Közi, 'KHAOS/KINEMA' era

Name: Közi Other spellings: こうじ Real name: unknown Date of birth: 5/29/1972 Birthplace: Niigata Blood type: A Height: 175cm Band history: Girl ?? - ?? Beyond the Reinsight ?? - ?? Matenrou ?? - 4/1992 Malice Mizer 8/1992 - 12/2001 Eve of Destiny 4/2002 - ?? XA-VAT 12/2010 - 3/2011 Solo 12/2002 - 5/2012 ZIZ 5/2012 - present

Közi is best known as the eccentric synth-guitarist and co-founder of Malice Mizer. His first known bands are GIRL (a band in Tokyo about which no information is known), and Beyond the Reinsight. His first band that met with some measure of notoriety, though, was Matenrou. From roughly 1990 to 1992, he played guitar and composed songs which would prove a formative influence on early Malice Mizer. Most significantly, this was also Közi's first collaboration with Mana, who was then Matenrou's bassist. When Matenrou disbanded in April 1992, Mana and Kozi decided to work together and create a new band with double guitars and classical/horror influences. This band, as we know, was Malice Mizer; they formed officially in August of 1992, and played their first live on October 31 that year. Over the subsequent 9 years, the band rose from obscurity to major-label fame, then returned to independent status for their final works; the full story can be read on the Malice Mizer spotlight page.

During Malice Mizer, Közi chose red as his signature color, and often chose costumes with jester or clown imagery; his "gekka no yasoukyoku" image is perhaps the archetypal expression of this. He also notoriously had a fondness for bondage, eyeball, and suicide/self-harm imagery, as exemplified in "ILLUMINATI". Musically, he was the wild card of the group - while Mana contributed more of the "old European" sound and classical instrumentation, Közi's compositions often featured unconventional elements, from tango accordion to circus calliope to '80s-sounding synthesizers. He and Mana generally split the songwriting duties, though his influence waned somewhat in Malice Mizer's later period.

After Malice Mizer's breakup in December of 2001, Közi decided to move in several different directions for his solo career. He teamed up with author and former Malice Mizer assistant Minako Honda to create the book "izayoi no tsuki", and joined Haruhiko Ash's gothic/industrial band Eve of Destiny. In the latter capacity, he and the ex-ZOLGE frontman toured extensively in small European venues, as well as assorted forays further afield. They did not tour their native Japan, however, due to the parlous state of the local gothic scene, and a desire to distance themselves from the visual kei phenomenon. Eve of Destiny released one ill-fated mini-album "nervous and innocence", but due to label troubles relatively few customers were actually able to get a copy. Eve of Destiny kept up activity until around 2005; after that they seem to have dropped off the radar. Their current status is unknown as of this writing; their official website is currently inoperative.

In addition to his work with Eve of Destiny, Közi also started a solo career of his own in Japan. This has moved at a relatively slower pace; from 2002 to the present he has released two singles and two albums, and held a short series of lives and FC events approximately yearly until November 2006. After the 2006 release of his album "LOKI 'N ROLL", Közi's musical career came to a temporary standstill; rather than writing new music he spent much of his time participating in ad-hoc cover bands of little artistic relevance. He also became associated (in some unspecified manner) with the hair salon Fashion Monster, an affiliation which continues to the present day.
Kozi's most notable public appearances post-"LOKI 'N ROLL" are a guest appearance at Moi dix Mois' 2008 "Dis inferno" event, and two "Deep Sanctuary" coupling tours with Moi dix Mois in 2009 and 2010. At the latter event in July 2010, Közi and former Malice Mizer bandmates Mana and Yu~ki had a brief one-time reunion, playing two Malice Mizer songs. Subsequently, in late 2010 it was announced that Közi would be forming a new major-label band "XA-VAT", along with Shuuji Ishii (formerly of cali-gari). Their first self-titled single was released in December 2010; an album "艶℃" and accompanying videos followed early in 2011. The XA-VAT project proved to be short-lived; the band ceased activity not long after the release of their first and last album. Közi spent the rest of 2011 on his customary rounds of session band activity. In early 2012, he started a new indies band "ZIZ" which is in some respects the "successor" to his solo project; his band members include longtime collaborators Jiro, Yugami, and Charge, and bassist Sugiya (also of Moi dix Mois). ZIZ self-published their first album "GIFT" on May 29, 2012.