A visual kei band Alice Nine announced to hold the 11th anniversary live “Alice Nine 11th Anniversary Live ‘Re:birth-Hisho-‘” on August 23rd at Toyosu Pit, Tokyo.
They will be back on stage after a year of silence. JROCK.tokyo has been receiving lots of voices of joy from fans all over the world including Japan as well as Asia, Europe and the South America.
Their popularity that is measured from the sales of their musical products, total number of audience of their lives and followers to their SNS is a head higher than other bands that were formed around the same time. They successfully accomplished a performance at Budokan as well as a large scale Asia tour of 14 performances. It’s not too much to say the band has been growing as a world-wide band that cannot be ignored by music fans.
I will write the reason later but they have a potential to become a crucial band when we talk about the history of music of Japan not only as a visual kei band. Let’s look back the 11 years of Alice Nine.
Quickly became a center of visual kei with their ”gorgeous charm” and “high potential”
Alice Nine was formed as Alice Nine in May of 2004 with five members: Shou (Vo), Hiroto (Gt), Tora (Gt), Saga (B) and Nao (Dr).
They didn’t really start full-scale activity as a band and performing as a form of a tentative band at the beginning. Even with such a weird situation, their first single “Namae wa, Mada Nai” which was released only 1000 in July of 2014 was quickly sold out and additional 3000 was also sold out.
“Namae wa, Mada Nai”（July, 2004）
Resale distribution source: PS COMPANY
The band successfully finished a coupling tour with AYABIE (*AYABIERU then) raising their expectations. They officially started as “Alice Nine (with different Chinese character)” in August. In September, the band joined PS COMPANY (the GazettE is now a leading band of this distinguished production company of visual kei. miyavi and Kagrra also used to belong to). They joined PC COMPANY as a big new star and started to play a pivotal role. Their first one-man live which took place in January of 2015 was at LIQUIDROOM which accommodates 900 people. That tells us how much they were gaining attention.
Why did many visual kei fans got into Alice Nine which was just formed and the influential production company push their back?
One of the main reasons is Alice Nine showed up at the dawn of “Neo visual kei” boom.
Bands called “Neo visual kei” contain a wide range of music of metal, techno, pop music, new wave as well as their gorgeous visual. Alice Nine came into the spotlight at the timing of the beginning of “Neo visual kei” boom.
Also the most importantly, their looks was absolutely outstanding. In fact, they tended to gain attention to their looks as a big advantage and they were regarded rather as a superficial band at the beginning.
However, it doesn’t mean that Alice Nine became popular because “They were handsome!” When you start talking about “music theory” and “performance skill”, I cannot deny that they had an unsophisticated part in their indies around the time they released their first mini-album “Gion Shojya no Kanega Naru” (November, 2004). Yet, their sincere attitude to the melody, the approach to various songs that are catchy but not only well-selling rock tune and the emotional vocal that you cannot forget once you listen to it… Their charm and strength that Alice Nine would take pride later were already there.
“A spectacular band that runs through with overwhelming momentum holding some kind of unfathomable potential. That’s how they were seen by fans and therefore Alice Nine became popular at the early stage.
Band sound that keeps evolving with flexibility and absorbing ability
The factors that cannot be missed when talking about Alice Nine’s songs are their flexibility toward their music and absorbing ability like a black hall. They take everything like sounds in fashion and music of various genres, digest them and spit it out as “Alice Nine”. This attitude is a kind of “Soft methods often get the better of brute force”.
It was because “Neo visual kei” which surrounded Alice Nine was a genre that connotes diverse music. And also their desire to improve and find what they should be was quite strong feeling mortified as they were perceived as a superficial band at the time of their inception.
Their flexibility as a band became prominent in “Kowloon -NINE HEADS RPDEO SHOW-“(January, 2006) and after where they started to release their works from a major label, KING RECORD.
Kowloon -NINE HEADS RODEO SHOW-（January 2006） Distribution source KING RECORD
Although when the band was formed they were holding up a concept of “Combination of Japanese and Western style”, that element almost disappeared. “Japanese” completely disappeared from the surface such as their costume while in their songs there were still some “Japanesque” factors and development that can be seen in Japanese music. Their good footwork and flexible turnaround to abandon the existing concept widen the variety of their music and activities.
Zekkeishoku (April 2006) Distribution source KING RECORD Alpha (November, 2007) Distribution source KING RECORD
Alice Nine after having joined KING RECORD started to release works that provide the fusion of catchy melody and their intense band sound with a base of pop and rock in various ways such as “Zekkeishoku”(April, 2006) and “Alpha”(November, 2007). It was around that time when they gained their characteristic songs that slow the tempo at chorus part making the song magnificent.
As Show says “’you’ in the lyrics is toward all the fans”, the world of lyrics filled with lyricism that invites sympathy was completed around 2007 when “Alpha” was released. Just around the time, their single “TSUBASA.” Was ranked 6th on daily ranking of Oricon which was the record for them and often appeared on the media. The sweet and lively voice of Shou who had noticed their popularity and strength gained the persuasive power to complete songs of Alice Nine.
