Dir en grey is a very dynamic and visionary band. Not only does their sound make them stand out but the very distinct voice of Kyo is unmistakable. However to know them you can not just start with Dir en grey. Why? Simply because Dir en grey rose up from the scattered ashes of another band, La’sadies.

La’sadies was formed in 1995 when Kyo decided to start up a band. Knowing his location was not appropriate for such a venture he set out for Osaka. There he met up with Shinya, drummer for Rubis and ex. Siva member, and Kisaki who was a session bass player for Rubis and who had formerly been in the band Stella Maria. From there they started up a cover band named ‘Haijinkurobarazoku’ and played covers of bands such as Kyoyume, Luna Sea and more.

This did not last long however. They decided to start La’sadies up. They of course had to find new musicians to fill their open slots first. This is when Die came on board. He left Ka za ri just to join them. They also had found another guitarist, Shio. He however did not stick around to long and was replaced by Kaoru who had previously been in CHARM.

A happy Harmoney however was not obtained. Kisaki wanted and needed more independence and pull then what he had in the band. After struggling with this point he left La’sadies in 1997 and La‘sadies disbanded.

However Kyo and the others were not about to give up so easily. Kyo got ahold of Toshiya, whose band had played with them before and convinced him to come on over. Thus Dir en grey was born.

The first release from the band was a mini-album titled Missa. Missa was fairly reminiscent of the sound and style that had begun to form while in La’sadies. Their unique sound and stlye made sure they did not go unnoticed. In fact they caught the eye of a major player in the J-Rock community, Yoshiki Hayashi of X -Japan fame.

Recognizing their potental, which is something Yoshiki has developed a keen eye for, he came onboard to produce their first full album ‘Gauze’ and help push them in the limelight. Gauze is often hailed as the bands best album due to the style that really began to shine through that has the bands unique earmark on it. Yoshiki’s meticulous hand really refined them and pushed then towards what they were capable of. It also pushed them into the spotlight.

After the success of ‘Gauze' the band really took off. They were able to stand on their own feet and did not need the aid of Yoshiki any longer. In the years that have followed they really explored their sound and style and started running off in other directions while slowly easing out of their visual kei image, which they did not need anymore to gain attention. They had proven themselves in their own right.

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