Dir en grey is a Japanese rock band. It was formed in 1997 from the disbanded Visual Kei band La:Sadie's, and has kept a steady member line up consisting of Kyo on vocals, Kaoru and Die on guitar, Toshiya on bass and Shinya on drums.

There is some confusion over the band name's origin and actual meaning. Kaoru has stated that it means "greyish silver coin," which is seemingly unfounded, a more accurate translation being "to you in grey." Each word from "Dir en grey" means something in another language. "Dir" is the word "you" in German. "en" is the word "in" in French. And "grey" is obviously "grey" in English. So a literal translation of Dir en grey is "you in grey." Dir en grey's international fans who speak a Latin-based language often use the abbreviations Deg and Diru when both speaking and typing for sake of brevity.

Brief History

Although they no longer consider themselves a Visual kei band, Dir en grey still surprises and shocks people with each new release. They have released a diverse range of songs, including hard tracks like "OBSCURE" and "PINK KILLER", rock ballads such as "蟲 -mushi- " or " MACABRE ― 揚羽ノ羽ノ夢ハ蛹 ― ( MACABRE -ageha no hane no yume wa sanagi-)", pop songs like "yokan (予感)”, tracks such as "Mr. NEWSMAN" with profound lyrics, but a heart wrenching vocal bridge, or "umbrella" with a catchy chorus. With the eclectic variety of styles and sounds produced from this band, it is very difficult to accurately categorize them.

In 2002, Dir en grey toured outside Japan for the first time. They tour took them to several asian countries, including China and South Korea. In Shanghai, fans became so excited that authorities wanted to cancel a planned second concert. The band and their management resisted, and the concert was played as scheduled.

Dir en grey played their first non-Asian shows in the spring and summer of 2005. Their "It Withers and Withers" tour was brought from Japan to Europe. The band played shows in three countries - Belgium, France, and Germany. The most notable of these performances are MTV's Rock im Park and Rock am Ring festivals. Dir en grey also played a solo live concert in Germany on May 28th which sold 3,500 standing-room tickets to Berlin's Columbia Hall in 3 days.

The band has recently began playing with major foreign bands. They began playing in France with a national band, Eths. They are currently scheduled to play a show in Japan with long-time associate Wednesday 13 and his band. Dir en grey has also been invited onto three dates in the Japanese "Taste of Chaos" Tour with WARCON Records bands: The Used, Story of the Year, Killswitch Engage, Funeral for a Friend, and Rise Against.

The band currently releases products in Europe and Asia.

Release History

Dir en grey released their first mini album, MISSA, on July the 25th, 1997. They gained major attention after their second single -I'll- (12.08.1998) broke indies sales record by reaching #7 on the Japanese Oricon charts. The band’s success caught the eye of X-Japan's Yoshiki, who produced their first major album, GAUZE (28.07.1999). Three of the singles from GAUZE debuted in the Top 10 in the Oricon charts.

The band started their own record company, FIREWALL DIV., in 2000 to produce MACABRE (20.09.2000). They continue to release albums under the label.

Their next releases were 改-kai- (08.22.2001) and 鬼葬 (kisou) (30.01.2002); the former being an album with remixed versions of songs from Gauze and Macabre. Although the change in the band's psyche across the tracks is apparent, all of the albums retained a strong visual theme.

As a trial in sound, the band released their second mini album six Ugly (31.07.2002). It featured a new feeling, sound, and style reminiscent of punk rock. The release was radical enough for the band to consider releasing it under a new name. The following album continued in six Ugly's divergent path. VULGAR (10.09.2003) featured an aggressive, metal influenced sound. It remains one of the band's most controversial releases due to its drastic change in sound.

The much anticipated follow-up album Withering to death. (2005.03.09) somewhat united fandom before their latest single, "CLEVER SLEAZOID" (2005.09.21) - a Screamo-influenced track, once again divided a fandom torn between the band's Visual Kei origins and hard-rock direction.

Band members

The band member's real names have long been disputed both by Japanese and International fans. The generally accepted names are in parentheses, followed by their Japanese equivalent. Toshiya, Die, and Shinya generally write their names in English, so their names are followed with the most probable hiragana spelling. For Die, katakana is used because his stage name is not of Japanese-origin.

Vocals: 京 (Kyo) (Nishimura Tooru) きゟう　（にしむら　とおる）
DoB: 16 February, 1976
Age: 29
Hometown: Kyoto

Guitar: 薫 (Kaoru) (Niikura Kaoru) かおる　（にいくら　かおる）
DoB: 17 February, 1974
Age: 31
Hometown: Hyougo

Guitar: Die (Andou Daisuke) ダイ　（あんどう　だいすけ）
DoB: 20 December, 1974
Age: 30
Hometown: Mie

Bass: Toshiya (Hara Toshimasa) としや　（はら　としまさ）
DoB: 31 March, 1977
Age: 28
Hometown: Nagano

Drums: Shinya (Terachi Shinya) しんや　（てらち　しんや）
DoB: 24 February, 1978
Age: 27
Hometown: Osaka

