YukihiroStylized as yukihiro, and formerly as YUKIHIRO. (born November 24, 1968, in

Ichikawa, Chiba 240px, Ichikawa City Hall is a city in western Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 491,716 in 251,142 households and a population density of 8559 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city has a conc ...

) is a Japanese musician, best known as 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 ...

since 1998. He also sings and plays bass for his solo project

Acid Android Acid Android (stylized as ACID ANDROID and formerly as acid android) is the solo project of yukihiro, drummer of the Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. While yukihiro provides the vocals and many of the instruments himself, he also utilizes many s ...

, and drums for the

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 ...

Petit Brabancon. Before joining L'Arc-en-Ciel he was in the popular

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 Zi:Kill and

Die in Cries Die in Cries (stylized as DIE IN CRIES) was a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band of the 1990s, whose members have all played in other prominent bands. History Formed in 1991, Die in Cries was composed of Kyo (D'erlanger) on vocals, Mino ...

Biography

Early life

Yukihiro was born on November 24, 1968, in Ichikawa, near

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. His father is a company worker, and his mother is a

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

-wearing instructor. He has a younger sister. Yukihiro has stated that he had as ordinary a childhood as any other kid, never questioning his destined path of going to school, graduating to a university, and ultimately becoming a white-collar

salaryman In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...

. But he loved music, both Japanese and American, from heavy metal to pop. He was also a good short-track athlete in junior high school. However, he was kicked out from his athletics club for skipping daily training. When he entered high school, he started to play the drums and immediately decided to be a professional rock musician. Once he made the decision, he told his parents that he was leaving school because it was of no use to him. His parents forbade this, thus he continued his education while devoting himself mostly to rock music. During his university days (he left The Chiba University of Commerce), he joined Zi:Kill, one of the rising

rock groups of the time.

1990–1996: Zi:Kill and Die in Cries

Zi:Kill signed a recording contract with

Toshiba EMI , formerly , was one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. on June 30, 2007, after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. Its CEO and president was Kazuhiko Koike. Whe ...

in 1990. However, during the recording of their major debut, there was infighting and ultimately yukihiro was fired after a show in December. He then formed a band named Optic Nerve with guitarist Shin Murohime. In 1991, he joined former

D'erlanger D'erlanger (stylized as D'ERLANGER) is a Japanese rock band from Kyoto Prefecture, formed in 1983 by guitarist Cipher and bassist Seela. While they originally played speed and power metal, after recruiting drummer Tetsu and vocalist Kyo they ...

vocalist Kyo's band

together with Shin, who released their debut album ''Nothing to Revolution'' that same year. They became quite popular and performed at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

in 1994. Yukihiro wrote some songs for the band, but they were rejected because of their style. Some of these songs, "Trick" and "L'heure" were later recorded by

in 1999. Die in Cries broke up in 1995, with their last album ''Seed''. For a while, yukihiro worked as a free-lance drummer. During that time, he had no home and moved around staying with friends. Tetsu stated it was so hard to catch yukihiro then, because he had no

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

and was always on the move.

1997–present: L'Arc-en-Ciel, Acid Android and Petit Brabancon

When it was announced that the former L'Arc drummer

Sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

left in 1997, Tetsu, the leader of the band, asked yukihiro to help record the new single. During that time, they had good chemistry. So after their first "come-back" single, " Niji", was released, they held a comeback concert with Yukihiro as support drummer. In 1998, the band announced Yukihiro as an official member with the new single "

Winter Fall "Winter Fall" is the ninth single by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on January 28, 1998. It debuted at number 1 on the Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and info ...

", followed by the album ''

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

''. After joining L'Arc-en-Ciel, he changed the stylization of his name to all lowercase letters, to match the rest of the members' names (his name had been written in all capital letters prior). Despite some arguments from Sakura's fans, yukihiro quickly got accepted to L'Arc. His first song, "A Swell in the Sun", was played as a prologue during their 1998 tour. L'Arc-en-Ciel quickly became one of the most popular rock bands in Japan. Their tour was sold out, the album went platinum and all seven of their singles hit the top 10 in the charts. On July 1, 1999, they released their sixth and seventh albums ''

Ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

'' and '' Ray'' on the same day. The albums hit the top two ranks, and the tour was a huge success. L'Arc-en-Ciel stopped activities until 2003 and each member started their own solo projects. Yukihiro started

, where he is the singer. L'Arc-en-Ciel came back with the single, "

Ready Steady Go! ''Ready Steady Go!'' (or ''RSG!'') was a British rock/pop music television programme broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan wanted a light enter ...

", and album, ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

'', after the three-year hiatus in 2004. Then followed up with ''

Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which ...

'' and " Link" in 2005. In 2007,

released the single called " My Heart Draws a Dream" and album ''

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

'' The group also released the single "

Drink It Down Drink It Down is a traditional American drinking song found in many variants. The drink varies from stanza to stanza but the common refrain is "Drink it down ! Drink it down !" In Charles Samuel Elliot's 1870 collection of Yale College songsCharles ...

" in January 2008, with the music composed by yukihiro. In 2021, Yukihiro formed the

Petit Brabancon with Kyo, Miya, antz (

Tokyo Shoegazer is a Japanese shoegaze band formed in 2010. Their debut album, ''Crystallize'', was released in 2011. The band contributed two tracks to the My Bloody Valentine tribute album '' Yellow Loveless'', those being covers of "Only Shallow" and "I On ...

), and Hirofumi Takamatsu (

The Novembers THE NOVEMBERS is a four-piece Japanese alternative rock band. A preceding band was first formed in 2002 by Kobayashi Yusuke and Takamatsu Hirofumi. Subsequently, the preceding band disbanded in 2005, and "The Novembers" was officially formed in ...

Equipment

With L'arc-en-Ciel, yukihiro has played

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

drums and

Sabian Sabian may refer to: *Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by: **Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet **Sabians of Harran, ...

AA and HH-series cymbals. He uses two double bass drum kits, with different set ups. He has his own signature 13x3.5" snare drum made by Pearl. He has also played his kit with

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 ...

rototom The Rototom is a drum developed by Al Payson, Robert Grass, and Michael Colgrass that has no shell and is tuned by rotating. A rototom consists of a single head in a die-cast zinc or aluminum frame. Unlike most other drums, this type has a variab ...

Notes

References

External links

Acid Android Official website

Sony Acid Android page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yukihiro L'Arc-en-Ciel members Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Visual kei musicians Japanese rock drummers Japanese male rock singers Japanese alternative rock musicians People from Ichikawa, Chiba 1968 births Living people Musicians from Chiba Prefecture