Recently the Tokyo Shibuya fashion store, XENON, released their official, original clothing line RiRiAN! The store has also recently received new clothing brands not the least of which is Dir en grey guitarist Kaoru’s clothing line MOSES. BODY LINE has also been added to the store for people who prefer more of a girly lolita fashion style. Jury Black has been restocked with new fresh clothes available for purchase as well. Come give the new fashion and restocks a look at the XENON store! Be sure to also pick up your issue of CURE Magazine issue #143 to have a look at the RiRiAN brand! Hope to see you guys there!
XENON Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xenonshibuyastyle?fref=ts XENON Shibuya Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007683409281&fref=t XENON Instagram: https://instagram.com/xenon.la/ -Hikaru  XENON LA is no stranger to hosting some amazing live stream events, but the recent one involving Visual Kei band Mejibray was one of the most heavily attended ones yet! Dozens of fans filled the store in Little Tokyo to capacity and eagerly waited for the chance to speak to the band who who's appearnace was being streamed directly into the store from Japan.  The crowd waiting for the event to begin.  Owing to the fact that the band had an in-store event to attend immediately following the stream, they jumped right into it. After brief introductions and some promotion for their new single and mini album, the band moved into questions for their fans. Tsuzuku asked the fans where they should go if they ever came to the US, LA specifically. While there were the usual funny answers, most of the answers revolved around having a live event in the US! Mentions of next year's Anime Expo as well as several live house venues made this wish clear. It soon became apparent that it is in the wishes of both the band and the fans that they come to the US and meet in a face-to-face setting, be it an event or a full live. Besides these answers, it was at this point that MiA put up his hands in the air (with palms touching forming a sort of "A") and began something that is likely to become an inside reference to all those who attended the event!
Speaking of MiA, it was his turn for a question! To the shock of everyone his question was whether those in attendance thought about Kentucky Fried Chicken. Following a rather lackluster response, the crowd offered up alternatives. Most of these referred the MiA to In-N-Out. An old favorite to mention to foreign visitors of the West Coast. A hint to all fans should Mejibray ever make their way out here! Koichi followed this up by asking if any of the fans had gone to Harajuku before. There were only a few in the audience who had, but those who had been said that they enjoyed the visit. Did you know there was a store called "Condom-mania" in Harajuku? Well, the band was sure to let the audience know about it! In typical Meto fashion, he didn't speak and had his question prepared before hand. He wanted to know if there were stores in the US that carried CURE Magazine. While one cannot stroll into a mainstream book store and find the magazine (Yet!) there are many places to get the magazine such as XENON itself. It should be mentioned that XENON events are usually preceded by a photo snapshot event. Participants are encouraged to check out the magazine as they just might find themselves within its pages!  Love Shot! Returning to Tsuzuku, he asked what kind of alcohol the fans liked to drink while listening to Mejibray. Bourbon, vodka and absinthe sprinkled the answers before the more popular sake and Asahi were mentioned. With the band and the audience now fully excited, all were united further with in a "kanpai" when Tsuzuku decided he wanted to take a drink right then and there! For those curious, Tsuzuku has a preference to red wine. MiA mentioned "Love Shot" and was sure to show all in attendance what it was! MiA is clearly a fan of ESP guitars and asked questions about them. Besides confirming that lots are sold in the popular music instrument stores, a couple of the fans were able to discuss their personal guitars. Koichi asked about Hello Kitty which brought up comments about the recent Hello Kitty Expo that took place in Little Tokyo. While not too many attendees went to that event, one of them did mention that she worked at a Hello Kitty store in the airport and was glad to mention some of their best-selling items (A sheep plush and a chef version).
When Meto asked if there were other living dolls like him, there were a couple who mentioned that they thought that they were. While these people might or might not have been right there was more interested in the front row which was rather full of Mejibray cosplayers! Next came the time many attendees had been waiting for, the part of the event where the fans get to ask the band questions!