VANDALIZE(Januray, 2009） Distribution KING RECORD
In “VANDALIZE”(January, 2009) which was the last album as “Alice Nine” in Chinese character was made on the concept of “destruction for construction” and that made a big impact as evolving Alice Nine.
Melodious tunes which is characteristics of Alice Nine: “the beautiful name” and “Waterfall”. A song made with a thought “it was the theme of this song to play, as Alice Nine, an alternative rock which influenced us when we were kids”:”Kiss twice, Kiss me deadly”. A metal tune in which distortion guitar sound was exceptionally used in ”Drella”. They absorb various factors and fuse them into one album. The toughness gives me an impression that we can definitely call them a “Genuinely talented band”.
GEMINI（2011年2月） Distribution source Tokuma Japan Communications
The distribution source has been changed to Tokuma Japan Communications. “GEMINI” (February, 2011) which was made in cooperation with a music producer Hajime Okano who produces L’Arc~en~Ciel and other major bands has become one of the masterpieces of Alice Nine. It recorded the 3rd in Oricon Weekly Chart which was the highest ranking they had got.
This album was brought out in the following month of their first Budokan performance in January. First, it gave astonishment to fans as it was a set of three section of “GEMINI”, a progressive rock suite, of which the lead song lasted over 10 minutes.
“I.” develops an overwhelming tune utilizing many strings’ sounds and catchy songs such as “Stargazer:” and “4U” of which either could be a single followed. Then SE “Entr’acte” drags into the three section of “GEMINI”. The track order itself gives you a feeling that you go deep down to the world of this album. That was totally excellent.
“9”（2012年2月）
Distribution source Tokuma Japan Communications
“9”(February, 2012) contains novel tunes such as “Hallo, World” of which Saga’s poetry reading is impressive and “Heavenly Tale” of which rough and dynamic sound is new. At the same time, it features songs that have no trickery or bluffing that bring back to the foundation of band sound: “the Arc”, “Linear” and “Heart of Gold”. This album turned out to be a work that can convey the genuine ability of Alice Nine who celebrated the 8th anniversary.
Supernova”(March, 2014) Distribution Source Universal Music
The latest album as of June of 2015, “Supernova” can be defined as the tour de force just before their 10th anniversary. It’s the first album to be released after they moved to Universal Music. They made this album in cooperation with Satoru Hirade, a producer of ONE OK ROCK and other popular bands, with whom members long wished to work. This album over turned in a good way the image of their stoic band sound which they established in the last work.
In “KID”, a collaboration work with an electro group, the band had a serious bout with EDM. The band pursued “pop music” till the very limit emitting a thrilling balance in “Moebius”. They absorbed even more factors here and gave an impression as one step advanced band.
Though lots of synthesizer was used in this album, any bad influence was shown the groove of their band sound at lives. There is nothing I can say but blavo for their recent lives that fascinate us with vivid sound images.
Flexibility and ambition beyond the songs
Flexibility and ambition of Alice Nine as a band has reached beyond their songs. They never cut corners on whatever they are doing and keep providing fans with entertainment.
There must be many fans who clearly remember the DVD single, “NUMBER SIX.”, released in 2006. The songs start after a short movie of almost one hour which Tora had written. We cannot say it could win an Academy Award for the performance of armatures (lol). However, visual kei musicians on their second year are acting with all their force. It was quite appealing. It’s sometimes nominated as a hidden masterpiece by fans.
In September of 2009, the band started “Alice9 Channel”(ended in 2014), an official regular program of “Nico noco live broadcast” which was quite early as a visual kei band. A washtub fell upon their heads, hit by vegetables on their bottom, their parents’ house getting visited without any warnings… Alice Nine did their best on all the rigorous projects which was even harder than usual variety shows. That was very alluring, too.
Moreover, Alice Nine has recently been gaining much attention to their high quality and divers live items. There are of course standard T-shirts, accessories in collaboration with a brand, PC case and even ingredients for Ochazuke (food dish comprising cooked rice and tea). How they are particular about the items can be known from the fact Hiroto became a buyer and actually visited the specialty shop for rice bowls. They do things that “You don’t really need to do this!” with making their utmost effort. Such unrefined activities which seem opposite to their gorgeous looks and their unrefined are also a part of their charms.
Possibility that crowdfunding produced
I earlier wrote “Alice Nine could become a crucial band when we talk about the history of music in Japan” and its key is “crowdfunding”.
Crowdfunding is a method to raise fund that is necessary for a specific project through internet from unspecified large number of people from all over the world. This method is quite major and there are more bands who take advantage of this method but there had been no outstanding examples that rock band used this scheme to produce music works. In spring this year, Alice Nine successfully collected the amount of money to cover the budget to make the next album.
A9 Fund Project Website (English available)：http://a9-project.com/a9cf/
Today we are in the era that CDs don’t sell much and music industry is surrounded by a severe situation. In general, when an artist tries to release a work the label and the production company cover the budget. In short, “give budget in expectation of the benefit from the sales”.
