LAREINE

visual kei

LAREINE was a visual rock band from Japan founded in 1994 by KAMIJO and MAYU. They were known for expressing a romantic French-inspired concept with both their music and visual style, or what they termed, the incarnation of fluttering flowers in the modern era. In 1994, KAMIJO, then a roadie to the popular visual rock band MALICE MIZER, formed the band LALIENE with friend and guitarist MAYU. At the time LALIENE recorded demo tapes, the band would undergo numerous member changes, with MAYU quitting the band to eventually return as guitarist. After changing their band name to LAREINE in 1996, the members included KAMIJO (vo), MAYU (gt), AKIRA (gt), EMIRU (ba), and Machi (dr), who along with KAMIJO was a former roadie for MALICE MIZER. LAREINE released their first live-only distributed CD in 1996 titled 再会の花 (Saikai no Hana) followed by their first album BLUE ROMANCE in 1997.At this time, AKIRA had left the band. In 1998, LAREINE embarked on their first nation-wide one-man tour titled TOUR Fleur 1998 ～白鳥と追想～ beginning from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. After a period of extended touring, LAREINE made their major label debut in 1999 on SME Records with the single fiançailles ～フィアンサーユ～. In 2000, LAREINE held a last live at Akasaka Blitz before the band had indefinitely paused activities. During this time, KAMIJO had begun his own label APPLAUSE RECORDS, and the following year had formed the band NEW SODMY with LAREINE guitarist MAYU. While th...