The first had to do with some of the band's favorite non-Japanese bands. Tsuzuku mentioned Ozzy Osbourne and Koichi mentioned Maroon 5, but it was Meto that stole the question. Holding up a buzzer for yes and no questions the audience asked if he was a fan of Kiss (No) Marilyn Manson (Yes) and Cradle of Filth (Didn't know apparently). The buzzer was a nice touch and both amused and shocked the audience. The next pair of questions had some interesting answers. When asked how the band members met we learn that Koichi was apparently found floating down a river! When asked the origin of the name "Mejibray", everyone knew they were in a for a treat when the answer started with "mukashi mukashi"! According to the story Koichi was also a good samurai who bestowed the name on the band while fighting the good fight! Want to learn Japanese better? The band's advice is to get engaged to a Japanese person! While we can wonder if that was sound advice or not, we can be sure that it make sense. Also, Meto's favorite color is in fact pink! At least that's what his buzzer would have us believe! Elsewhere those in attendance heard the band mention they did not have pets, though we they were shown one of their fan's pets instead.
When asked what kind of emotions the band wanted to get from their fans we eventually got some answers from the band (Tsuzuku's hand to indicate the emotion he wants people to feel?) but before we got the answer we got a nice dance-off between MiA and one of the attendees! The night was definitely coming to life and both the fans and the band seemed to be having lots of fun with the time they had left.
 The smile that could melt hearts! Breezing through some more questions (MiA's guitar set-up and favorite songs to perform live) we learn that the song "Hakuraku" was inspired by sex! After this the event wrapped up with some amazing fan-made artwork that impressed both the band those in attendance! In the closing messages Tsuzuku thanked everyone for coming out and urged everyone to come out to a Mejibray show if they ever found themselves in Japan. Both Koichi and MiA expressed their hopes of playing a show in LA and asked the fans for their continued support in seeing this goal to fruition. Meto seconded this idea with his buzzer. Here's hoping this is something that can be done in the near future! With that the band moved onto their in-store event and bid their US fans goodbye! Be sure to keep up with XENON to hear about future events and live stream sessions! Mejibray Are: ● Vocal: Tsuzuku ● Guitar: MiA ● Bass: Koichi ● Drums: Meto Official Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/837920569635014/ XENON Official Site: http://www.xenon-la.com Mejibray Official Site: http://mejibray.com/ Below are some pictures from DJ Meirlin's pre-show set and other shots from before, after and during the live stream event.  XENON, the newly opened Shibuya style-clothing store, has recently released official information regarding their new original clothing brand named RiRiAN! This exclusive clothing brand will ONLY be sold at XENON. Well-known J-Rockers such as MiA and Tsuzuku from Mejibray modeled the new brand in a photo shoot recently and pictures can be seen throughout this article. The brand is said to release sometime in early July 2015 and will probably be available by the time you read this. The pictures shown are from the newest CURE Magazine issue #143, which is now available at XENON. They give you an idea of what the clothes will look like and also give you the chance to see them modeled well.
 I personally love the Black Mesh Tsuzuku is wearing with the all black outfit. I have to admit the new brand is looking very cool! The black and white styling motif gives the brand it’s own feel. RiRiAN looks like it will be delivering lots of good things in the future. I am sure XENON will be packed when the new clothes drop in July. If you wish to see more stop by XENON and pickup the newest issue of CURE Magazine #143.
Be sure to spread the word and give the store a visit in your spare time! The address to XENON is 319 E 2nd Street #119 Los Angeles, California 90012. Please be sure to follow all social media of XENON! All links will be below. Once again thank you guys for your time. This is Hikaru, until next time! XENON Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xenonshibuyastyle?fref=ts XENON Shibuya Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007683409281&fref=t XENON Instagram: https://instagram.com/xenon.la/  (Disclaimer: While this article highlights newly released items in Japan due to the time difference between Japan and the US, the items that are discussed here are no longer available for purchase.) Pentagon released new merchandise recently. As all the fans gather and scramble to find the newly announced shirts form their company GOEMON Records, they can sit and admire the band member’s new photo shoot of these newly announced shirts. This merchandise will be on sale until June 25th 2015. The shirts themselves have a “sailor” theme to it. However, the second shirt (pictured on the bottom) is a regular collared shirt. The front has the band’s logo of an intricate eye and, as seen on the right side, it is followed by what it seems to resemble a bunny. The photo to the left shows the difference between the two.  Each member modeled the new shirts as well. The members had to pose for the fans and give everyone a taste of how they could wear the clothes! My favorite, along with many others, is Minpha, Pentagon’s bass player, rocking a skirt. I believe Minpha is probably the most liked member. Though that is hard to say since the sexy vocalist of the band, Chizuru’s, previous band Regalia has helped him gain popularity. Pentagon consists of :
Please be sure to give these guys a listen if you have yet to. Be sure to follow their twitter as well as their company GOEMON records! All links will be below! Thanks for your time!
