Sugizo

Yūne Sugihara (杉原 有音, Sugihara Yūne), born Yasuhiro Sugihara (杉原 康弘, Sugihara Yasuhiro, on July 8, 1969 in Hadano, Kanagawa, Japan), known exclusively by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea. He is considered a "legendary guitarist" in Japan.

He started his solo career in 1997 and has since collaborated with many artists. In 2007 he became a member of the trance/world music act Juno Reactor, and of the Japanese rock supergroup S.K.I.N., and in 2009 officially joined the heavy metal band X Japan.

In addition to being known to experiment with many musical genres, mostly rock, psychedelic and electronica, he is known for his political ideas and views, being an anti-war, anti-nuclear and environmental activist.

Sugizo performing with X Japan in São Paulo, Brazil 2011.

Early life and musical education

Yūne Sugihara was born on July 8, 1969, to a musical family, in Hadano, Kanagawa, in Japan. His father, who is Chinese of Japanese descent, played trumpet in the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and his mother, who is German of Japanese descent, played cello in the same orchestra. From a young age, he was brought up on classical music and had to study classical music theory. At the age of three, by his father initiative, started to learn to play the violin. He practiced it for 3 hours per day, but without the right type of music or composer, began to hate playing music, and coercion from his parents aggravated such feeling of repulsion. The situation persisted until the age of ten. His early favorite composers included Ludwig van Beethoven, Béla Bartók, Franz Liszt and J.S. Bach.

When Sugizo was eleven or twelve years old, around the beginning of junior high school, he began to play the trumpet. He preferred the trumpet's "dirty" image more, as it was during the 1950s and through to the 1970s, in comparison with the violin, which was seen as something for higher-profiled people or class. It was during his junior high school days that he became more exposed to non-classical music types, such as the Japanese synthpop group Yellow Magic Orchestra, the British new wave group Japan, David Bowie's glam rock, and the London punk scene, making his base for rock'n'roll.

1986–96: Early bands and Luna Sea

Despite his father's disapproval, Sugizo acquired a bass guitar and an electric guitar, and began to teach himself how to play. When he was around the age of 17, then in high school, Sugizo with Shinya on drums and Tezya on vocals formed a power metal band called Pinocchio, where he played as the bassist. Since the internal structure of Pinocchio was not cohesive, they left and briefly joined Kashmir in 1988. On January 16, 1989, they both joined another band which performed at the same live houses, called Lunacy, formed by J and Inoran. With the addition of Ryuichi Kawamura, vocalist from the band Slaughter, the five formed the visual kei rock unit Lunacy. Since J was already the bass player and Inoran preferred to play rhythm guitar, Sugizo became the lead guitarist and took on his stage name, which he believes Shinya came up with. Soon they were discovered by hide (then lead guitarist of X Japan), who got them signed by X Japan co-founder Yoshiki, to his independent label Extasy Records, on which they released their debut album in 1991. Upon their first album release, the band changed their name from Lunacy to Luna Sea. They became one of the most famous rock bands in Japan, selling more than ten million records, as well performing in China and Taiwan.

The first solo activity Sugizo had was in 1993, when he wrote his first solo song "Revive", for the album Dance 2 Noise 004 featuring many musicians, including the group M*A*S*S, which consisted of hide, J and Inoran. In the upcoming three years, a variety of less known musical collaborations and contributions took place.

1997–2001: Solo career, Truth?

After Luna Sea went on break in 1997, Sugizo started his own solo career and opened the independent label "Cross" to produce other artists, as well as releasing his own records. He points out that the opening of his record label was one of his very important projects at the time, but not anymore. On July 9, his debut single "Lucifer" was released and reached number 8 on the Oricon singles chart. It was followed by his first solo tour "Abstract Day" which lasted until the final performance in August at Akasaka Blitz, where he was joined by DJ Krush, Masami Tsuchiya and members of Japan. Then on September 10 he released his second single, "A Prayer", which reached number 7 on the charts. On November 19, his first solo album Truth? was released, and reached number 12 on the album charts. It was met with mixed reviews, largely because of the unexpected musical style which mixed different genres with electronica beats. A variety of artists participated in the album, from Ryuichi Sakamoto and Mick Karn, to Lou Rhodes and Valerie Etienne. Towards the end of the year, remix editions of his two maxi singles and album were released.

