Oblivion Dust

Oblivion Dust

Oblivion Dust (OD) is a Japanese rock band that incorporate elements of electronic music to an indie rock format . They stand out due to their original style and because also a big part of their songs are written and sung in fluent English .

History

In May of 1995 the band Addict of the Trip Minds stopped activities due differences in the direction of the band . The drummer Taka Motomura and the bassist Derek Forbes (whose played in the self-titled album Addict of the Trip Minds in 94 ) decided reform the band, but taking a "western style". They recruited Kaz Iwaike as guitarist and later Ken Lloyd, who originally would be a support guitarist, but in a drunken slur stepped up as vocalist. They started to make songs and play in small venues. In that moment, thanks to the help of Hide and Ray McVeigh (The Professionals, Zilch, Wild Crash 500, etc.) they signed with alternative label Cutting Edge, an Avex sublabel. They went to Los Angeles, California to record their first album (which wasn't released until the following year) with Ray McVeigh as producer (he would also be the producer of their second album), but once recording of the album was completed Derek Forbes dropped out of the band and was replaced on bass by Koozie Johns(Jer Koozie) who only played in a few shows from mid 1996 until the end of that year , then he left the band and was replaced by Matt Garrett. Among that, in September of 1996 the name of the band was established as Oblivion Dust .

In January 1997, they released their first single entitled Sucker. March witnessed the release of their second single Numb. In April the group toured the West Coast of the United States with a series of 10 concerts. In May, they managed to release one more single and in June their first full length album entitled Looking for Elvis. In July, they returned to the West Coast of the United States to play 10 more concerts and Matt Garrett left the band. In September they did their first Japanese tour consisting of a total of 11 shows and 5 extra shows in October.

In January 1998, one new bassist joined the band as official member: Rikiji Masuda(Mega 8 Ball). That same month they played as the sole Japanese opening band for the UK electronic group, The Prodigy's gig in Tokyo before a crowd of 10.000 fans, gaining the band a name for themselves. 1998 also saw the release of 2 singles and their second album: Misery Days. Between both singles, they toured again the West Coast of the United States in April. The rest of year they toured Japan and in November of 1998, Souta Furuton(ex-Space Cowboys) replaced Taka Motomura who left around August.

In 1999 Oblivion Dust released 4 new singles, another new album called Reborn and their first video, Overdose. Apart from that, they toured all year long, playing with other well known bands such as Marilyn Manson and Zilch. In September their official fanclub, embryo, was temporarily opened, and December witnessed the opening of their official website.

The band began 2000 with a nationwide Reborn tour. In February their fanclub was officially opened, and in May their new song entitled S.O.S. appeared on the Japanese version of the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack. In the same year, the band played numerous sold-out gigs; they also played at the Summer Sonic Festival, released 2 singles, a new album called Butterfly Head and their second video. The gig performed on December 23 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall turned out to be Rikiji's last, as he decided to quit the band soon afterwards.

In January 2001, their support guitarist since September 98', Masaru Yoshida(May) gained the status of an official member, and the band was joined by a new bassist Ju-ken as a support member. The members didn't enjoy their new roles for long, because only a few months later, in June 30th, Oblivion Dust announced that they would officially disband. The last release was the album entitled Radio Songs(the best of Oblivion Dust) which came out two months later, finally the group did their 2 last concerts that were called Last two nights "THANK YOU & GOOD BYE" the September 22 and 23.

In June 28th 2007 was announced Ken Lloyd, Kaz Iwaike and Rikiji Masuda would reunite again as OBLIVION DUST members in two concerts called "Resurrected" in September 8 and 9. At the end of the latter concert, Ken walked off the stage saying "See you in another 6 years", only to give way to a video announcing a new album to be "coming soon". In November 7th was announced they will release three singles in three weeks. These limited singles will be released on December 26th of 2007, January 2nd and January 9th of 2008 only as digital download before the release of their first new album on stores. Scheduled for release on January 23rd, the album will be available in a regular edition and a limited edition that will come with a DVD with 1 music video, and 1 live performance clip of September 9 gig. Plus they will do a tour in Japan on February 2008.

Current support members

• Guitar : Pablo, started in the band GIRAFFE in 1999. He was then a support guitarist for FAKE? and for Takui Nakajima. He is currently playing in the hard rock outfit out of LA/Tokyo, Pay Money to my Pain and from september 2007 he is Oblivion Dust support member.
• Drums : Masuo, started in september 2007, He is collaborator of several Japanese bands/artists as J, FULLSCRATCH, The JERRY, etc.).

Early support members

• Bass : Ju-ken [only 2001]
• Bass : Josh Lazie [only 1997]
• and a lot more

Discography

Albums

• Looking for Elvis (June 25, 1997)
• Misery Days (July 23, 1998)
• Reborn (December 26, 1999)
• Butterfly Head (November 22, 2000)
• Radio Songs (August 8, 2001)
• ??? (January 23, 2008)

Singles

• Sucker (January 22, 1997)
• Numb (March 26, 1997)
• Falling (May 20, 1997)
• Therapy (March 25, 1998)
• Trust (May 20, 1998)
• Blurred (8/12 cm) (January 13, 1999)
• You (March 25, 1999)
• Goodbye (October 27, 1999)
• Crazy (December 26, 1999)
• Forever (July 12, 2000)
• Designer Fetus (September 27, 2000)

Digital Download

• ??? (December 26, 2007)
• ??? (January 02, 2008)
• ??? (January 09, 2008)

DVDs

• Overdose (concert) (March 27, 2000)
• Oblivion Dust The DVD (music videos) (September 19, 2001)

VHS

• Overdose (concert) (October 27, 1999)
• Oblivion Dust - The Video (music videos) (July 12, 2000)

Extras

• Hide Tribute Spirits (#12 "Genkai Haretsu") (May 1, 1999)
• Mission impossible 2 soundtrack Japanese (#18 "S.O.S") (May 31, 2000)
• Oblivion Dust single collections (11 singles CDs + 1 live CD) (December 27, 2001)

Limited Items

• Video Therapy (VHS for whose attended at Hibiya in April 3, 1999)
• Dear embryo (CD for their fanclub in September 1999)
• Free Sample Edit (CD for whose bought the single "Forever" in its first edition in July 12, 2000)
• Forever -English version- (CD for whose attended at Tokyo Bay NK Hall in December 23, 2000)
• Oblivion Dust Last Two Nights "Thank You & Goodbye" (VHS sold out to whose did pre-order in late 2001)

Trivia

The song "Lullabye" was featured in a 2007 Thai movie Lullabye Before I Wake.

External links

• Official website
• Oblivion Dust web
• Fetus HP
• A shrine for Oblivion Dust
• TASTE MAXIMUM community