LAREINE was a visual rock band from Japan founded in 1994 by KAMIJO and MAYU. They were known for expressing a romantic French-inspired concept with both their music and visual style, or what they termed, “the incarnation of fluttering flowers in the modern era.”
In 1994, KAMIJO, then a roadie to the popular visual rock band MALICE MIZER, formed the band LALIENE with friend and guitarist MAYU. At the time LALIENE recorded demo tapes, the band would undergo numerous member changes, with MAYU quitting the band to eventually return as guitarist. After changing their band name to LAREINE in 1996, the members included KAMIJO (vo), MAYU (gt), AKIRA (gt), EMIRU (ba), and Machi (dr), who along with KAMIJO was a former roadie for MALICE MIZER.
LAREINE released their first live-only distributed CD in 1996 titled 再会の花 (Saikai no Hana) followed by their first album BLUE ROMANCE in 1997.At this time, AKIRA had left the band. In 1998, LAREINE embarked on their first nation-wide one-man tour titled TOUR “Fleur” 1998 白鳥と追想 beginning from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. After a period of extended touring, LAREINE made their major label debut in 1999 on SME Records with the single fiançailles フィアンサーユ. In 2000, LAREINE held a last live at Akasaka Blitz before the band had indefinitely paused activities. During this time, KAMIJO had begun his own label APPLAUSE RECORDS, and the following year had formed the band NEW SODMY with LAREINE guitarist MAYU. While this happened, MACHI created his solo project Chanton L’amour and EMIRU, with Kazumi (who would later become the new drummer of LAREINE) and vocalist Kanzaki (who later collaborated with KAMIJO during Node of Scherzo) created the band RIBBON.
During APPLAUSE RECORDS’ Halloween live event in 2002, KAMIJO and the members of LAREINE took to the stage and performed together once again. After this, the band had released a new album titled ETUDE and the double A-side single 蝶の花 / レッスン (Chou no Hana / Lesson). In 2003, the band held a one-man live at Shibuya AX in Tokyo, officially announcing the revival of LAREINE with a new drummer Kazumi.
LAREINE continued to perform and release new material up until 2006. Kazumi had retired from the band in March, and MAYU had literally disappeared without notice since July, making band activities impossible to continue. In October, it was announced that because of this, LAREINE was on indefinite activity pause. KAMIJO and Phantasmagoria bassist and leader KISAKI performed together during a Halloween live event that month.
KAMIJO and EMIRU last performed as a duo at a metropolitan area exhibition in February of 2007. LAREINE has since been on indefinite hiatus. That year, KAMIJO formed the visual rock band Versailles with guitarist HIZAKI, while EMIRU has since joined the band ANUBIS as a bassist under the name RUN. He has since changed his name back to EMIRU and is running the label Maple Kiss.
