Since1889

Although their original line-up is sometimes debated, it is generally thought that Since1889 was formed in December 2004 in Niigata by Sugahara Kouta on vocals, Tomoichi and Ryou on guitar, Takahiro on bass and Hiroki on drums. For the first couple of months, the band concentrated on performances in their home town. Very quickly, however, in the summer of 2005, they played their first lives in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. In July and December, their songs appeared on the omnibuses Resident of delusion and relative heart. It wasn’t until June 2006 that they released their debut single, Gaula. It was soon followed by another single, Unfair, which was sold exclusively during lives from September onwards. In December of the same year, the band played their first one-man at Niigata Livespace Z-1. Soon after, Takahiro left the band and later became the support bassist of THE PIASS while Shou became the band’s new bassist.

The year 2007 started with more losses — both guitarists left the band, with Ryou later joining √eight and bassist Shou soon joining them. In spite of that, the band did not give up. After the new bassist Sigma and new guitarists Setsu and Takushi joined, they had two more live releases — the singles esCargot and THE [C] BLOOD MANIFEST were sold during lives starting in December.

By 2008, the band had relocated most of their activities to Tokyo and in June Since1889 released their first maxi-single DIABOLOS. In October, another member change occurred, with Takushi and Sigma leaving the band and soon being replaced by the support members Shun on bass and Yoshiatsu. Yoshiatsu, who had previously helped the band as a staff member and learned to play the guitar, was able to become Since1889’s support guitarist. With the new line-up, the band had a song appear on Sequence Records' omnibus SUMMIT#05.

Although there were no more changes to the official line-up after Yoshiatsu became a full-time member of the band in January 2009, there were several more changes to the support members that year. Support bassist Shun was first replaced by Aki in April and in June the final support bassist Jin came onboard. The band seemed active as ever, as on a sponsored event in March they distributed a free single Dear…raila, re-released DIABOLOS in April and in May brought out a new single, ENEMY. However, in June, Since1889 announced their decision to disband and on the first of August they played their final stage at Meguro Rokumeikan. A live DVD featuring the footage from their last live was sold by postal order.

Although the activities of Since1889 were affected by the many member changes and their career did not span a very long time, they have managed to leave an impact in the visual kei scene and will not be forgotten by many.