Merry Go Round
Biography
Formed in 1991 in Nagoya, Japan, Merry go round were a visual kei band who had a long life as an indie mainstay.
The band’s early years (1991-1994) were chaotic, and featured a slew of member changes. Despite that, the band was able to release one demo tape: 毒・夢・月・殺・狂乱舞 . At some point in 1994 the band halted activities. In 1995, sole original member, vocalist 真 (Kazuma), recruited former Laputa guitarist Hideno, former Of-J bassist 准那 (Junna) and former Silver~Rose drummer Kyo, to form the bands first stable incarnation. From 1995 until 1998 the band released 1 demo tape, 3 mini-albums and a handful of singles. Despite the band experiencing it’s greatest period of productivity, the stability didn’t last. In late 1998, members 准那 and Kyo left the band, leaving Merry go round a duo.
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For the 3 years previous, in terms of sound, the band had presented like many other visual kei bands. Having lost their main composer 准那, all composition duties fell to guitarist hideno. Now the sole composer, he shifted merry go rounds sound to a darker, at times heavier, and more varied direction. While he didn’t depart radically from the standard roots of visual kei, hideno was able to infuse a more serious tone to the bands output.
After their rebirth, Merry go round continued on as a duo until 2003, when long-time support musicians MAXX (bass), and Shoji (drums) officially joined the band. Once again however, the 4 man line-up didn’t last. The band dissolved on May 15th 2004 after 13 years of activity.
Post Merry go round:
After the break-up, Kazuma, along with MAXX and Shoji went on to form the band Smells. The band released 2 maxi-singles and toured over the course of a couple of years before ultimately disbanding. Kazuma then followed this up by partnering up with fellow Nagoya based musician Aie (formerly of the band deadman) to form highfashionparalyze, lasting from 2010 to 2015. In 2016 Kazuma and Aie, along with Kazu of 蜉蝣 and Sakura (formerly of LArc~en~Ciel), formed gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy and they have been active since then.
Since the break-up of Merry go round, Hideno has seemingly retired from music. Former drummer Kyou had retired but came back to the music scene to form a special project LOA-ROAR with deadmans vocalist Mako that is semi-active. Kazuma confirmed in a social media post that Junna had unfortunately passed away on July 27, 2013.
members:
Vocal: 破麗威 → 真 Harii→ Kazuma
DOBERMAN → Merry Go Round →Smells → highfashionparalyze → gibkiy gibkiy gibkiy
Guitar: Hideno
Ai Sick Face → Laputa → Merry Go Round → retired
Bass: MAXXX
Ti+Dee → Orphee → Merry Go Round→ Smells → Spooky Jam → PSYCHO LIZARD, VERSUS
Drums: Shoji
ガスプ → Romance for～ → Lúcide → Merry Go Round → Smells → retired
Former Members:
Bass: Junna (准那 )
アイン・レッシェルン → シーン → ART OF JESUS → Of-J → Merry Go Round → DIET-COKE HEAD BARBIE DREAMS → deceased
Drums: KYOU (キョウ)
ＭＡＮＩＣＵＲＥ → Silver-Rose → Merry Go Round → Kneuklid Romance → DIET-COKE HEAD BARBIE DREAMS → retired → LOA-ROAR
Drums: TOHRU
merry go round → ANTIC DOLL → Of-J→ CLAUDIA → Of-J → JILS → JO:YA PROJECT → dibs, Moi dix Mois → retired/drum tuner
Bass: Sakyou (左京)
Ar-pegé → merry go round → ORANGE JAM → retired
Guitar: DEAD
CROWLEY roadie → ANTIC DOLL on guitar(?) → merry go round → ANTIC DOLL on vocals → SUSPIRIAN KILLS on vocals → deceased
Guitar: OSAMU
Guitar: KEN
Bass: YASUHISA (ヤスヒサ)
Bass: HISANORI
Bass: SHIN (シン)
Drums: KASHI
Official Website: http://www.dangeroide.com/merrygoround/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.