-Hikaru Goemon Records Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/GOEMONRECORDS Pentagon Chizuru Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/pentagon_chizur Pentagon Minpha Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/Penagon_minpha Pentagon Taku Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pentagon_Taku Pentagon Atsuki Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/pentagon_atsuki Pentagon Yutori Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pentagon_yutori   Recently Swedish rock band, Kerbera, made a stop in the US and visited XENON in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. They held a Q&A session with many of their US fans. As the evening when on they answered questions, signed autographs and took pictures with those in attendance. In the course of this evening A-To-J’s alavic_222 was lucky enough to interview the band. Their first interview in the US! Here is the first half of that interview… Kerbera is a Swedish band consisting of vocalist Seike Clowniac (formerly of the band “Seremedy”), guitarist Zave Demonte, bassist Frederick Hale, and drummer Eric Foxx. While true to their own unique rock sound, they are also known amongst their fans for adopting elements of Visual Kei, both in style and music. Since their formation, they have released two singles, “Inglorious” and “Counterpoint” and the EP “She Saw Bridges Burn”. They have recently released the PV for their newest single “Deathbed”.  Okay, thank you for this opportunity! You just finished hosting a Q&A with some of your fans from the US. They seemed to have a lot of fun as I'm sure you did. Can you tell us a little something about your first impressions of the US fans? Freddie: Very good impression Seike: They were very happy and cute people. They were cute and they were not that different from the fans from Sweden actually. So I think that all the fans could really get along together and that's a great thing. Freddie: They look alike too. Eric: I was expecting them to be more shy actually, because a lot of our Swedish fans are pretty shy, but they didn't seem that intimidated by us. They were friendly and asked us a lot of questions. It felt good. Seike: It's really cool to see that they're from another part of the world, but still connected to the same things. It felt like home. I'm glad that this was such a positive experience! I'm sure the fans will love to hear your words! Now, can you tell us about some of your musical influences both personally as a group? Seike: I'm very influenced by classical music. I don't think you can really hear it in my sound, because I don't have a special sound when I sing or anything, but I would say classical music. Also when I write music I do something that's more like instrumental music, video game music and soundtracks. That's actually my biggest influence and what I listen to the most. Zave: My favorite band is Avenged Sevenfold. Muse is one of my favorite bands too. Then we have all the classic rock bands that have ever been. I'm also a huge fan of game and movie soundtracks. I take a lot of influence from them. I love all kinds of stuff, I take a little from this or that. Jazz, Classical, I take from everything. Eric: I'm mostly into classic heavy metal stuff. My favorite band of all time is KISS. Besides that, it's mostly the classic, heavy, thrash, eighties, seventies kind of stuff. Also some technical, progressive metal like Rush and Dream Theater. Those are my individual influences mainly as a drummer. Freddie: I like all kinds of music. I like film soundtracks, game soundtracks. Everything from pop, rock metal, hip hop, some jazz, everything. From Lana Del Rey to Bring Me The Horizon. Also a lot of classic acts, seventies, eighties, nineties, the grunge scene, nu-metal, everything. I even like Taylor Swift. I love tapping into other styles. Seike: I think you can actually hear that in our sound. It's very influenced by everything. We take a little bit from here and there and it's a great mix. I think it's actually a very original sound. We don't want to limit ourselves when it comes to sound so I think our fans can expect anything from our sound. You guys certainly have many varied influences! This leads me into the next question. From any genre, if you were able to do a collaboration with any artist, who would it be? Seike: Actually I would say Nick Pitera. He's from Youtube. His voice. He has the best voice I've ever heard. I love it. I would love to sing something with him, but he would make me feel very weird since he's my all-time favorite. Freddie: It would be pretty cool to do a collaboration with Lana Del Rey. Seike: Yeah, that would be so cool. Eric: There are so many. Seike: Yeah, we have actually talked to a lot of pop artists and asked: "Would you like to try to do something together?" No limits. If a band came to us and asked: "Would you like to try something?" we'd try it and if it's a good result, we'd release it. Eric: We're pretty open minded actually. Freddie: We've already done collaborations with a singer called Emerentia and also another singer called Wednesday. Beautiful voice, really beautiful voice. Seike: We actually have a girl who sings in a lot of our songs already. Eric: She's been in three songs now hasn't she? Freddie: Yes, she has. Seike: As I said we're all open to anything. Of course we'd like to collaborate with our favorite bands. Eric: Imagine if Ronnie James Dio was still around. We could have him do some vocal parts on some songs. Zave: If we had no limits, then I'd have to say Queen and Freddy Mercury. Seike: I am also very open-minded to do collaborations with my Japanese friends. I have a lot of Japanese friends especially in the visual scene from my old band Seremedy. We've had dialogs about making some sort of collaborations either in making songs or doing a tour or something like that.   You mention Japanese friends, much has been said about your friendship with ANTI FEMINISM's KENZI. Can you tell us a little about that? Seike: Kenzi is my best friend from Japan. I've known him since I was sixteen, I am twenty-four now - how long has that been? Eight years. Yeah, it's been eight years. He's my best friend from Japan and he's the one who introduced me to Cure. It's actually why I'm here now. Moving on a bit, do you think you could give us a little background into the period from when Seremedy broke up until the formation of Kerbera? Seike: Yes, of course. What happened was that the band was at a point where everyone wanted to do different things. I have a very strong mind and everyone can agree that I can be very pushy. I pushed the band in a direction that wasn't right with everyone and everyone agreed that it would be better if we split and everyone do their own stuff. Then I started a new band. Actually, first I was thinking that I'd stop with music totally and focus on my clothing brand. Then all the fans came to me and I got thousands and thousands and thousands of messages saying: "I can't live without your voice!" I decided that I just can't stop. That's when I made Kerbera and the guys joined. In the beginning it was supposed to be a new Seremedy, very visual, but it turned out that since I had so much respect for their individual personalities now we are a band that is multi-influenced. You can't force someone to be what they're not, it's not going to end well. We really believe in this project and think that we're going to reach very far. It can reach to visual fans and lots of other fans. Freddie: Pop fans, rock fans. Seike: Yeah, we've met a lot of people into the pop scene that actually said that our sound is great. Freddie: It's something fresh and new. We wouldn't want to limit ourselves to one genre. Seike: We aren't just one genre, but I also wouldn't want to say that we aren't Visual Kei either. Eric: Obviously we have style! Seike: And that's sort of the short version of what happened. It's interesting you mentioned many fans associating you with Visual Kei, this leads me to my next question. A lot of your fans consider your genre Visual Kei, what are your thoughts on this? Seike: What I've always said, for me, whenever fans say that they're inspired by me, is that Visual Kei has no limits. When Visual Kei was created in the eighties it was a style. Nothing is feminine, nothing is masculine. You just take what you have inside and put on the outside. In music and in style, you use make-up, you use your hair, you use everything you have. You take that and you create something from it. That's what I think the foundation of Visual Kei is for me. I also know that many of my Visual Kei friends from Japan agree with this. They don't want to limit themselves, they just want to do something. Sadly, I think the scene has been limited by the fans actually. I want to reach out to the fans actually and say: “Open up your mind and don't exclude people from the scene.” That's very, very important. That's why I want to say that Kerbera is a Visual Kei band, but we're not. Because when the fans say that people exclude us from being Visual Kei I want to ask: "Why can't we be? Of course we can be!" That's what Visual Kei is, it's expressing yourself. The scene has no limits. When you compare bands you can't really find any connecting elements or common denominators. You take a band like MUCC that are considered Visual Kei for some reason and then take An Cafe and you're like: "What the fuck?" Freddie: We are visual. We have a look we have the aesthetics. Seike: The "kei" is just the word for "style". We are a Visual Kei band, maybe not as Visual as some of the fans would say. Freddie: I mean the fans label us as a VKei band. I don't mind. Seike: We don't mind, the thing is we don't want to limit ourselves. Freddie: When you're a VKei band you're just a VKei band. We don't want to limit ourselves. We want to go global. Seike: So that’s the thing that makes us not Visual, we don’t want to limit ourselves to any one thing. I would go as far to say that we're a rock band with many