Kamijo is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

singer-songwriter, musician, and music producer. He is best known as lead singer of the

visual kei is a movement among Japanese musicians that is characterized by the use of varying levels of make-up, elaborate hair styles and flamboyant costumes, often, but not always, coupled with androgynous aesthetics, similar to Western glam rock. Som ...

bands

Lareine Lareine (stylized as LAREINE) was a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in 1994. The band's name is reported to have come from the French Queen Marie Antoinette.

and

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. He has also been the head of two independent

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s; the first being Applause Records (formed in 2000), and currently Sherow Artist Society since 2006, being renamed to Chateau Agency since 2016. His music covers many genres, Lareine having mainly a

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid 1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

style, and

a clear

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

and

neoclassical metal Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,Stephan Forté, "Metal néoclassique" in ''Guitarist Magazine Pedago'', Hors Série #29, "Les secrets du m ...

sound. He has an extensive discography with the bands Lareine, New Sodmy and Versailles, consisting of 15 albums, and a large amount of EPs and singles. In 2013, Kamijo began a solo career with his debut single "Louis ~Enketsu no La Vie en Rose~".

Early life

Kamijo was raised in a family of musicians; his mother and grandmother were both piano players, and his grandfather a violinist. He has cited

Paul Mauriat Paul Julien André Mauriat ( or ; 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006) was a French orchestra leader, conductor of Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat, who specialized in the easy listening genre. He is best known in the United States for his mill ...

and

X Japan was a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive soun ...

as influences. His first steps in rock music were in the mid-1990s, when he worked as a

roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...

for the

rock band

Malice Mizer Malice Mizer (stylized as MALICE MIZER) was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from August 1992 to December 2001. Formed by guitarists Mana and Közi, their earlier music and themes were characterized by their strong French and classical in ...

. He shared this job with Mayu, a guitarist with whom he formed the band

Lareine Lareine (stylized as LAREINE) was a Japanese visual kei rock band formed in 1994. The band's name is reported to have come from the French Queen Marie Antoinette.

Career

1994–2007: Lareine

In August 1994, Mayu and Kamijo (then using the names Maito and Shoki respectively) met for the first time while they were working as roadies for Malice Mizer. The same year, in November, they decided to form a band together, which they named ''Laliene ru cheri'', commonly called just Laliene (named that way for the French Queen

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

). Along with guitarist Sakuren and drummer Kyouka, they began to play. Later bass player Emiru entered the band, completing the first line-up. In March 1996, Laliene held a live concert for their first anniversary, where they changed the name of the band to Lareine. That same year they released their first recording "Saikai no Hana", distributed freely at the anniversary concert in a limited number of 100 copies. They signed with Sony in 1998 and released the songs ''Metamorphose'', ''Fiançailles'', ''Fuyu Tokyo'' and ''Lillie Charlotte''. After many years of releasing many albums, EPs and singles, during a short separation of the band, Kamijo created the band New Sodmy, and recorded two albums and five singles. New Sodmy disbanded while Lareine was reformed in 2003 and started releasing new material. In February 2007, Lareine finally came to its end, having played their last live on October 31, 2006. The last recording of Lareine consists of 10 piano versions of their most popular songs.

2007–2012: Versailles

In March 2007, Kamijo and

Hizaki Hizaki (stylized as HIZAKI, born February 17, 1979) is a Japanese visual kei metal musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as guitarist of the symphonic power metal band Versailles. He is also a member of Jupiter and has a sol ...

(ex-Sulfuric Acid), and

Jasmine You Jasmine You (March 8, 1979 – August 9, 2009) was a Japanese musician, best known as original bassist of the symphonic metal band Versailles. Jasmine You, then known as Yuu, entered the visual kei music scene in 1998 after joining Jakura, who ...

(ex-Jakura), formed the band

. Later, Teru (ex-Aikaryu) and Yuki (ex-Sugar Trip), who were recommended by the Rock May Kan venue in Tokyo, joined the band. Hizaki, Jasmine You and Teru previously played together as part of

Hizaki Grace Project Hizaki (stylized as HIZAKI, born February 17, 1979) is a Japanese visual kei metal musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as guitarist of the symphonic power metal band Versailles. He is also a member of Jupiter and has a solo ...

Kamijo and Hizaki created the concept of Versailles in the autumn of 2006 and spent six months gathering members to express it. Their band concept is "the absolute youshikibi (beauty of form) sound and extremes of aestheticism". On March 30, 2007 the details of the band were announced. They released promotional material through the internet, set up an English language page on MySpace, and had several interviews with foreign press. Versailles made their first appearance with a showcase on June 23, followed by their first performance on June 24. On these dates they also distributed their first single and DVD single, "The Revenant Choir".http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/700/music_beat.asp The band signed with the German

CLJ Records CLJ Records is a German independent record label formed in 2006 specializing in Japanese visual kei style rock and metal bands. The label currently has 31 bands signed. CLJ is a sub division of Colosseum Music Entertainment and their head office ...

label and released the EP ''

Lyrical Sympathy ''Lyrical Sympathy'' is the debut EP by Versailles, released on October 31, 2007. It was released simultaneously in Japan and Europe, which is unusual for a newly formed band. Two of their songs, "The Red Carpet Day" and "Sympathia", were rere ...