As Luna Sea resumed activities, until the bands disbandement, Sugizo collaborated in the studio with actress Miki Nakatani, and singers Miu Sakamoto and Vivian Hsu among others. On August 11, 1999 a compilation album titled "Grand Cross 1999", which was sponsored by Sugizo's record label "Cross", was released, featuring many musicians with whom he had worked with before and many for the first time.

In 2001, he participated in Ryuichi Sakamoto's N.M.L. ("No More Landmines"), a campaign to promote awareness of the problems of land mines and promote a ban on them, and helped in the making of the album Zero Landmine. He starred in Ken Nikai's movie Soundtrack and composed the music for the film. On November 14, a compilation album inspired by the film, titled Parallel Side of Soundtrack was released, and the following year he released the single "Rest in Peace & Fly Away" featuring Bice on vocals. That same year he produced the music for, as well danced in, Suichoku no Yumeof, a production by the popular contemporary dance company H. Art Chaos.

2002–07: C:Lear, joining Juno Reactor

Around late 2001 he formed the solo project Sugizo & the Spank Your Juice, with whom he toured with until 2004 and released three singles; "Super Love", "Dear Life" and "No More Machineguns Play the Guitar", which entered top 50 on the charts. His acting career also continued in 2002, when he starred in Isao Yukisada's film Rock'n'roll Mishin, and the television series RedЯum, directed by Ken Nikai.

In 2003, following the release of "No More Machineguns Play the Guitar", Sugizo released his second album C:Lear. It peaked at the number 56 on the album charts.

In March 2004, Sugizo formed the rock band the Flare with vocalist Yuna Katsuki. He also created a new record label called "Embryo", which receives major distribution from Universal Music Group for music of The Flare. They performed at Earth Day in Tokyo, Japan's largest event devoted to environmental and peaceful causes. The band would last until 2006, releasing four singles and one album. In May 2005, Sugizo organized the event "Neo Ascension Groove", with psychedelic jam session act Shag. In the band he plays guitar, violin and percussion, while the music is avant-garde with concentration on rhythm. In April 2006, collaborated with trumpeter Toshinori Kondo and celebrated Earth Day by participating in three shows held on April 9, 22 and 23 at the Yoyogi Koen in Tokyo. He later had his first performance with Juno Reactor at the Tokyo Techno Festival.

In 2007, Sugizo participated in the project Stop Rokkasho run by the Japanese NGO Boomerang Net and headed up by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The project was created to bring attention to the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant in Aomori Prefecture. In April, he played at the Nagisa Music Festival with Shag. On June 29 at the 2007 Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, California was the debut, and only, performance of S.K.I.N, a supergroup consisting of Sugizo, Yoshiki, Gackt and Miyavi. In July, Juno Reactor performed as the White Stage's main act on the final day of the Fuji Rock Festival. On December 5, he released the remix album Spirituarise, in which artists from both Japan and overseas remixed his original tracks. On December 24, 2007, Luna Sea reunited for a one-night only concert at the Tokyo Dome.

2008–09: Cosmoscape, joining X Japan

Heath and Sugizo during an X Japan concert in Hong Kong, 2009.

On March 28 and 29, 2008, Sugizo played at X Japan's two reunion concerts as a stand-in along Wes Borland and Richard Fortus for the deceased hide. In April, he took part in Juno Reactor's European tour. On May 2, he reunited with Luna Sea again at the "hide memorial summit", a two-day concert in memory of hide, at the Ajinomoto Stadium. On July 23, Sugizo released a greatest hits compilation album titled Cosmoscape. The album shows off his various types of music genres, such as rock, trance, jazz, classic, bossa nova, among others, and spans his ten years of solo work. During the year, Sugizo wrote a song titled "Enola Gay", named after the Boeing B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He wrote the song to convey his feelings and thoughts toward the people who suffered from the aftermath of nuclear war, and to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As well, that the bomb never must be dropped again, and as his live supporting drummer Greg Ellis is American, singer Origa Russian, and him Japanese, that people from former enemy states can be friends.