influences with no labels. We are not, not a Visual Kei band. Zave: And if you limit the nuances, you're probably going to kill the scene. Seike: Exactly, that's what I believe. I'm a big supporter of this scene. I made "Visual United" and pushed to make an impact to make people realize that there are bands from all over the world that are into this scene. To make it survive both in Japan and overseas. I think it's a wonderful scene and all the people surrounding it. I want to reach out to the fans and say: "Support all the bands in the scene." This is a very contested issue within the Visual Kei scene unfortunately. I agree with you though and hope that the fandom takes your words to heart. Can you tell us a little about Kerbera's songwriting process? Seike: It's very hard to say because we've tried out a lot of different ways. The songs are mainly written by Freddie, he's the bassist and also does vocals. It's hard to say. Freddie: A few of songs Zave and I wrote together. Like the first riff came up at his place and the whole song was finished somewhere else. Seike: We've tried lots of ways of writing songs actually. Zave: Some of the songs we've done together [with Freddie] some songs he's done by himself. Seike: And I can come up with a little thing and he can pick it up like that. I'm not very good with instruments, I can just piano that I taught myself, but I can come up with a melody and he can put it all together. Freddie: Normally I write the instrumentals, then me and Zave kind of tweak it and do some minor changes. Then either Seike or the two of us write the lyrics. Seike: It depends. A lot of the time he comes to me with the lyrics and asks: "What do you think about this?" I ask about the meaning and he explains it. If I like it, we don't change it. There are some songs that we have that are just fucking perfect. Otherwise, like on our new single "Deathbed", we write the lyrics together. Actually, we all came up with the melody. We wrote the song first then put on the melody. Freddie: It varies. There's no one way. Seike: That affects the sound as well. Very much. We have so many ways of doing it. Like I wake up in the middle of the night and I just record something I hear in my head to the phone. So yeah, inspiration comes from everywhere. Eric: The thing about the latest single "Deathbed" that makes me attached to it is that not only is it a really good song, but we all were involved in the process that led to the final version of the song. We all worked on the vocal melodies, we all worked on the vocal harmonies in the chorus and stuff like that. It's the first song actually where all of us singing, all of us are doing one vocal harmony each. We want to keep working that way too. Do like The Beatles and KISS did. Seike: Exactly, everyone has a really good quality in this group and we want to expose it to the world. Freddie: It's really cool because all four of us can sing. Why not take advantage of it. Seike: Sorry we talk so much! Don't worry about it! The fans will love this!
Stay tuned for the second half of this interview and be sure to check out the links below for more information on the band and some of their PVs! Kerbera Are: ◆ Seike Clowniac (Vocals) ◆ Zave Demonte (Guitar) ◆ Frederick Hale (Bass) ◆ Eric Foxx (Drums) Official Site: http://kerbera.com/ Official Facebook Page (Kerbera): https://www.facebook.com/KerberaOfficial Official Facebook Page (Seike): https://www.facebook.com/madmanSEIKE 
Last year XENON brought the LA VK to Little Tokyo, Los Angeles during the Fourth of July weekend and changed the local Visual Kei scene forever! On July 5th, XENON will pull out all the stops for it's one year anniversary and bring the newly-named "UNITED MUSIC FEST" (Styled: "VNITED MUSIC FEST") to Amplyfi in Hollywood! 
Not content to simply bring another showcasing of Japanese Visual Kei bands to the US, XENON is going a step further to try something unique. The UNITED MUSIC FEST serves to not only bring Japanese bands to the States, but also to allow those bands to connect with local indies bands from the US. In other words this show will have a more collaborative feel than the LA VK Fest or other similar events. To this end, XENON has amassed a line-up of acts sure to provide something for everyone! On the Japanese side, the line-up features Japanese punk/hardcore legends "ANTI FEMINISM" and Kon & Nao (From "CELL" and "La'Mule") feat. Tomo (From "The Rhedoric"). More on these bands! 
That's right! ANTI FEMINISM will be returning to LA once again! Front-man, KENZI has rocked stages in the US before at the World Famous Whisky-A-Go-Go and last year's VK Fest and he is no stranger to putting on a powerful performance! The group's show at the UNITED MUSIC FEST is doubly special as it marks the band's, and KENZI's, 30th Anniversary! The undisputed Kings of Japanese Indies Rock will assuredly bring everyone a blistering set complete with KENZI's over-the-top stage antics! Be sure to get close to the stage and be prepared for headbanging! 
