Juka

Juka ( Japanese ジ ュ カ , allegedly 藤 本 大樹 , German Fujimoto Hiroki ; born October 4th , allegedly 1981 in Yamaguchi , Japan ) is a Japanese musician and became known through his work in the solo project Moi dix Mois by the visual kei artist Mana .

activities

Moi dix Mois

When Juka was discovered by Mana in 2002, nothing was known about him. Like his bandmate and bassist Kazuno , he was a newcomer to the Japanese scene. However, he liked the somber style of Mana's works. Together they produced three singles, two albums, two live DVDs and played countless live concerts, most recently in Germany and France.

Juka left Moi dix Mois after the Invite to Immorality Tour Final concert on April 30, 2005. Musical differences were given as the official reason for leaving. As a result of the singerless time, Kazuno and drummer Tohru also decided to leave. Moi dix Mois had to be reshaped.

HIZAKI grace project

It wasn't long before Juka heard something from her again. At the end of 2006, the musician HIZAKI announced that he would release a new album called Dignity of Crest at the beginning of 2007 with a band he called HIZAKI grace project . He mentioned some names of those involved in the band project, but the name Juka (ex-Moi dix Mois) was also given in the description of the CD. This led to a larger run on the existing inventory of the album. Within a very short time, not only the limited edition, but also the regular edition was completely sold out. At the moment they are still waiting for the CD to be pressed a second time. During the tour 日本 耽美 革命 ( Eng . Nihon tanbi kakumei ), Juka once performed alongside KAMIJO and Kaya together with HIZAKI grace project.

ノ ー ド ・ オ ブ ・ ス ケ ル ツ ォ (Node of Scherzo)

In March 2007 the event ノ ー ド ・ オ ブ ・ ス ケ ル ツ ォ (Eng. Node of Scherzo ) took place. In addition to Juka, KAMIJO and Kaya as well as HIZAKI and Jasmine You performed there. According to KAMIJO, the show is a kind of theater combined with music and light plays. While Juka and Jasmine You embody the dark side, KAMIJO and HIZAKI find themselves on the side of light. Kaya stands in the middle as the universal beauty. The focus of the story is the tragic love story between Juka and Jasmine You. When the three singers sang a song specially written for the show at the end of the show, it was so popular that after another Node of Scherzo show in May 2007 it was decided to record this song on CD. The CD was released on October 31, 2007. All buyers of all Halloween releases from the labels ト ロ イ メ ラ イ (dt. Dreaming ) and Sherow Artist Society , namely Carmilla (Kaya), Saint Croix (Juka), Lyrical Sympathy ( Versailles ) and of course the Node of Scherzo single, had the opportunity to receive a special DVD containing live scenes from the show in May by sending in small coupons on the obi sections of the CDs on a card that was contained in the Node of Scherzo single, however accompanied by the studio version of Node of Scherzo . Other performances of the song could also be seen on the national tour 日本 耽美 革命 (Eng. S. O.). On March 15, 2008, the costumes of the artists were auctioned off on the occasion of an in-store event of the Japanese music store Death trap-ID . Anyone who had previously purchased a ticket for the event had the opportunity to submit exactly one bid to purchase the costume of their choice. Juka himself was not present during the event, unlike the other artists.

Solo career

In mid-February 2007 it was announced that Juka would release his first solo maxi single under the title Aravesque at the end of March . The three tracks were produced by Juka together with Lareine singers KAMIJO and HIZAKI . They represent a mixture of rock with a touch of Gothic in Aravesque , hard rock in S and French chansons in aimless . In addition to the three tracks, the associated instrumental pieces are on the CD. In June 2007 his first mini-album Luxurious with a total of 5 songs was released. In addition to the single Aravesque there are 4 other songs on the album.

After a few live concerts, on October 5th, Juka performed the 'HIZAKI grace project vs. Juka 'concert in Albion released the acoustic single 水面 華 ( eng . Suimen hana ). The single was only sold that day and is currently hard to find even on the internet. In addition to an acoustic version of Aravesque ( 形象 の 泉 (‹Aravesque› ac ver) , Eng . Keishou no izumi ) there is the acoustic version of Jewel ~ 届 か な い 思 い ~ and a new song on the disc that gave the single its name. For the end of October, the release of Juka's third single Saint Croix is finally planned. The song SAINT CROIX is rounded off by two instrumentals together with the B-side song fall of leaves ... The edition also contains a DVD with the two PVs of the songs.

