, the museum remained open for five years and closed its doors on September 25, 2005.

The song IV of X Japan , which appeared after the reunion of the band in 2007, includes unused tracks from Guitar Hide. In addition, excerpts from the guitarist's concert were shown on a big screen in Shibuya in Primary. A hide plush figure or one of his guitars is an integral part of X Japan's concerts. Hide's place is taken by "Luna Sea" guitarist "Sugizo", an old friend of hide.

On May 3rd and 4th, 2008, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of hide's death, the hide memorial summit took place at the 50,000-seat Ajinomoto Stadium . It was organized by Yoshiki and included a list of many well-known rock and visual kei bands that played their own songs and covers of Hide's songs. Present were u. a. X Japan , Dir en gray , D'espairsRay , Versailles . Luna Sea and Phantasmagoria came together again for one day on this occasion. More memorial events follow every year.

In 2010, the fashion department store MARUI ONE opened the LEMONed Shop in Shinjuku , where for a limited time (April 29th to May 16th), old and new fan articles as well as hides guitars were exhibited there. In August 2010, a lawsuit hit the headlines in which Hide's management company Headway company (where his younger brother Hiroshi also works) sued Yoshiki's management Japan Music Agency for using Hides' images without a formal agreement. Both companies had a contract for the use of Hides pictures, which was signed in 2000, but later expired.

In June 2010 it was also announced that there would be a hide musical entitled Pink Spider , which would be dedicated to what "hide wanted to express with his music". The game was from 08. – 27. March 2011 at the Tokyo Globe Theater and then toured Fukuoka, Kobe, Nagoya, Niigata, Sendai, and Sapporo in April. J from Luna Sea played along.

music

Early in his career, Hide experimented with arrangements that were very different from X Japan's music. For example, the song Psychommunity has 4 guitar tracks and lots of strings. Blue Sky Complex, on the other hand, includes guitars with dropped C tuning , trumpets and organ music.

The title track of the album Psyence is a big band / jazz composition, for other songs hide also moved in reggae , industrial rock and glam rock

Equipment

Hide was a fan of Bow Wow guitarists Kyōji Yamamoto and Mitsuhiro Saito, which is why he used the same Mockingbird guitar that Saito used. Hide seldom went without a Fernandes guitar. He had a repertoire of designer and standard models. His designer models are still sold.

Spread beaver

Hide's band consisted of the following members:

• INA ( 稲 田 和 彦 , Inada Kazuhiko) - percussion instrument , music programming 1993–1998 ( Zilch , Dope HEADz , Sonic Storage)
• Chirolyn ( 渡邊 紘 士 , Watanabe Hiroshi) - bass 1994–1998 (Debonair, Madbeavers, Chirolyn & The Angels)
• Joe ( 宮 脇 知 史 , Miyawaki Satoshi) - drums 1994–1998 ( 44 Magnum , Ziggy, Madbeavers)
• THE | ( 野澤 大 二郎 , Nozawa Daijiro) - Keyboard 1994–1998 (Loopus, Ra: IN , Minimum Rockets)
• Kiyoshi ( 本 間 清 司 , Honma Kiyoshi) - guitar 1996–1998 (Jewel, Virus, Media Youth, R, machine, Madbeavers, Lucy)
• KAZ ( 岩 池 一 仁 , Iwaike Kazuhito) - guitar 1998 ( Oblivion Dust , Spin Aqua , Sonic Storage, Vamps )

former members

• Ran ( 松川敏 也 , Matsukawa Toshiya) - guitar 1993–1994 (Blizard, X-Ray, Twinzer)

X-Japan guitarist Pata has often appeared at Hide's live performances. Jennifer Finch and Demetra "Dee" Plakas from American grunge band L7 played for Hide on a couple of TV appearances in 1993 before Spread Beaver was formed.

Discography

All albums and singles that Hide released with X Japan can be found here .

Studio albums

• Hide Your Face (1994)
• Psyence (1996)
• Yes, Zoo (1998)

Singles

• Eyes Love You (1993)
• 50% & 50% (1993)
• Dice (1994)
• Tell Me (1994)
• Misery (1996)
• Beauty & Stupid (1996)
• Hi-Ho / Good Bye (1996)
• Rocket Dive (1998)
• Pink Spider (1998)
• Ever Free (1998)
• Hurry Go Round (1998)
• Tell me (2000)
• In Motion (2002)

Compilation albums

• Tune Up Remixes (1997)
• Best Psychommunity (2000)
• Hide Lemoned Compilation - Café le Psyence (2002)
• Psy Clone - Hide Electronic Remixes (2002)
• Hide Singles - Junk Story (2002)
• King of Psybrog Rock Star (2004)
• Psyence a Go Go (2008)
• Hide Our Psychommunity (2008)

Filmography

• Tokyo Pop (1988)
• Seth and Holth (1993)

Web links

• Hideto Matsumoto in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Official Fan Club (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Official fan club biography, 1964–1986 . In: hide-city.com . Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
2. ↑ Official fan club biography, 1987 . In: hide-city.com . Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
3. ↑ Official fan club biography, 1993 . In: hide-city.com . Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
4. ^ ^{A b c d} Neil Strauss: The Pop Life: End of a Life, End of an Era . In: nytimes.com . June 18, 1998. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
5. ↑ Alexandra A. Seno, Murakami, Mutsuko: Isolated in Their Grief . In: asiaweek.com . May 22, 1998. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
6. ↑ Dare Strap for Guitarists with Back or Neck Pain . In: guitarsite.com . Retrieved September 19, 2007.
7. ↑ Taiji Sawada: Uchuu o Kakeru Tomo E: Densetsu no Bando X no Sei to Shi 宇宙 を 翔 け る 友 へ: 伝 說 の バ ン ド X の 生 と 死 . Tokuma Shoten, Tokyo 2000, ISBN 978-4198611743 .
8. ^ Exercises - Head, Neck, Shoulder, Arms . In: pain-clinic.org . Retrieved September 19, 2007.
9. ↑ Official fan club biography, 1998 . In: hide-city.com . Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
10. ↑ Tribute Spirits release information . In: hide-city.com . Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
11. ↑ Constructed at a cost of 550 million yen, the Official fan club biography, 2000 . In: hide-city.com . Archived from the original on May 18, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2007.
12. ↑ Special Features: Hide Museum . In: musicjapanplus.jp . Retrieved June 10, 2008.
13. ↑ LEMONed SHOP . Musicjapanplus . June 16, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
14. ↑ ^{a b} X JAPAN Lawsuit . In: jame-world.com . Retrieved July 9, 2011.
15. ↑ X Japan involved in another lawsuit . In: tokyograph.com . Retrieved July 9, 2011.
16. ↑ hide's Spirit to Become the Musical "Pink Spider" - Auditions Now Open! . Musicjapanplus . June 30, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
17. ↑ Minamisawa Nao to star in rock musical, "Pink Spider" . In: tokyohive.com . Retrieved December 28, 2011.
18. ↑ Hide Your Face Photo & Band Score . Doremi Music Publishing ,, ISBN 4-8108-3853-6 .
19. ↑ Psyence . Doremi Music Publishing ,, ISBN 4-8108-3969-9 .
20. ↑ http://www.xiami.com/artist/profile/id/6805
21. ↑ hide-city ( Japanese ) In: hide-city.com . October 22, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2008.
22. ↑ JAPAN Discoveries . In: japan-discoveries.com . February 9, 2010. Retrieved February 9, 2010.