Kon & Nao are known to fans everywhere as the vocalist and guitarist (respectively) of the bands CELL and La'Mule. Fans of CELL in the US might recall that they were music guests at Anime Expo 2013 and vocalist Kon was a performer at last year's VK Fest. This year, Kon is joined by not only his longtime band-mate, Nao, but also by Tomo guitarist from the band The Rhedoric! This awesome line-up is further bolstered by the addition of Misai (From bands such as: "Black Crystal", "Allison Chains" and "Dollface") on drums! Misai is the winner of the CELL YouTube cover contest hosted by the show's promoters a few months ago. Be prepared for songs from throughout their storied careers!
The US side of things will feature Los Angeles Visual Kei/Lolita-inspired hard-rock band, "Lolita Dark" and San Fransisco rockers, "Phoenix Ash"! Both bands have large followings that belie their status as independent artists. Make no mistake, these bands are on the same footing as their stage-mates from Japan! Be sure to come early and catch both band's rocking sets! 
Not one to simply provide attendees with awesome music, XENON will also deliver a fashion show featuring clothing from popular gal brand, GHOSTS OF HARLEM. One of the hottest brands in Japan today, GHOSTS OF HARLEM has been featured at many fashions shows and events over the years including last year's Anime Expo. This fashion show will also feature DJ Meirlin. Much like the addition of fashion to the LA VK Fest, XENON is once again intertwining elements of Japanese culture, in this case music and street fashion, to form a more complete package for eager US fans! With the event built upon the concept "No Boundaries, Unite by Music" this show is bound to unite fans of Japanese music and musicians from around the world! Music is the true universal language and the UNITED MUSIC FEST has what it takes to take these shows to the next level! The show will take place at Amplyfi Hollwood (5617 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038 Right next door to Paramount Studios on Melrose Ave.in the heart of Hollywood. The best-kept-secret for live music. Green Doors behind 5617 1/2 Melrose Ave.) at 7:00 PM (Doors at 6:45) and will be an all ages event. Tickets are on sale now and tickets for the special VIP event to take place the day before the concert are almost sold out! Follow the links below for tickets and information and be sure to check out the videos for examples of the awesome music these bands have to offer!
Official Site: http://www.xenon-la.com/vmf2015 Ticket Links: http://xenon-la.com/vmf2015/tickets.html Official Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1538603579762380/ 
 XENON is pulling out all the stops for their upcoming live stream event! They will be hosting their next Q&A with one of the hottest current bands in visual kei today! These live stream events have been a general monthly occurrence and past events have featured bands like CELL, DIAURA, DaizyStripper, Arlequin and Royz amongst many others. This upcoming event will take place on June 27th and will feature the group, Mejibray, who will be broadcasting live from Japan into the store which will be packed full of their American fans. These events are unique in that they not only offer the Western fans to meet and interact with their favorite artists, but also allow the band themselves to interact with the fans too by way of their own Q&A. An interesting twist on the standard formula if there ever was one. This is a very special opportunity, fans in the US should clear their calendars and prepare those burning questions! A-To-J will also be on site to film messages for the band and to cover the event itself!  Mejibray formed in 2011 and was originally conceived as a solo project for vocalist Tsuzuku. That same year they debuted as Mejibray and released their first single "KILLING ME" on June 19th and their first mini album "Silvers.exe" on December 7th. The following year they embarked on the first One-Man Tour which culminated with a show at TSUTAYA O-EAST (Shibuya O-EAST). 2014 saw their first show outside of Japan at the Seiya Kyousou Sai -Halloween Party- at Shanghai Mercedes Benz Arena -The Mixing Room- on November 1st. They have recently released their 12th and 13th singles, titled "Nepenthes" and "EIKI" respectively, and will release their newest mini album, "VENOM.APP" on August 5th. On September 5th 2015, the band is planned to hold their first outdoor one man show at Hibiya Koukaido. The PVs for "Nepenthes" and "EIKI" can be viewed below!  XENON is the official Cure Magazine shop, located in The Little Tokyo Mall in Los Angeles (319 E. 2nd St #119 Los Angeles, CA 90012). It has been open since August 1st, 2014 and has hosted several events and fairs in that relatively short time. The store carries various apparel brands including Jury Black and Ghosts of Harlem, as well as, CD’s, DVD’s, and official tour merchandise of various idols and visual kei bands straight from Japan. This event, like their past live stream events, is completely free. No cover will be charged. It will run between 8:00-9:30 PM on June 27, 2014. and will be preceded a fashion snap shot session from 7:00-8:00 PM and a special mix set from DJ Meirlin from 12:30-2:30. SNS and event page links below. Mejibray Are: ● Vocal: Tsuzuku ● Guitar: MiA ● Bass: Koichi ● Drums: Meto Official Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/837920569635014/ XENON Official Site: http://www.xenon-la.com Mejibray Official Site: http://mejibray.com/ As we all know, a line of work may be a constant in a family line, be it doctors, veterinarians - even musicians. Ryo and Nii of Girugamesh and many, many others. Another pair of brothers has emerged in the visual kei scene: Rey of Avanchick and Minpha of Pentagon are indeed twin brothers.
