, known by his stage name Sakura, is a Japanese musician. He is perhaps best known as former drummer of the rock band
L'Arc-en-Ciel
L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ...
from 1993 to 1997. After leaving them he formed the supergroup
Zigzo
Zigzo (stylized as ZIGZO) is a Japanese rock supergroup that originally started activities in 1999 and disbanded in 2002. Each member came from a prominent band and they became very popular in the indies scene. They disbanded after their last ...
, the trio
Sons of All Pussys
Sons of All Pussys (typeset as SONS OF ALL PUSSYS, abbreviated as S.O.A.P.) was a Japanese rock band. Formed in 2002 by Ken, his former L'Arc-en-Ciel bandmate Sakura, and German born model Ein (who appeared in L'Arc-en-Ciel's PVs for " Heaven' ...
, and his solo project Lion Heads. Currently Sakura performs with the bands Rayflower, the reformed Zigzo, The Madcap Laughs, and Gibkiy Gibkiy Gibkiy.
Life and career
Sakura was born in
Nerima, Tokyo
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Nerima City.
, the ward has an estimated population of 721,858, with 323,296 households and a population density of 15,013 persons per km2, while 15,326 foreign residents are re ...
, the youngest of three children. He started taking piano lessons when he was a child. When he was in
junior high school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
he became very interested in rock music, later taking formal music training. Initially he wanted to play guitar but soon changed his mind and devoted himself to
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
.
When Sakura was in high school, he was already playing in the percussion and brass sections for three different school bands. He started working as a roadie for well-known heavy metal band
Dead End
Dead End or dead end may refer to:
* Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''.
Film and television
* ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...
, when he was eighteen.
Soon he began playing drums professionally and joined 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 Die+Kusse and the Harem Q. The latter released an album entitled ''Opium'' in 1991.
It was Dead End's manager who gave
L'Arc-en-Ciel
L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ...
bassist
Tetsuya
Tetsuya is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Tetsuya can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
* 哲也, "philosophy, to be"
* 鉄也, "iron, to be"
* 哲哉, "philosophy, alas"
* 徹也, "devotion, to be" ...
Sakura's contact information around December 1992.
In 1993, Sakura joined pop rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. They released their debut album ''
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
'' soon afterward. In 1996, their fourth album ''
True
True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality.
True may also refer to:
Places
* True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States
* Tr ...
'', became their first to sell over a million copies. But on February 24, 1997 Sakura was arrested for violating the Stimulants Control Law. In May, he received a two year
prison sentence suspended for three years. Sakura officially announced his departure from L'Arc-en-Ciel on November 4, 1997.
In 1999 he started the hard rock
supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to:
* Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields
* Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry
* Supergroup ...
Zigzo
Zigzo (stylized as ZIGZO) is a Japanese rock supergroup that originally started activities in 1999 and disbanded in 2002. Each member came from a prominent band and they became very popular in the indies scene. They disbanded after their last ...
with
Tetsu and former
By-Sexual members Ryo and Den. After achieving moderate commercial success, they disbanded in 2002. That same year, Sakura formed the band
Sons of All Pussys
Sons of All Pussys (typeset as SONS OF ALL PUSSYS, abbreviated as S.O.A.P.) was a Japanese rock band. Formed in 2002 by Ken, his former L'Arc-en-Ciel bandmate Sakura, and German born model Ein (who appeared in L'Arc-en-Ciel's PVs for " Heaven' ...
with his ex-L'Arc-en-Ciel bandmate
Ken
Ken or KEN may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer.
* ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film.
* ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine.
* Ken Masters, a main character in ...
. He has also played drums for rock/pop band Tamamizu as support drummer during the first half of 2005. In July 2005 he formed his solo project Lion Heads, where he plays guitar under the alias "Sakura-Die-Nerima".
