| Kami | |
| |
| Profile | |
| Real name | 神村 右狂 [Kamimura Ukyō] |
| Aliases | Kami 右狂 [Ukyō] (1989 - 1992) |
| Date of birth | 1 February 1973, Ibaraki |
| Date of death | 21 June 1999, Tokyo |
| Bloodtype | A |
| Activity | |
| Years active | 1989 - 1999 |
| Instruments | drums |
Kami was a drummer who was well known for his time in the legendary band, MALICE MIZER.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Kamimura Ukyou was born on February 1st, 1973 in Ibaragi, Japan. When he was in elementary school, he was interested in traditional brush writing and abacus. He also had an affection with tennis and a developing fascination with music, as he often sat in the music room after classes and listened to records for hours. His early influences included the United Kingdom bands, Duran Duran and Culture Club. In fifth grade he started to play drums at school by practising on a drum kit, but stopped for a while until he reached high school. Between this time, Kami devoted his afterschool hours to practising his favourite hobby, tennis.
Music career[]
At the beginning of his high school years, Kami was invited into a friend's band. Initially, his interest was in being a guitarist; after practising for a short time, he decided to return to the drums.
Kami's fondness for drumming began to evolve, and a personal drum kit became a necessity. Thus, he took up a part time job and subsequently saved up the necessary money. Realizing that he could not achieve a large amount of success in his current high school band after graduation, Kami decided to go to Tokyo. Upon leaving his previous group and moving, Kami spent a brief time in a punk band before taking a liking to the visual kei style. As a result, he joined an up-and-coming musical group called Kneuklid Romance. Performing mainly live shows, Kami soon attracted the attention of Yu~ki, bassist from the visual kei rock band Malice Mizer. Due to Malice Mizer's previous drummer, Gaz, leaving (who would shortly thereafter join Kneuklid Romance), the band was very keen on introducing Kami to their style of music. He was reluctant at first although a phone call from one of their guitarists, Mana, persuaded him. Therefore, Kami began to play unofficially for the band over six months as a support player. However, soon after, the other members of Malice Mizer agreed upon recruiting him as a full member of the group. Upon Kami's recruitment, Malice Mizer released their debut album, Memoire, his first inclusion on a publicly released album.
Death[]
He died of a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage in his brain. An aneurysm (a weakness in the brain that shows no symptoms) burst in his sleep, killing him instantly. His body was discovered four days later.
There was a small funeral that same day. Only his parents, Mana, Kozi, Yu~ki and a few other close friends were in attendance. His body was then cremated.
Band History[]
- 3Pマヨネーズ - 1989 ~ 1991
- Kneuklid Romance - September 1992 ~ March 1993
- MALICE MIZER - March 17th, 1993 ~ June 21st, 1999