In September joined Juno Reactor on the USA leg of their tour. On December 19, at the 1,500-seat Shibuya-AX concert hall, he held the solo concert "Rise to Cosmic Dance" playing songs from Cosmoscape, and including the new song "Enola Gay". On December 31, Sugizo played with X Japan at their New Years countdown gig at Akasaka Blitz.

On May 1, 2009, Sugizo officially joined X Japan as lead guitarist, violinist and backing vocalist. In December, Sugizo with Juno Reactor performed in the Netherlands, twice in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Upon returning to Japan, he released two new digital singles, "Messiah" and "Tell Me Why You Hide the Truth?", via iTunes on December 16. They topped iTunes electronic music charts with first and second place. On December 24 and 25, he held the concert "Next Phase of Cosmic Dance" in Taipei, Taiwan.

2010–11: Flower of Life, Luna Sea reunion

Sugizo with Luna Sea in Singapore, 2013.

Upon returning to Japan, on January 27 Sugizo released two digital singles, "Fatima" and "Do-Funk Dance", another on February 24 entitled "Prana", which also topped the iTunes electronic charts, and one more on March 31 named "Dear Spiritual Life".

Sugizo was the music director and composer of the soundtrack for jidaigeki theatre stage play Nemuri Kyoshiro Buraihikae, featuring Gackt in main role, which ran for 120 performances across Japan. In April he performed at the Nagisa Music Festival.

On July 8, Sugizo announced that he would help his friend Mick Karn, who was diagnosed with cancer, by remixing his song "Missing". The song was renamed "Missing Link" and was available for download in return for a donation on Mick's official website to help fund the expensive medical treatment. Mick Karn died on January 4, 2011.

On August 29, he held a fan club only event called "Soul's Mate Day IV". The show featured an acoustic set which has been given the name "Soul's Mate Quintet". On August 31, Sugizo and the rest of Luna Sea attended a press conference in Hong Kong, where they announced that they would be touring worldwide after 10 years of inactivity. From November 5 to 8, Sugizo teamed up with drummers Budgie, Leonard Eto and Mabi, and multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler in Hong Kong, to participate in a project called "The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade", as part of the "New Vision Arts Festival". On April 13, 2011, Sugizo released two singles, "No More Nukes Play the Guitar" and "The Edge". On June 29, he released the single "Miranda", followed by "Neo Cosmoscape" on July 27, which was remixed by System 7, "Enola Gay" on August 15, and "Pray for Mother Earth" on September 9, a song he wrote with Toshinori Kondo for Earth Day 2006. On December 14, Sugizo released two albums, Flower of Life and Tree of Life. The first is completely instrumental with psychedelic and electronica songs, while the second includes remixed songs and those done in collaboration with other artists. In December was held a four-date tour "Stairway to the Flower of Life", with a concert in Taipei and Hong Kong.

2012–present

Sugizo playing the violin at Madison Square Garden, 2014.

In 2012, besides being vastly involved with Luna Sea, were released two digital songs "Final of the Messiah" and "Super Love 2012", and held their following concerts. The final concert of the small "Ascension to the Consientia" tour was on September 17, at Akasaka Blitz. On May 30, was released the original soundtrack composed and produced by Sugizo for the theare stage play 7 Doors, in which he also starred in, and was a staging of Bartók's opera Bluebeard's Castle.

In 2013, on March 6 was released remix album Vesica Pisces, including remixes by Juno Reactor, System 7, and The Orb. On April 23, was released The Golden Sun of the Great East, the second Juno Reactor's studio album feauting Sugizo. Sugizo collaborated with many musicians on Dead End's tribute album, specifically on the song "Serafine". For the same producer of the 7 Doors play, Sugizo was the musical director and composer for the new staging of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. On December 11, was released A Will, Luna Sea's new studio album after thirteen years. On December 23 at Kobe was opened the solo tour "Thrive to Realize", which ended on December 29 at Shibuya-AX in Tokyo.

