With fashion sense that makes him look as though he just stepped off the streets of LA, a body riddled with piercings, and a hard, gritty singing voice that's all too befitting of the masculine attitude and intimidating persona which he exudes, J definitely epitomizes "sex, drugs and rock n' roll" for a Japan full of gushy pop and visual kei. That is, when he's not yelling random English obscenities into the mic, taunting the crowd at a concert, climbing all over things on stage or generally being a loveable jackass rather than a badass. There's no melodrama or fancy lyrics here; everything's straight, real and to the point - much like the artist himself. What does J have to do with hide? Well, not much, but the two artists have enough of a history together for J to deserve mention on this site.
J got his start in the music industry as founder and bassist of Luna Sea, a J-rock band near X-Japan proportions that sky-rocketed to an almost equal level of fame before breaking up sometime in 1997 (except I personally liked Luna Sea a-lot more than I ever did X-Japan). They had humble beginnings starting out, playing in the hell that is livehouses like any other band. All that changed however when they were scouted and recruited to the ranks of a new and (at the time) unknown label. That label was LEMONed, and the very man who scouted them was hide himself.
As leader of Luna Sea, J had a hand in writing the music and lyrics to quite a number of (some of my favorite) songs, including "Sin", "Slave", "Jesus", "Forever and Ever", "Shine", "Unlikelihood" and many others. What impresses me most about J however is not his ability to compose great songs, but his prominance when it comes to the musical role he plays both on and off stage. I've seen very few rock bands where any real consideration was ever given to bass. Usually the guitars hog the spotlight while the bassist is over in the corner writing song lyrics the whole time or something. Every Luna Sea song however involves a heavy and strong bass role while managing to keep it from becoming too overbearing. To the point, J is quite possibly the most involved as well as skilled bassist I've seen out of Japan since Taiji of X-Japan. The guy rocks, plain and simple.
As I mentioned earlier, J was very close friends with hide, often referring to him as "hide-nii" (older brother). Infact, I originally heard of J after seeing him in some hide photo shoots. Hide and J were very close friends, so they mingled in each other's musical affairs a-lot. Sometime around 1993 they even formed a group together - MASS - which consisted of them both accompanied by Inoran (the co-founder of Luna Sea alongside J). The "band" was created simply for good fun, but they surprisingly enough released a song together: "Dance 2 Noise 004".
hide and J often made guest appearances at one another's concerts as well. I've seen a-lot of artists do appearance swaps before, but I can't say I've ever seen a match quite like hide or J. They radiated so much energy together, hide always bouncing around like a kid exuding his usual carefree attitude, while J was brash and hardcore, climbing all over the stage like it was a playground or running around taunting the crowd. They definately made quite the enigmatic duo, and when J got together with hide and Spread Beaver the performance was really something else.
After hide's death, J contributed to Zilch's MIMIZUZERO album by playing bass in a few of the songs and remixing "Electric Cucumber". The song was renamed to "ELECTRIC KYOUDAI JINGI CUCUMBER" - "kyodai jingi" meaning "brother's duty". J is far from gushy, but you can tell that he really loved hide; he was like that older brother that he never had. Even now, J continues to give special mention and thanks to hide, crediting him for his successes in both life and carreer. Whenever I watch a new J tour video or flip through the packet to an album and see thanks given to hide in the credits, I never cease to get a smile on my face.
An excerpt from J's second biography, WAKE UP MOTHER FUCKER IITranslated by Alyson Strother
"Hide-nii gave Luna Sea a chance when we were still amateurs. He always gave me advice in '97 when I first did my solo work. I think he definitely always gave me my energy. Not just that, but he always brought out the potential in the people he met."
"It was a thought that opened my eyes. hide-nii's vision. My vision. the methods were different, but the energy burning in our hearts, mysteriously, was something I remember we both felt. We loved music. That beloved feeling, whether major or indies, there's no difference."
Here are what few music videos I have up at the moment. ^^
Die For You (from the Blood Muzik DVD)
Pyromania (from the Blood Muzik DVD)
FUCK YOU! (from the Blood Muzik DVD) J leads the crowd on by chanting "fuck you" to the band members.
Across the Night (from the Crime Scene DVD)
Loop on Blue (from the Crime Scene DVD)
Credits from the Crime Scene DVD
J thanks hide, Luna Sea and MOTHERFUCKERS everywhere while singing Frank Sinatra's "My Way" to the credits. ^_^
Champagne Gold SupermarketJ's crazy antics during this song include climbing all over the stage and roof of the concert, playing his bass with the stand, and shining lights onto the crowd and then in his face until he passes out. o_o
GO with the Devil (PV)This video was something new for J, and I could imagine the song itself being great for live performances.
NOTE: To the hide fans that seem to be upset over my having a section like this up on a hide website, get over it. I'd put up a section on Domokun if I actually wanted to, permitting he related to hide in some way. :P
| 
