BLOOD is a vis-kei band formed in 2002. The have the typical over the top visual style and typically gothic subject matter, from vampires to faux-French affectations. Yet behind the pomp and showmanship lies a truly dedicated band who maintain a very loyal group of fans from around the world.
I had a chance to interview the band in January of 2008. You can read the entire interview here, but for the purposes of this profile, here are a few choice cuts:
Kiwamu: I formed BLOOD in 2002 when I met Kaede. After that, we changed vocalists twice. Fuki is the third vocalist. He joined in 2004. After we made this lineup, we are going well now. BLOOD has carried out its own activities as an independent group belonging to no company. We have achieved great success, having sold a total of 18,000 CDs and performed over 50 one-man live shows around the world, including in Europe and America. I also sponsor gothic events in Tokyo on a regular basis. From 2004 to 2006, BLOOD worked under the concept VENGEANCE for BLOOD, basing all band activities on the theme of vampires. From 2006 to 2007, they conducted all activities under the concept of the French poetry collection Les Fleurs Du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) by Charles Baudelaire. As of April 2007, they are currently working with a new concept "Symphony of Chaos". Before BLOOD, I was the only person had some activities in Japanese indies scene. My past work is in our website. If you have interest in this, please check them.
Their sound has evolved over the years from a simpler glam-rock based style to a more electronic and metal approach.
Kiwamu: Last year, we started to change our sound style to Gothic. Maybe our new style is electric gothic. When I talked with Fuki about our next vision, we noticed "we have not listen to visual kei music for 5~10years." Recently visual kei bands are very boring. Stereotype, copy-cats. So we changed the styles. Our melody is Japanese-style. And backtrack is European gothic-style.
They are also well aware that a worldwide fan-base also brings about much more piracy and illegal downloading of their works.
Kiwamu: I know this situation. Without internet, we can't make good activities. So I just dislike lazy fans. They want to get songs without any respect. We're always getting strange emails from lazy fans. "Can we meet at the guest room?" "Where can we get your songs by free?" "Send me autograph pictures." "Lets talk!" etc. We are very tired to read these strange emails. So I think illegal downloading is not a problem [for the] songs. It is a problem of fan's thinking. Lazy fans act in strange ways. So good fans buy our CDs and download from iTunes, because they know musicians work for songs very hard. Of course, we respect these fans too. MySpace is a very good tool. Owing to this, we can get many fans all over the world. Roger [from Tainted Reality] made this first for us. It was a good choice.
BLOOD is a rare example of band willing to push both themselves and their fans to the limit. By actually pounding the pavement themselves, doing everything without major label backing, they seem to have a much stronger appreciation toward their fans, while at the same time holding them to very high standards.
Make sure to keep an eye on the calendar for all upcoming BLOOD shows, as well as Kiwamu's solo DJ gigs.
Unforgiven: Live In Mexico
Official Site
MySpace
Members
Vocal: Fu-ki
Programming & guitar: Kiwamu
Bass: Kaede
Manipulator: Ryo
Releases
The Reaper Behind Me (2008)
DEAD-HEARTED (September 9, 2007)
best collection 2002-2007 (August 8, 2007)
LES FLEURS DU MAL (July 7, 2007)
Spleen ~Despair~
VENGEANCE for BLOOD
VENGEANCE for BLOOD2
2nd PERIOD DX
1st PERIOD DX
THE FUNERAL FOR HUMANITY
2 comments:
By pho-French, do you mean faux-French?
HA! Yeah, sorry about that. The irony is staggering, I know. My wife also pointed it out and I totally forgot to fix it. So thanks for bringing it to my attention (again).
=/
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