In 2014, in March joined and performed on 50th anniversary concert by long-time friend Morrie, the frontman of band Dead End. In April with other artists started the multi-media project "Art of Parties", a live installation incorporating art, video, music and dance. In September appeared and performed at the event "The Solar Budokan". On September 24, was released a compilation of classical music selected by Sugizo, some of them re-arranged by him.

Sugizo has a daughter named Luna Artemis Sugihara, who was born on April 27, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan. In an interview he said that her birth has transformed him the most and "when you love your daughter, you begin to love all children. Although this might sound grandiose, nothing will make me happier than seeing all children around the world lead joyous lives. I'll be more than satisfied if I can become a tool towards that goal".

Sugizo finds all religions very interesting, and loves to read lots of books about them. Since his father was a Buddhist, while his mother was a Protestant, from the young age he has often been in contact with things related to church and Protestantism. Currently he's more into Buddhism, or more specifically, Buddha himself. Ever since he was little he was curious about occult subjects. While in Elementary School, he became obsessed with the ancient civilizations of Egypt, the Maya's Easter Islands and the Inca. One of the very important moments were when he was around 18 or 19 years old, after reading Shirley MacLaine's book Out on a Limb, he became even more intrigued about the spiritual world. Noting "As I grew older, I was able to better understand the things that caught my attention when I was young".

Sugizo in the interview said that "there are secrets held by a small elite who control the world... We spend our lives without ever being aware of the truth that is hidden from us", and so through the song "Tell Me Why You Hide The Truth?" meant "We have to liberate freedom and rebuild it by ourselves. I think the world is in need of a revolution. To know what to believe, to know what's really going on in this world we have to take the initiative. That's the sort of signal I'm trying to send". Also added "The thing I seriously want to do the most is make society, the whole world, clean. That's the duty we must fulfill for the next generation".

Sugizo's signature ESP Eclipse S-VIII Brilliant MixedMedia guitar at an X Japan concert backstage in 2011

Sugizo's guitar rack at an X Japan concert in 2011

Sugizo almost exclusively uses ESP guitars and he has around sixteen signature models with them, mostly with the Eclipse body style or other Gibson-style shapes like the RD and Flying V. But their specs are more similar to a Fender Stratocaster than any Gibson, using single coils, alder bodies and maple necks, 25.5" scale length and tremolos. Lately he's favored a P-90 in the bridge position and vintage-style trems, as opposed to the 3 single coils and Floyd Rose trems he used for most of his career. His signature models feature the ESP logo written in the same font as the Luna Sea band logo, a feature also found on J's and Inoran's signature models.

For his solo projects and recent shows he also often uses Stratocaster-type guitars from Navigator, a very high-end custom shop related to ESP. His acoustic guitars of choice are usually C.F. Martin Dreadnoughts. He also plays signature electric violins made by Kranz, and his bows are made by Codabow.

His amps have changed often throughout his career but are generally high-end and boutique brands, including Fender, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, Matchless, Bogner, Custom Audio Electronics, Divided by 13 and Koch. Most recently he's been using EVH5150's and EVH 4x12" cabs with some additional heads like a Diezel Vh4. He's also performed using an Axe-Fx II.

His effects are numerous and spanning several pedalboards and racks, but important staples are his DigiTech Whammy pedal for pitch effects, and delays and reverbs from various Eventide pedals and the TC Electronic 2290 Digital Delay.

• 1997: "Abstract Day"
• 2001: "Sugizo & The Spank Your Juice Abstract Day 2001"
• 2008–09: "Rise to Cosmic Dance"
  • Support band: Origa on vocals, Takumi Samejima on guitar, Fire on bass, Greg Ellis on drums, d-kiku on keyboards and programming, K-Ta and Kenji Yoshiura on percussion, Shinpei Ruike on trumpet.
• 2009–10: "Next Phase of Cosmic Dance"
• 2011: "Stairway to the Flower of Life"
  • Support band: Origa on vocals, Takumi Samejima on guitar, Tokie on bass, Motokatsu Miyagami on drums, d-kiku on keyboards and programming, Kenji Yoshiura on percussion, Shinpei Ruike on trumpet.