(Left - Rey, Right - Minpha)
Minpha, bassist of Pentagon has recently been posting some rather vague or mysterious Tweets - about family. A brother in particular. After much fan speculation, the adorable bassist made a post on his official blog, translated here: "My little brother joined a band recently! ꒰(๑´•.̫ • `๑)꒱◎ Some of you might have heard of him. A v a n c h i c k ꒰(๑´•.̫ • `๑)꒱◎ Baby baby brother is growing up so fast." Guitarist Rey responded with a blog post of his own only a few hours later, as translated here: "Big bro Minpha wasn't lying ꒰๑´•.̫ • `๑꒱♡ We're twins. I'm not a baby, right! He taught me a great deal about music. He's also my teacher, and I want to spend more time with him since I haven't been able to lately. He's been working so hard! He's been so busy! Please keep him safe for me ꒰๑´•.̫ • `๑꒱♡" And how about that? They even use the same kaomoji! Aren't they simply adorable?! This week, while quite sad from the announced loss of Lycaon to the visual kei in November, also had a few announcements from some other visual kei bands. First up, indie band, My BACTERIA HEAT IsLAND: 
Having released their first single entitled "Blue Sky Guillotine" mid-November and their concept album "Rapid Progress" in July, they seem to have kept quite busy since then. On the first of April (no, it's not a joke) they will be releasing their second mini-album, "MIMIC." It will be released in both an A-type and a B-type, containing six tracks and a PV. Both will cost 2,800 yen. Track Listing: 1. 嗚咽 (Oetsu, "Weeping") 2. ネジレル (Nejireru, "TWIST") 3. REAPER MIMIC 4. 灰色の森 (Haiiro no Mori, "Grey Forest") 5. 凶の世界 (Kyou no Sekai, "World's Misfortune") 6. 目覚める２分前 (Mezameru Ni-bu Mae, "Two Minutes Before You Wake Up") A TYPE : 嗚咽 PV B TYPE : 凶の世界 PV Next up is one I'm sure we've all been waiting for - MEJIBRAY: 
At this point we all know MEJI now, right? They will be releasing their twelfth single "NEPENTHES", same release date as MBHI - April first. There are two limited editions to chose from along with a regular version of the single. LIMITED TYPE A - 2160 Yen 1. ネペンテス ("Nepenthes") 2. 原罪の林檎 (Genzai no Ringo, "Apple of Original Sin") 3. ネペンテス PV LIMITED TYPE B - 1944 Yen 1. ネペンテス ("Nepenthes") 2. 原罪の林檎 (Genzai no Ringo, "Apple of Original Sin") 3. Live footage from ZEPP Tokyo REGULAR EDITION - 1620 Yen 1. ネペンテス ("Nepenthes") 2. 原罪の林檎 (Genzai no Ringo, "Apple of Original Sin") 3. 砂に還りしキミ走る (Suna ni Kaerishi Kimi Hashiru) That's not all, though! Eager to give fans more, they will be releasing their thirteenth single a month after, entitled 盈虧 (Eiki, "phases of the moon") on May 6, 2015. Again, three types:
LIMITED TYPE A - 2160 Yen 1. 盈虧 (Eiki, "Phases of the Moon") 2. 蜈蚣 (Mukade, "Centipede") 3. 盈虧 PV LIMITED TYPE B - 1944 Yen 1. 盈虧 (Eiki, "Phases of the Moon") 2. 蜈蚣 (Mukade, "Centipede") 3. Live footage from ZEPP Tokyo REGULAR EDITION - 1620 Yen 1. 人間 (Ningen, "Human") 2. 盈虧 (Eiki, "Phases of the Moon") 3. 蜈蚣 (Mukade, "Centipede") Be sure to check them out and stay tuned for more updates!   Fans of visual kei band DaizyStripper we treated to a live stream Q&A session this past weekend at XENON in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo. Xenon, for those that do not know, is a clothing store in the Little Tokyo Mall that offers unique fashion straight from the streets of Shibuya with brands like Jury Black filling their shelves and racks. They are also no stranger to hosting events for some of the hottest visual kei bands/artists whether it be live concerts (Visual Kei Fest in July 2014) or the many live stream events (Prior ones featured DIAURA, Royz and CELL) this store is the place to be if you are a fan of the Japanese fashion, visual kei music or the aesthetic in general.
