Kaya

PROFILE
Visual Kei fans will remember Kaya's clear, powerful voice from his time as vocalist of the electro duo Schwarz Stein. According to him, his stage name means "the kanryoubinka (a mythical bird living in paradise) that sings in the night". Since 2006 he has been working as a solo artist and, while some of his songs are still penned by former band mate Hora, he has also enlisted the services of other composers, namely Kalm (ex Velvet Eden). He aims to express a decadent, aesthetic world that transcends the boundaries of genres and gender and, in keeping with this concept, experiments with different music styles such as pop, dance, darkwave, jazz, chansons and traditional Japanese music. He writes all the lyrics and his imaginative, often surprisingly dark verses center around love, pain, and human relationships. A cross-dresser known for his delicate femininity, he always appears on stage heavily made up and in dramatic costumes. He is also an accomplished dancer and his stage shows, which often have strong sexual connotations, feature male background dancers and drag queens. He claims that one of his ancestors was an onnagata (kabuki actor specialising in female roles), collects perfumes, and has a passion for flowers, especially roses and cherry blossoms.

BIOGRAPHY
Kaya began his career in 1999 as vocalist for the Shikoku based band Meties under the name Hime. They released a two song demo tape, Recur to Mind, and their song Gekitsuu no Sora was included on an omnibus CD. After Meties disbanded, Hime joined indies rock band ISOLA as vocalist and lyricist. They released a demo tape called Over... and a two track single called Egoiste Butterfly. In 2001, he met keyboardist Hora at a concert of his band Velvet Eden, and together they formed Rudolf Steiner, once again with Hime as vocalist and lyricist. Unlike most visual kei bands, their music didn't feature any acoustic instruments, but was completely electronic. The band released two demo tapes, Perfect Garden and Queen of Decadence before, in 2002, their unique style attracted the attention of Mana (Moi dix Mois, ex Malice Mizer), who signed them to his independent label, Midi:Nette, and changed their name to Schwarz Stein. Around the same time, Hime changed his name to Kaya. Now thrust into the limelight, they quickly gained popularity both in the visual kei and the Japanese goth scene and released two singles, Queen of Decadence and Current, as well as two albums, New Vogue Children and Artificial Halluciation, but in 2004 split up due to artistic differences.Despite the break-up, Kaya and Hora remained on friendly terms. In April 2006, they once again collaborated on a one-off project called ANOTHER CELL and released a self-titled album, for which Hora wrote the music and Kaya most of the lyrics. Apart from brand new compositions, it also featured re-arranged versions of songs by Rudolf Steiner as well as Hora's solo project. In June 2006, ANOTHER CELL was performed live as part of Kaya's first concert as a solo artist, albeit without Hora, who has retired from the stage. The concert was limited to 400 tickets, which sold out on the first day. The following month saw the release of his first solo single, Kaleidoscope, followed in September by a second single, Masquerade. In December, he released his debut album, Glitter, and appeared at KAMIJO's (Versailles) and Kanoma's (ex Fatima) three day Winter Romantic festival, together with bands such as Wizard, UnsraW, HIZAKI grace project and Sugar. 2007 was a busy year for Kaya. In February he had his first one man concert at Shibuya O-West, in April he released his single Ouka Ryouran and performed at the Shock Wave Vol.1 event, in July he released the mini album Hyakkiyakou and a fourth single, Carmilla, whose title track was written by HIZAKI(Versailles, HIZAKI grace project), at Halloween. He also accompanied Sugar on their summer tour and starred as one of the protagonists alongside Sherow Artist Society musicians KAMIJO, HIZAKI and Juka (ex Moi dix Mois) in the rock musical Node of Scherzo. In February 2008, Kaya announced that he had signed a record deal with the major label Next Music, a sub-label of Universal, in order to have a larger platform to promote the abolition of old ways of thinking, such as discrimination based on gender, birth and skin colour. His first major single, Chocolat, was released in April and a re-recorded version of his sold-out album Glitter followed shortly after in July.

OFFICIAL LINKS
Kaya - official MySpace
Kaya - official site

Glitter (Limited Edition)

July 16, 2008

1. Carmilla
2. Walküre
3. Paradise lost
4. funerary dream
5. Psycho Butterfly
6. Masquerade
7. Epicurean
8. Silvery Dark
9. Kasha -shining flowers-火車 -shining flowers-
10. Rose Jail
11. Glitter Arch
12. Hydrangea

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Chocolat

April 23, 2008

1. Chocolatショコラ
2. Pourriture noble
3. Chocolat ～Sweet version～ショコラ ～Sweet version～
4. Chocolat ～Kayaless version～ショコラ ～Kayaless version～

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Carmilla

October 31, 2007

1. Carmilla
2. Silvery Dark (Live ver.)

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Hyakkiyagyou

July 11, 2007

1. Ouka -hyakki ranbuhen-桜花 ～百鬼乱舞編～
2. Kagami oni鏡鬼
3. Hannya般若
4. Kairai傀儡
5. Kasha火車

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Ouka ryouran

April 4, 2007

1. Ouka桜花
2. Ryouran繚乱

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Glitter

December 27, 2006

1. Kaleidoscope -glitter mix-
2. Walküre
3. Paradise lost
4. Psycho Butterfly -Nightmare mix-
5. Masquerade -fabulous night mix-
6. Rose Jail
7. Silvery Dark
8. Glitter Arch
9. Hydrangea

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Masquerade

September 16, 2006

1. Masquerade
2. Psycho Butterfly

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Kaleidoscope

July 10, 2006

1. Kaleidoscope
2. remains of mind

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