During the Japan tour 日本 耽美 革命 (dt. S. O.) Juka accompanied Versailles and Kaya and performed solo with his guitarist Tetsu and Kazuno (ex- Moi dix Mois ) as bassist. Mikage from HIZAKI grace project acted as support drummer. During the tour almost every Juka song was played once, only the acoustic songs and aimless were left out. It was also possible to pre-order a strictly limited documentary DVD called 裏 貴族 ( Eng . Urakizoku ) during the tour . The 2 DVDs provide more than 135 minutes of bonus material including live excerpts and off-shots of the three acts.

In December 2007, Juka announced the temporary end of his solo career for personal reasons. Widespread rumors speak of singer nodules that forced him to quit. The then existing plans to form a new band called Seventh Sense were suspended. Instead, the last release in February 2008 was a best-of album called Seventh Sense Oricon-Charthits , which not only contains SAINT CROIX and Aravesque , but also another song composed by Juka called Zephyrus ~ 悲壮 な る 決意 に 満 ち 溢 れ ~ ( Eng . Zephyrus-hisou naru ketsui ni michi afure- ). The release of the song 水面 華 has been moved to the sampler CROSS GATE 2008 ~ chaotic sorrow ~ , a joint production of the Sherow Artist Society and Under Code Productions. Reasons why the song was previously referred to as 水面下 ( eng . Suimenka ) are not known. Presumably this is a mistake on the part of the record company. Juka played his last live concert with the band on March 30th at a celebration of the one year anniversary of HIZAKI grace project, he did not play solo songs.

VII-Sense (Seventh Sense)

In 2009, Juka, who is now called Shaura, presented the XOVER project together with guitarist Kouichi (ex. Everlasting K ). After 2 PVs, a DVD and two albums, however, he left the band to start an even bigger project. He realized the idea of ​​Seventh Sense (ab.SS), together with guitarist erina (ex. Dio - Distraught Overlord ), drummer Mikage (ex. Babylon Juka-Support), RayX (ex. ASTONSHI ) and KAZ (ex. 野村★ ), who also plays piano, and bassist Masato (ex. XOVER -Support). On their official Myspace page, the band announced that the band is now called VII-Sense and will release their first single BLACK BIRD on March 24th on RED LIST Entertainment , the former record label of XOVER (on which the PV of BLACK BIR D). A European tour is said to be planned for May. After successful concerts, the band released their second maxi-single Cell Division on July 28th , which sold very well. For September to October the band has planned a coupling tour together with E'm Grief and the popular band Art Cube , whose singer is a support member for Moi dix Mois.

On August 28, 2012, Juka / Shaura announced that he would cease all musical activities and decided to turn his back on the music scene. In his announcement he wrote, among other things, on his blog "I will never return to music" and "[...] it was very, very painful for me".

Discography

previous activities:

• see: Moi dix Mois
• see: HIZAKI grace project

Solo:

• Aravesque (March 28, 2007)
• Luxurious (June 13, 2007)
• 水面 華 ( Eng . Suimen hana ) (October 5, 2007) (only available during the HIZAKI grace project concert)
• Saint Croix (October 31, 2007) (with PV-DVD, first pressing with postcard)
• 裏 貴族 "日本 耽美 革命" ツ ア ー ド キ ュ メ ン タ リ ー DVD ( Eng . Urakizoku "nihon tanbi kakumei" tour documentary DVD ) (December 2007) (omnibus with Versailles, Kaya, Juka and HIZAKI grace project)
• Seventh Sense (Best-of album) (February 6, 2008)
• CROSS GATE 2008 ~ chaotic sorrow ~ (Omnibus) (March 26, 2008)

Xover

• XGATE (2009.7.22) ALBUM
• Aureola (2009-10-21) ALBUM
• 泡沫 の 悠久 (2009-11-27) DVD

VII scythe

• BLACK BIRD (March 24, 2010)
• SEXUAL DESIRE [live distribution] (June 22, 2010)
• Cell Division (July 28, 2010)
• Untitled [live distribution PV] (July 30, 2010)

Web links

• Juka's official homepage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cdjapan.jp