Not one to simply have a large event like the DaizyStripper live stream be the sole draw, Xenon hosted two other events that led up to it. First was a live DJ performance by DJ Meirlin and the second was a Cure snapshot session. Both events brought many people to Little Tokyo and the crowd that eventually filled XENON was one of the largest that has been present at these live stream events. After some introductions from our hosts DJ Meirlin and Ryo (ex.LF-laissez faire-), and a warm welcome for Mayu who recently returned to the band, the members of DaizyStripper began their part of the Q&A.
The questions that the band asks the fans is one of the elements that make XENON's events unique. Anyone can have a question and answer session where the guest is asked a series of questions, but it is all the rarer for the guests themselves to be the one doing the asking! What better way to foster artist/fan relationships than through this type of exchange? This round of questions gave us some interesting insight into the bands thoughts as well as revealing some of their own likes and preferences. For example, after hearing what the audience's favorite Japanese words were (some notables being "suki", "tabemono" and "baka") we learned that Yu-giri's favorite is "daisuki". We learned a little about our hosts too. After being asked what everyone's favorite anime and/or Japanese movies were, we learned that Meirlin has a preference to "Death Note" and Ryo has a leaning towards "Yu Hakusho". Following the more questions, the band seemed legitimately surprised with how well-versed the audience was with Japanese media in general. Not only the movies and anime discussed before, but also the amount of knowledge everyone seemed to have regarding Japanese music. It came as no surprise that most present stated the internet as being central to their exposure to the current music scene in Japan. Wanting the band to visit LA, the crowd was quick with responses with all the wonderful things the area has to offer. Everyone also was quick to point out that DaizyStripper's sound was popular amongst American fans due to the strong feelings present in their music and the great songs that show off Yu-giri's wonderful voice. Following some interesting comments from Nao about his nose (Note: Nao wants all of your noses!), the event moved into the questions asked by the fans.
 The first question up was directed to Nao and Mayu and was concerning their favorite guitarists. Nao mentioned Ken from L'arc~en~Ciel as his favorite and Ken stated Kurt Cobain, from Nirvana, as his. To follow that up, the band were asked what their favorite American artist and there were some interesting answers that ranged from Metallica and Nirvana to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Limp Bizkit. Some of these answers surprised many American fans though this is exactly the kind of thing one comes to these events for. Following a couple more questions, those present got a very special answer from the band when asked what the strangest gift they ever received was. Probably expecting something along the lines of an odd handmade trinket, the band shocked the crowd by mentioning that the strangest gift they have received was in fact used underwear! The follow-up question to this ("Do you like underwear?") was conveniently dodged by a brief technical error. It was probably for the best though as the answers, and topic, might be just a little off topic for some of the younger attendees! Next up were some questions regarding the band's interest in video games. Ever play "Gears of War" on the XBox? Ever play it online? If yes, you might have played with vocalist Yu-giri and not have realized it! Apparently he plays online regularly though his username will remain unknown. A couple more questions were asked before the band had to call it wraps and one of the most entertaining live stream events held at XENON came to a close.
 As the band said their goodbyes, there were many promises to come to LA/the US soon. We can only hope this is the case and we can all have a similar event, or better yet a concert, in the near future! Things didn't just go out with the band saying quiet goodbyes, Nao unknowingly started a spontaneous round of "You Are My Sunshine" from the crowd, much to the delight of all! With that the night officially came to a close with the announcement of the following event involving the band "Arlequin", an event which has too passed since this article goes out. Stay tuned for continued content from the DaizyStripper event (including video clips!) as well as coverage of the Arlequin live stream and other XENON events! Also, be sure to check out both DaizyStripper and XENON if you have not already!
DaizyStripper Are: ◆ Rei - Bass ◆ Mayu - Guitar ◆ Yu-giri - Vocals ◆ Nao - Guitar ◆ Kazami - Drums Official XENON Site Here |
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