About Gackt

Gackt Camui (神威 楽斗, Kamui Gakuto?) is a Japanese musician, songwriter and actor. Usually referred to by his stage name only, he is best known for his work with Malice Mizer and his subsequent career as a successful solo artist. Besides Japanese, he has performed in Cantonese, English, French, Korean, and Mandarin.

Early life

Gackt Camui was born in Okinawa, Japan, on July 4 (precise year not publicly known, believed to be 1973), as the second of three children, with an older sister and a younger brother. His father was a music teacher primarily playing the trumpet and his mother was a hairdresser. According to Gackt's autobiography, he was a mischievous child and enjoyed taking risks; at age seven he nearly drowned while swimming off the coast of Okinawa. After this near-death experience, he claimed to have the ability to see and speak with deceased family members, a notion which was dismissed by his parents. At the age of ten, Gackt was hospitalized with a gastrointestinal condition and had to remain at the hospital for a prolonged time. He made the acquaintance of several terminally ill children, some of whom died during his stay.

Gackt's musical education began at age three, when his parents initiated his classical piano education, of which he grew tired of four years later. It would take another four years until his parents allowed him to quit. Gackt is known for being very competitive, and when he learned that a friend was also learning piano it led to Gackt taking up the piano again so he could be better. Having only listened to classical and enka while growing up, Gackt didn't become interested in rock music until he was a young adult. He mentions Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven" as being particularly inspiring, and went on to master modern percussion and guitar.

Malice Mizer

Main article: Malice Mizer

In 1995, Gackt joined Malice Mizer as the group's vocalist, lyricist and pianist. He first met Mana, the leader of the band. Together they went out to eat and talk, but didn't have much of a conversation. Each of them thought the other was strange. The next day, they met again to let Gackt be introduced to the other members and start discussing the band. He liked how all of the members were totally different from each other, yet still worked together that great. Eventually, he joined them as their new vocalist.

Fan base and record sales grew substantially over the following years and the band became known for its distinct visual kei theme, with elaborate costumes, on-stage scenery, and theatrics. The members became very close friends with each other and were often seen joking around and laughing together. Gackt especially became very good friends with Kami, the unlimitedly talented drummer of the group. Those were bright times, and the band released several singles along with two albums titled Voyage ~Sans Retour~ and Merveilles, last mentioned being the most popular one. Their songs and albums became famous for "never being similar to each other", because they always showed up with a new style and type of music, something which is difficult to vary for most bands. At the end of 1998, they even performed at the Yokohama Arena with a spectacular live show and wonderful costumes. The same year, they also got their own radio show, which they used to discuss matters of the world and have a lot of fun. Gackt mostly wrote the lyrics for the songs, but sometimes he also created the music. The only song in which he did both is "Le Ciel", the 5th song in the Merveilles album.

No one except Gackt and Malice Mizer themselves know 100% surely why this happened, but in January 1999, Gackt all of sudden left the band and started with his own solo career. Without any reasons stated, this has caused a total chaos of discussion among the fans for the later years. However, a while after Gackt's departure, his autobiography (Jihaku) and a late published, yet old interview with the remaining four members clearly explains their side of the situation. According to Gackt, when he began taking on more of the responsibilities of the band, he was asked to leave the group due to the image of the band. However, public statements from the band contradict this claim, as the other members state that he simply 'disappeared' after waiting for him once their break was over.

Five months after Gackt left, Kami died of a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage. Gackt was unable to attend his funeral because he was on a tour, but later he dedicated two songs to the late drummer("U+K" and "Emu ~For my dear~") and visits his grave each year. He also visits Kami's parents and keeps in contact with them.

Solo career

Gackt launched his solo career on May 12, 1999 with the release of the EP Mizerable. Several albums, singles and videos (on VHS and DVD) have since followed. Gackt's music has also been featured as theme songs for anime and video games multiple times, examples being New Fist of the North Star, Bujingai and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, amongst others. He has also provided voice acting, motion capturing and his likeness for such works on several occasions[3][4] and co-wrote and co-starred in the 2003 movie Moon Child, which also features Hyde (vocalist of L'Arc~en~Ciel) and Taiwanese-American singer Wang Lee Hom.[5] Also in 2003, Gackt published his autobiography, Jihaku and for Caparison Guitars, he has designed two guitars, named "Mercury" and "Venus".

Since January 7, 2007, Gackt has been playing the warlord Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK drama Fūrinkazan. Gackt's most recent solo release is the single "Returner ~Yami no Shuen~", released on June 20, 2007, which was the first in the artist's career (both solo and in a band) to reach the number one spot on the Japanese Oricon charts. Gackt has provided the voice for Malthazar in the Japanese release of the film Arthur and the Minimoys and in October 2007, his back catalog became available in the iTunes Store.

On December 19, Gackt released an album titled 0079-0088. It contains eight tracks, which had either previously been used on the soundtracks of the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam movies or were covers of earlier songs from the Gundam franchise. It was created as a tribute to the creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, for his birthday.Gackt recently performed on the 58th Kōhaku Uta Gassen, the annual New Year's Eve special by NHK and is currently recording new material. He has stated in an interview that he may decide to retire in 2010 depending upon how he is feeling at the time and the state of his health.

On May 21, 2008, Gackt will release the DVD, Amakakeru Ryu no Gotoku. This is a documentary/commentary on his time spent making the drama, Fūrinkazan.

Bunraku

It was recently announced that Gackt will co-star with Josh Harnett, and Demi Moore in an upcoming (2009) Hollywood film titled Bunraku. Guy Moshe, who both wrote and is directing the film, was so impressed by Gackt's acting in "Fuurin Kazan", that he flew to Japan to persuade Gackt in person. Gackt stated that he was deeply touched by the gesture, and the enthusiasm and passion of the director. This prompted him to accept the role of Yoshi, the main character "The Drifter"'s partner. 'Bunraku' was described by the director as "an action-fantasy circus ride into man's fascination with violence - a Spaghetti Western, samurai movie feel."

An excerpt from Gackt's comment on his official website:

I'm honored that my expression of a new Uesugi Kenshin in last year’s Taiga drama, “Fuurin Kazan”, has been recognized around the world. The movie's setting is a world without borders, and I was very interested in a role that could express Bushido spirit as the partner Josh Hartnett's character.

More than that, the director himself came over to Japan and showed great zeal for my appearence in the film. His sincere attitude impressed me a lot... I want to prove that even among the big stars representative of Hollywood, my performance, my expression, is world-class. Please look forward to it. I'm going to accomplish another dream.

S.K.I.N.

Main article: Skin (Japanese band)

On May 25, 2007, the formation of the supergroup Skin was announced which, besides Gackt, consists of fellow pop/rock artist Miyavi, former Luna Sea guitarist Sugizo, and X Japan co-founder Yoshiki. The group gave its debut performance at the Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, California on June 29, 2007 and plans to release an album