• Truth? (November 19, 1997), Oricon Peak Position: #12
• C:Lear (October 1, 2003) #56
• Flower of Life (December 14, 2011) #62
• Tree of Life (December 14, 2011) #69
• Oto (音, December 23, 2016) #132

• Replicant Lucifer (August 27, 1997) #24
• Replicant Prayer (November 6, 1997) #54
• Replicant Truth？ (December 21, 1997)
• Spirituarise (December 5, 2007)
• Vesica Pisces (March 6, 2013) #227

• Sugizo meets Frank Zappa (December 22, 1999)
• Cosmoscape (July 23, 2008) #69
• Spiritual Classic Sugizo Selection (September 24, 2014) #133

• Parallel Side of Soundtrack (November 14, 2001)
• H・Art・Chaos ～Suichoku no Yume～ (December 31, 2001)
• Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (February 27, 2002) #80
• Silent Voice ～Acoustic Songs of Soundtrack～ (May 9, 2002)
• Nemuri Kyoshiro Burai-hikae (May 14, 2010)
• 7Doors 〜Bluebeard's Castle〜 (May 30, 2012)

• "Lucifer" (July 9, 1997) #8
• "A Prayer" (September 10, 1997) #7
• "Rest in Peace & Fly Away" (April 10, 2002) #46
  • Sugizo feat. bice
• "Super Love" (August 21, 2002) #42
  • Sugizo & the Spank Your Juice
• "Dear Life" (November 20, 2002) #47
  • Sugizo & the Spank Your Juice
• "No More Machine Guns Play the Guitar" (January 24, 2003) #50
  • Sugizo & the Spank Your Juice
• "Tell Me Why You Hide the Truth?" (December 16, 2009)
• "Messiah" (December 16, 2009)
• "Do-Funk Dance" (January 27, 2010)
• "Fatima" (January 27, 2010)
• "Prana" (February 24, 2010)
• "Dear Spiritual Life" (March 31, 2010)
• "No More Nukes Play the Guitar" (April 13, 2011)
• "The Edge" (April 13, 2011)
• "Miranda" (June 29, 2011)
  • Sugizo feat. MaZDA
• "Neo Cosmoscape" (July 27, 2011)
  • Remixed by System 7
• "Enola Gay" (August 15, 2011)
• "Pray for Mother Earth" (September 11, 2011)
  • Sugizo feat. Toshinori Kondo
• "Final of the Messiah" (August 29, 2012)
  • Remix by System 7
• "Super Love 2012" (September 11, 2012)
  • Sugizo feat. Coldfeet
• "Life on Mars?" (August 15, 2016)
• "Lux Aeterna" (September 30, 2016)
• "Raummusik" (October 31, 2016)

• "Inner Child" (August 25, 2004) #70
• "Uetico" (ウエティコ, December 1, 2004)
• "Positivity" (June 1, 2005) #104
• "Manatsu no Koibito" (真夏ノ恋人, August 31, 2005) #93
• The Flare (February 8, 2006) #95

• Gods & Monsters (April 22, 2008)
• The Golden Sun of the Great East (April 24, 2013)

• "Scarlet Love Song" (June 8, 2011)
• "Jade" (June 28, 2011)
• "Born to Be Free" (November 6, 2015)