In summer 2009 Sakura became drummer for Dead End frontman
Morrie's solo project
Creature Creature Morrie is a masculine given name, often a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Morris or Maurice. It may refer to:
People
*Morrie Aderholt (1915-1955), American Major League Baseball player
*Morrie Arnovich (1910–1959), American Major League Baseball ...
. In 2010, he became the drummer for the rock band Rayflower, with
Sophia keyboardist Keiichi Miyako. On May 15, 2010, he had his first show with the band Circuit9, in which he drums under the alias . In May 2011, Sakura reunited with Ryo and Den to restart
By-Sex. They released a mini-album titled ''Ago'' on August 17 and had their first show two days later at the 2011 Chain the Rock Festival. On November 20, 2011, Sakura held a birthday concert at Shibuya O-West.
There, after a surprise performance, Zigzo announced that they would officially restart activities at a concert on March 17, 2012 at
Akasaka Blitz.
[
In May 2012, Sakura formed the trio The Madcap Laughs with aie from ]Deadman
Deadman or Deadman's may refer to:
* "Deadman" or "dead man", are alternative terms for a dead man's switch
* "Deadman's foot" is another name for a Salamander in metallurgy
* "Deadman anchor" is a buried object (log, concrete, block, etc.) used ...
and Kiyoshi. Four years later he joined Gibkiy Gibkiy Gibkiy alongside aie, Kazuma (Merry Go Round) and kazu ( Kagerou).
Sakura supported 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 ...
in place of Kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
, his former drum protégé who died in 1999, for two 25th anniversary performances on September 8 and 9, 2018. In tribute, he dressed up as Kami and used his original drum kit for the shows.
Other work
Sakura is a Pearl Drums
, simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments.
History
Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa -who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo- o ...
, Sabian Cymbals
Sabian is a Canadian and Armenian cymbal manufacturing company established in 1981 in Meductic, New Brunswick, where it is still headquartered. Sabian is considered one of the ''big four'' manufacturers of cymbals, along with Zildjian, Meinl and ...
and Remo
Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware.
History
Drummer and founder Re ...
drum-heads endorser, and has been giving drumming seminars at clinics since early on in his career. Pearl Instruments Japan released a special Sakura signature drumset model in 2003.
Sakura has authored two books, one called ''Sakura no Drumworks Quick Reference'' about drumming; and one part-biography part-fiction book called which gathers the articles published in the magazine ''Arena 37º'', in his column , during his days in Zigzo. The latter was only available through mail order to customers living in Japan.
Discography
;With the Harem Q
* ''Opium'' (1991)
;With L'Arc~en~Ciel
* ''Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
'' (1993)
* ''Tierra
Tierra may refer to:
Astronomy
*Earth in the Spanish and Asturian language
Computing and games
* Tierra (computer simulation), a computer simulation of life by the ecologist Thomas S. Ray
* Tierra Entertainment, now known as AGD Interactive, a ...
'' (1994)
* '' Heavenly'' (1995)
* ''True
True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality.
True may also refer to:
Places
* True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States
* Tr ...
'' (1996)
;With Lion Heads
*
;With Creature Creature
* ''Inferno'' (2010)
* ''Phantoms'' (2012)
;With Rayflower
* ''Flower Language'' (2010)
* ''Narcissus'' (2014)
* ''Color & Play'' (2015)
* ''Brilliant Anthology'' (2017)
* ''Endless Journey'' (2018)
;With Circuit9
* ''Under the Sun'' (2011)
;With By-Sex
* ''Ago'' (2011)
;With The Madclap Laughs
* ''Midnight Love'' (2014)
;With Gibkiy Gibkiy Gibkiy
*
* ''In Incontinence'' (2017)
References
External links
Official website
Lion Heads Official site
Circuit9 Official site
Sakura no Kodawari Drumset
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakura
L'Arc-en-Ciel members
Japanese rock drummers
Japanese rock guitarists
Japanese alternative rock musicians
Visual kei musicians
Musicians from Tokyo
1969 births
People from Nerima
Living people