As it tends to pursue the benefit of enterprise artists cannot ignore what sells well and put it in the work. It is also true that some different types of work are sold and overheated release events are recently been perceived as problems.
As for crowdfunding, fans investment directly reaches to the artist who they want to support and fans receive services corresponding to the investment in return. This could question whether conventional “system and scheme of music industry” should stay the same.
The service the fans can receive by investing to the band is not only for fans in Japan but also fans overseas. Alice Nine didn’t broadcast their music on iTunes worldwide before “Supernova” and moreover there were voices of visual kei fans abroad that “Because the distribution system is not well developed it’s hard to get the original works of Japanese visual kei bands”. Gaining opportunities for fans overseas to receive service directly from the band through crowdfunding could be perceived a very big step for the band to tread on foreign soil.
On August 23rd, what restoration show will they let us see on their 11th anniversary? The band announced that they will be on a domestic as well as Asia tour. I’m sure they are already looking up a higher stage. Stay tuned on the future of Alice Nine.
Text：Hikaru Takasaki
A9 Official Website：http://a9-project.com
＜Alice Nine 11th Anniversary Live ”Re:birth-Hisho-“＞
August 23rd, 2015 (Sun) Tokyo Toyosu PIT
OPEN 16:00／START 17:00
Ticket sold to public: August 1st (Sat)
＜Alice Nine Tour 2015 “Re:birth-Hisho-“＞
September 3rd, 2015 (Thu)Sendai darwin
September 5th, 2015 (Sat)Koriyama HIPSHOT JAPAN
September 15th ,2015 (Tue) Hamamatsu Madowaku
September 17th, 2015 (Thu) Osaka BIG CAT
September 19th, 2015 (Sat) Hiroshima CLUB QUATTRO
September 21st, 2015 (Mon) Kanazawa AZ
September 23rd, 2015 (Wed) KYOTO FANJ
September 25th, 2015 (Fri) Nagoya Bottom Line
September 29th, 2015 (The) Korea
October 3rd, 2015 (Sat) Shanghai
October 4th, 2015 (Sun) Shanghai
October 10th, 2015 (Sat) Taipei
October 11th, 2015 (Sun) Taichung
October 13th, 2015 (Tue) Beijing
October 15th, 2015 (Thu) Wuhan
October 17th, 2015 (Sat) Canton
October 18th, 2015 (Sun) Hong Kong
and more…
Original article: http://jrock.tokyo/en/report-2/22083/
First of all, thank you very much for our first live on 3.15. Having been in Alice Nine for 10 years, when the thought that I wanted to be in this band forever came to me, what I felt was that I was lacking in my abilities. As far as my abilities allowed, we were able to get some results, and having been blessed with great staff members and a great work environment, I was in a very blissful environment where I was able to pursue music by merely doing things the "usual" way. But to the extent that I don't take the risks and fight for myself, I thought I wouldn't be able to see any remarkable improvements hereon.
So around last year, I started to think that I should create a place on the outside, with no stability or guarantees, where I had to fight as if my life depended on it.
So I spoke about that with the members, and we all agreed, we decided that in order to improve ourselves as individuals, we would also be fighting outside of the band.
And to me, that place is DIAWOLF.
At first I thought I would do this alone.
DIAWOLF takes its name from DIRE WOLF = an ancient wolf,
and it felt to me like a person who was looking for a place to die after having giving everything they had in them.
So, what is giving everything you've got...?
When I thought about the kind of music I wanted to do that I wouldn't regret even if it killed me, my standards were "The music I wanted to do when I was a teen".
During a time where I had no dreams or hopes, I had come across LUNA SEA, and learnt just how amazing bands were, and when I was throwing out random ideas, like "I think with my current skill, I can do the music that I liked in high school, like KORN and Prodigy and NIN", Tora listened to what I had to say.
I had said it as if it were a joke and asked him "Wanna do this project with me?" and his immediate reply was OK. I was happy.
So because that's how this came about, it's going to be different from Alice Nine, and it has to be different from Alice Nine.
I'm sure there will be people who enjoy it,
and people who will be disappointed.
But in order to protect things and places that are important to me,
I couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
I hope that you will see with your own eyes just what kind of music DIAWOLF will make.
The long wait of Alice Nine fans is over. The boys finally made their comeback last 1 March 2015, after they graduated from their management company of ten years, PSC. Surprise they did their fans, because they gave us more than we bargained for. So here are the three new things every Alice Nine fan need to get acquainted with: 1. A9 - Alice Nine's name is now stylized as A9. According to Show, he will explain further the band name's stylization in media interviews.
2. DIAWOLF - This is a solo project by Show Ohara (vocals) featuring Tora Amano (guitar).
From their biography page:
The project name came from the image of searching for a place to die,
just like a wolf. It is read as "dire wolf". It is the most ancient
wolf. Taking metal and heavy rock, their roots during their teenage
years as a main point, they mix in mode and gothic elements while
remaining sensitive to new things, they pursue a sharp, worldwide
approach.
3. A9 Fund Project - A9 has started a crowdfunding project to finance their activities. More details can be found on the page.