• Issay; Flowers (1994) – violin on "Asamade Matenai"
• Media Youth; Spirit (1995)
• Tracy Huang; Crazy for Love (1998) – "So Near, yet so far Away" composed and produced by Sugizo
• Glay; Pure Soul (1998) – guitar on "Yuuwaku"
• d-kiku; Miniature Garden (1998) – violin on "Tamarisque", guitar on "Close", "Synapse" and "Sound of View", "Cross" composed by Sugizo
• Miu Sakamoto; Aquascape (1999) – "Internal", "Eternal" and "Awakening (Endo Mix)" composed by Sugizo
• D.I.E.; Progressive (1999)
• Miki Nakatani; "Chronic Love", "Frontier" (1999)
• Coldfeet; Flavors (1999)
• Redrum; "Redrum" (1999) – producer
• Miu Sakamoto; Dawn Pink (1999) – "Internal", "Eternal" and "The Eighth Colour " composed by Sugizo
• Tomoe Shinohara; Deep Sound Channel (1999) – "Voyage" composed and produced by Sugizo
• Vivian Hsu; Jiaban de Tianshi (2000) – "Tata" and "Mogui ai Shechi Yanlei" produced by Sugizo
• Honeydip; Another Sunny Day (2000) – producer
• Paul Wong; Yellow Paul Wong (2001) – guitar on three tracks
• N.M.L. (No More Landmines); Zero Landmine (2001) – guitar
• Nicholas Tse; Jade Butterly (2001)
• Red; "Saga" (2001) – producer
• Miu Sakamoto; "Sleep Away" (2002) – composed, arranged and produced by Sugizo
• Kiyoharu; Poetry (2004) – guitar on "Melancholy"
• Redrum; Second Circle (2004) – producer
• D'espairsRay; Born (2004) – violin on "Marry of the Blood"
• Miu Sakamoto; Oboro no Kanata, Akari no Kehai (2007) – producer
• Miyavi; "Hi no Hikari Sae Todokanai Kono Basho De" (2008) – guest guitarist on the title track
• Acid Black Cherry; Black List (2008) – guitar
• Toshi; Samurai Japan (2010)
• Tezya; Life My Babylon (2010) – on "Cosmo of Love"
• m.o.v.e.; "Overtakers" (2011) – guitar
• Japan United with Music; "All You Need Is Love" (2012) – guitar solo
• Ryuichi Kawamura; Concept RRR 「Never Fear」 (2014) – guitar on "Ai no Uta"
• Sukekiyo; Immortalis (2014) – remixed "Hemimetabolism" on the limited edition
• Dir en Grey; "Utafumi" (2016) – violin on "Kūkoku no Kyōon"
• Trustrick; Trick (2016) – violin on "I Wish You Were Here"
• Maon Kurosaki; "Vermillion" (2016) – composed and produced the title track

• Auto-Mod; Tribute to Auto-Mod ~Flower in the Dark~ (1994) – on "Smell" and "Deathtopia"
• Japan; Life in Tokyo - A Tribute to Japan (September 4, 1996) – "Quiet Life" and on "Le Fou" by The Experience of Swimming
• Osamu Tezuka; Atom Kids Remix ~ 21 Century Boys and Girls (February 24, 1999) – remixed "Fushigi na Merumo" by Cibo Matto
• Anarchy; Q:Are we Anarchist? (June 23, 1999) – on "Reformation Child (Revolution Kids)"
• Yellow Magic Orchestra; YMO Remixes Technopolis 2000-00 (November 3, 2000) – remixed "Perspective"
• Yellow Magic Orchestra; Tribute to YMO (September 8, 2004) – remixed "1000 Knives"
• Gundam; Gundam Unplugged ～Acogi De Gundam A.c.2009～ (December 9, 2009) – "Beginning"
• Dead End; Dead End Tribute - Song of Lunatics (2013) – guitar on "Serafine"

• Dance 2 Noise 004 (January 21, 1993) – "Revive"
• Grand Cross (August 11, 1999) – "Aquarius After the Le Fou", "Luna-tica ~Life on the Hill Mix~ (Remixed by 4Hero)"
• Mother Earth I (March 27, 2002) – "Anna Tumoru" and on "Devil's Tear" by Vivian Hsu
• Sugizo Compiles Global Music I (October 23, 2002)

• A.D.2001 Final (November 27, 2002) #86
• Brilliant Days (January 11, 2005)
• Rise to Cosmic Dance (March 25, 2009) #109
• Stairway to The Flower of Life (October 24, 2012) #81