Discography

Albums

• MISSA (1997.07.25)
• GAUZE (1999.07.28)
• MACABRE (2000.09.20)
• 改 -KAI- (2001.08.22)
• 鬼葬 (kisou) (2002.01.30)
• six Ugly (2002.07.31)
• VULGAR (2003.09.10)
• Withering to death. (2005.03.09)

Singles

• JEALOUS (1998.05.10)
• -I'll- (1998.08.12)
• アクロの丘 (akuro no oka) (1999.01.20)
• ゆらめき (yurameki) (1999.01.20)
• 残 -ZAN- (1999.01.20)
• Cage (1999.05.26)
• 予感 (yokan) (1999.07.14)
• 脈 (myaku) (2000.02.16)
• 【KR】cube (2000.04.18)
• 太陽の碧 (taiyou no ao) (2000.07.26)
• ain't afraid to die (2001.04.18)
• FILTH (2001.09.12)
• JESSICA (Single) (2001.11.14)
• embryo (2001.12.19)
• Child prey (2002.07.31)
• DRAIN AWAY (2003.01.22)
• かすみ (kasumi) (2003.04.23)
• THE FINAL (2004.03.17)
• 朔 -saku- (2004.07.14)
• CLEVER SLEAZOID (2005.09.21)

Video

• 「楓」～if trans･･･～ /通常限定版 ([Kaede] ~ if trans...~/Limited Edition) (1998.1.15)
• 「楓」～if trans･･･～ /通常版 ([Kaede] ~if trans...~/Normal Edition) (1998.07.8)
• 妄想統覚劇 (MOSO TOKAKU GEKI) (1998.10.07)
• 妄想格外劇 (MOSO KAKUGAI GEKI) (1998.10.07)
• GAUZE-62045- (1999.11.17)
• 1999年12月18日大阪城ホール (1999.12.18 OSAKAJOU HALL) (2000.02.16)
• TOUR 00>>01 MACABRE (2001.07.25)
• 鬼門 (KIMON) (2002.03.20)
• 列島激震行脚 FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM (Retto Gekishin Angya FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM) (2003.05.21

DVD

• GAUZE-62045- (2000.04.19)
• 1999年12月18日大阪城ホール (1999.12.18 OSAKAJOU HALL) (2000.04.19)
• TOUR 00>>01 MACABRE (2001.08.22)
• 鬼門 (KIMON) (2002.03.20)
• 列島激震行脚 FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM (Retto Gekishin Angya FINAL 2003 5 Ugly KINGDOM) (2003.05.21)
• TOUR04 THE CODE OF VULGAR[ism] (2004.10.06)
• AVERAGE FURY (2005.06.29)
• AVERAGE PSYCHO (2005.07.27)

Fandom and other information

Dir en grey are a fairly rare phenomenon. Due to the eclectic nature of their music, each album release is often accompanied with a change in artistic direction - especially in their image. Many fans of Dir en grey have been divided over what is the definitive 'era' in which Dir en grey was at its creative high.

The most clear break occurred in the "VULGAR" time period. The direction taken by the band had a clear emphasis on heavier rock but also American influences. Many argued their artistic direction had matured while others felt they had strayed too far away from their Visual Kei Japanese roots. The album is both hated and loved, and one of the favorite arguing points of many fans.

Dir en grey's earlier styles were dominated by Visual Kei, a style of artistic expression that revels in it's flamboyance and androgyny. Dir en grey has since changed steadily and it's image is now more influenced by punk and metal.

External links

• Dir en grey Official Site (Japanese & English)
• FREE-WILL AMERICA Official Site(English)
• [www.jpophouse.com/contents/en-us/dg-survey.html]

Surevey of US DeG fanbase (To see if Dir en Grey has enough to play in USA)

• FREE-WILL EUROPE Official Site
• FREE-WILL Official Site (Japanese)
• sun-krad Official Site (Japanese)
• ORICON STYLE (Japanese)
• Nippop Profile | Dir en grey (English)

Unofficial fan sites - group

• xxx KILL TIME "Dir en grey Contents
• direngrey.us (U.S-based information site)
• Painkiller
• Hades
• Karasu (Chinese)
• Tattered Cloth
• egnirys (+) injection
• French DeG (French)
• Crecent Moon
• Visual Heaven
• Lace and Fishnet
• Lu:Ciel (Chinese)
• DeG Zone
• Shigaraki (Japanese)
• Twisted Love: Diru in Europe
• Tsukiyo: Dir en Grey Shrine
• Dir en grey wallpapers
• Diru fansite with a public, fan-based media library. UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Unofficial fan sites - individual members

• Toshiya Shrine
• Kaoru and Die Collective
• Cult of Kyo
• Simply Dielicious (Die)
• Kumo Kiso (Kaoru)

Lyric/interview translations

• Centigrade-J
• Dir en grey +Mode of Gauze+
• Tattered Cloth
• Tsukiyo: Dir en Grey Shrinede:Dir en Grey

fr:Dir en grey it:Dir en grey nl:Dir en grey ja:Dir en grey pt:Dir en grey sv:Dir en grey