ROUAGE

ROUAGE was formed in December of 1993 with Rika, Kazushi, Shono and Rayzi, who were joined by Kaiki on bass soon after.

February of 1994 saw the release of the band's first single, SILK, which was followed by a self-titled album in March. The album was limited to 5000 copies; a second pressing of 5000 copies went on sale in July. July also marked the release of Shi. ku.ma.re.ta.to.ki. -image, a special clips video.

LEAVE, another video of clips, was released in April of 1995 before the release of ROUAGE's Risoukyou maxi-single. It was also in 1995 that Kaiki decided to leave the band, prompting them to strongly consider parting ways. They bid farewell to their fans during a concert at Nihon Seinenkan late in the year.

A video box, TOUR Risoukyou FINAL 1995.12.10 Nihon Seinenkan ~ [Kono Basho ni Shiawase wo] was release in February of 1996, though in a surprise twist, ROUAGE went major in April, releasing a new single, Queen. With the release of their first album, Bible, in June and another single, insomnia, in August, the band recruited new bassist Yuki. In December they released the video From Bible.

The following January saw the release of a new single, Shiroi Yami. In March came Tsuki no Sugao, which was followed closely by their second album, MIND. At the same time, Yuki disappeared from the band and was not even featured on the album. In June, their first major video, FILM-CAPSULE, was released. Their three date CAPSULE MIND tour came and went and the band was featured on the cover of volume 52 of "SHOXX" magazine. On July 19th of 1996, they performed at NHK HALL, which kicked off their MIND after MIND tour. On August 27th, their new single, ever [blue], hit the shelves, followed by Tsumetai Taiyou on October 22nd and a new album, CHILDREN, on December 3rd, closing out a busy year for the band.

1998 began with the tour CHILDREN’S ROOM, which was made up of fifteen dates all over the country. ROUAGE were back in the shops on June 1st with a new single called Endless loop, which served as one of the theme songs of the "Legend Of Basara" anime. On June 6th they celebrated the release with a performance at Hibiya Yagai Ongakudo and, on July 19th, performed at the Shock Wave Illusion event alongside bands like Dir en grey, Pierrot and others. More events, such as the Rock Gigs special on August 14th and Live Wars'98 on the 25th, followed.

June 25th saw the release of Rouage -312604806 -. It wasn't a new album, but a compilation of remixes of their indie songs, and was a rather successful release. During their next tour, on October 7th, they released another single, Shinkuu. Keeping busy, a new album, SOUP, was released on November 11th and, for collectors, ROUAGE released their fourth major album, out on December 23rd, in a vinyl version. The live video ero guro Live at Velfar 1998-07-23 also came out in December.

ROUAGE started 1999 out with the release of a video of clips known as FILM-CAPSULE II and a series of concerts from January 8th to 27th. The band's first performance at Nippon Budokan took place on May 8th and was released on video as Proto-Culture 1999.05.08 Nihon Budokan on August 16th. The performance marked the beginning of their SCARLET SOUP PROTOCULTURE tour. Around this time, the members of the band's fan club received a questionnaire asking them what their favorite songs were and which they would like to see as remixes. This survey gave way to the release of the March 17th release of Culture, another remix album.

June 8th started off their Yokoshima 1999 Funny Pig - Holly Pig tour marathon, which was made up of no less than twenty-six dates and lasted until July 21st. Following this, in November, the band decided to release the maxi-single, Mune ni Furu Ame, Mune ni Saku Hana.. Another tour, FLAG! ended on December 15th, closing out the year for ROUAGE.

Their new tour began on May 5, 2000 and finished on August 26th at Tokyo Bay NK Hall. However, nobody knew at the time that this would be the band's last live with their existing lineup.

On March 1st, a second maxi-single was released with the title Hitomi wo Akete Miru Yume. April 26th brought with it yet another maxi-single, Tsuki no Nagamekata. This was swiftly followed by an album, Lab, on May 25th and SINGLE COLLECTION in June, with Hada iro coming out shortly after, on July 26th.

On month later, Rika performed his last concert with the band. It was announced through the fan club just a few days before his departure.

In September, they took part in Shock Wave Illusion again and released their first official tour photo book, Lab-Juice, in October.

The band carried out some secret concerts at live houses in the beginning of 2001. Then, a second blow came to the band when Shono decided to quit after their tour in February. As a result, ROUAGE disbanded.

Following the disbandment, Kazushi and Rayzi, who later started a solo career as well, founded Stray Pig Vanguard and Rika formed dibs, though information about the whereabouts and careers of the other members are not known.