'' on October 31, both in Japan and Europe. Their song "The Love From A Dead Orchestra" also appeared on a compilation album released by Sony BMG in Germany on November 9, called ''Tokyo Rock City''. On September 23, 2008, Kamijo modeled clothing for the brand Alice and the Pirates on the runway at Individual Fashion Expo IV. In January 2011, he and the rest of Versailles started starring in their own TV mini drama called . The show also starred

Rina Koike (born September 3, 1993, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese actress affiliated with Very Berry Production. Career In the early 2000s, Koike auditioned for Hello! Project Kids but did not pass the audition. Koike started a junior idol car ...

and aired on

Mainichi Broadcasting System , or MBS, is a radio and television broadcasting company headquartered in Osaka, Japan, affiliated with Japan Radio Network (JRN), National Radio Network (NRN), Japan News Network (JNN) and TBS Network, serving in the Kansai region. It i ...

and

TV Kanagawa (tvk for short) is an independent television station in Japan serving Kanagawa Prefecture and parts of the Greater Tokyo Area with favorable reception. The station was founded on April 20, 1971 and began broadcasting on April 1, 1972. Its call si ...

until March. On December 20, 2012, Versailles gave their last concert and ceased all activities. The band released four albums, one EP, eight singles, two live albums, ten music videos, one compilation albums and several DVDs.

2013: Solo career

In January 2013, Kamijo announced he would start a solo career, with his first release being the single "Louis ~Enketsu no La Vie en Rose~" on August 28. While all the other members of Versailles later formed the band

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

with a new singer, and released their first album the same day as Kamijo's single. The music video for Kamijo's single features

and

Moi dix Mois Moi dix Mois (lit. "Me Ten Months" in French) is a Japanese visual kei gothic metal band, founded in 2002 by Mana after Malice Mizer paused activities. The guitarist and sole songwriter has been the only constant member in a series of lineup cha ...

leader

Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

. Kamijo also sang backup on the 2013 debut album ''Heartstrings'' by

Aisenshi is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in 2013 by Eizo Sakamoto and She-Ja. History Aisenshi serves as a spiritual successor to Sakamoto's previous project Animetal. Sakamoto claims that the spirit of what "Animetal" comprised has not died, but ...

, the new band of

Eizo Sakamoto is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter who was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is most famous for being the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Anthem. In the 1990s he started up the band Animetal which performed heavy metal co ...

(

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

) and She-Ja (Volcano). In September 2018, Kamijo was one of three guest vocalists who performed with

for their 25th anniversary reunion concerts.

Discography

;Solo Studio albums * ''Symphony of the Vampire'' (March 5, 2014; mini-album) * ''Heart'' (September 24, 2014) * ''Sang'' (March 21, 2018) * ''Oscar'' (October 23, 2022) Other albums * * ''Royal Blood -Revival Best-'' (July 15, 2015; self-cover album) * ''Dream Live "Symphony of The Vampire" Kamijo with Orchestra'' (July 17, 2019; live album) Singles * * "Moulin Rouge" (June 18, 2014) * * * "Mademoiselle" (September 27, 2017) * "Nosferatu" (January 16, 2018) * "Sang~Another Story" (March 21, 2018) * * "Eye of Providence" (July 24, 2019) * "Temple ~Blood-sucking for Praying~" (November 27, 2019) * "Symbol of the Dragon" (February 26, 2020) * "Persona Grata" (April 29, 2020) * "Behind the Mask" (August 31, 2021) ;With New Sodmy * ''Confess to a Crime'' (2002) * ''Confess to a Love'' (2002)

References

* http://www.jpopasia.com/celebrity/kamijo/ * http://nerimaku.altervista.org/kamijo.htm * http://gyao.yahoo.co.jp/ct/music/ * http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/14373/profile/full/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20131203030511/http://www.jame-world.com/us/artists-biography-36-lareine.html

External links

Kamijo's Official Fan Club Website "Rose Croix"

Kamijo
at

Metal Archives Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various Heavy metal gen ...

Kamijo's Official Twitter

Kamijo's Official Instagram

Kamijo's Official YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamijo Versailles (band) members Visual kei musicians Japanese male singer-songwriters Japanese heavy metal singers Japanese male rock singers Japanese male pop singers Japanese male models Japanese male actors Living people 1975 births People from Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Musicians from Kanagawa Prefecture