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Duel Jewel is a Japan ese Rock band formed by Shun on guitar, Hayato on vocals, Yuya on guitar, Natsuki on bass, and Val on drums. The band is based in Tokyo and is active to date. Duel Jewel is a Visual Kei band. Natsuki is the newest member, having joined in the spring of 2002, just in time for the band's first overseas appearance at Project A-Kon in Dallas, Texas during June of that year. HISTORY The first stirrings of the band date back to early 1997 when guitarist Shun and drummer Val first met and started making music together. Hayato (all the members use single names) joined up with them as vocalist in May, 1997, but quit the group in July, 1998. In August, 1998 Duel Jewel gave away a demo called “Kaze-The Winding Garden”. The group has since made a habit of giving away demos, or selling limited editions of items to their fans. The band has also appeared on a number of visual-kei compilations, including the titles Hysteric Media Zone and Spleen & Ideal. The group was still in a somewhat nebulous form when Ka-non joined on bass in January 1999. The group began gelling again when Hayato returned on vocals in May, 1999. In December of the same year, the group gave away the demo “Tsuki to Tawamure” (Flirting With the Moon), which has since become one of their signature songs. In 2000 they released two limited edition items “Kuro” (Black) and “Shiro” (White), or which just 200 were made. In October, 2000 Yuya joined on second guitar, after playing with the group for a few months as a “support member”. In December, 2000 they made that big step for an indie band, their first “one man” (headlining) show. August, 2001 saw Duel Jewel release their first album Lapidary. At the end of that year Ka-non left the group and Natsuki joined, bringing the band to its current and best known lineup. The first U.S. visit was a success as the band gained many new enthusiastic followers. Two concerts during the visit drew approximately 1500 fans and autograph sessions were quite popular as well. In June, 2002 Duel Jewel made their first international performance, playing at the anime event A-kon in Dallas, Texas. This success also spread to Japan, where Duel Jewel added more dates to their live schedule in the Tokyo area and began to hold more events in other major Japanese cities. Since then the group has appeared at a number of American anime festivals including Katsucon (Washington D.C.), Anime Central (Rosemont, Illinois) and Anime Expo (Anaheim, California). While at their U.S. shows they may play abbreviated sets, in Japan they play long and hard, sometimes up to three hours straight without intermission. In September, 2002 Duel Jewel released the seven song mini-album Noah. In 2003 they returned to the States to play anime conventions. In November of that year they released Vermillion. 2003 and 2004 continued this momentum as the band returned to the U.S. six times and held exciting shows in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Anaheim, San Jose, and Houston. Each visit added more fans to the band's overseas support base and also exposed more people to Duel Jewel's infectious, happy style of visual music. The group also enjoyed meeting all of their overseas fans at each appearance, signing numerous autographs and posing for endless photos with the fans. These two years also saw the band increase their popularity in Japan with a full live show schedule, another CD titled "Vermilion", and more tracks on omnibus CDs. Duel Jewel also began receiving attention from Japanese media outlets with magazines like "SHOXX" and "Cure" featuring the band in interviews, photos and reports (a report of the band's Houston appearance was featured in 2 consecutive issues of "Cure"), and music TV shows began airing the group's videos. 2005 has seen Duel Jewel concentrate primarily on activities in Japan, with another CD release ("The Birth") in February, live events (including important tours during the summer with major indies groups like Phantasmagoria, ISABELLE and D'espairs Ray), more one-man live shows in April and September (both sold-out), and increased magazine attention. In September the band signed with a new management company, Zero Range Entertainment, which has taken an active role in promoting the group across Japan and fine-tuning the members' already strong musical talents. In February, 2006 they released Visions. Also, two members from Duel Jewel appeared at Orlando's MegaCon convention on February 18th. Hayato and Val were at the convention for photos, autographs, a question and answer session, and a special video concert premiere. Most recently, in May 2007, the band performed at the sold-out two-day Jrock Revolution concert held in Los Angeles, CA to a very enthusiastic crowd. Their merchandise sold out at the concert and the reaction to their songs was extremely positive. MUSIC GENRE Musically, Duel Jewel covers a wide range with songs from soulful ballads to headthrashing hard rock. Each member contributes to every song in the band's repertoire, resulting in a strong sound that's sure to please even the most discriminating music fan. The group's live shows (especially one-man performances) are a must-see, as the band goes all out in their on-stage performance, encouraging the fans to respond in kind. And a one-man is usually not complete without a surprise or two, usually from Yuya. STYLE AND APPEARANCE As visual-kei groups go, Duel Jewel are moderate in their appearances; they do wear leather, flash clothes, and make-up, but no French period costumes or space alien get-ups. While their stage show is theatrical, the members are all accomplished players, and compared to most visual-kei bands they tend to play in more of a hard rock style. Another distinctive aspect of the band is their keen interest in perfume. Shun, the group’s leader, is said to be particularly knowledgeable and enamored with scent, and the group’s profile lists in addition to the usual questions about height, blood type and favorite food, also their favorite perfumes. Shun in facts list four of his favorites - Gucci’s Rush is top choice but he also likes Romance, Nightlight, and enjoys wearing Ultramarine when sleeping. Four of the five members also list their favorite cigarettes. Only drummer Baru (sometimes listed as “Val” on English materials) does not use perfume or smoke. Source: Copyright © Nippop, 2005; Duel Jewel Profile by Keith Cahoon Copyright © Jhouserock Entertainment PROFILE HAYATO
SHUN
YUYA
NATSUKI
VAL (Drums)
Source: Duel Jewel Official Site DISCOGRAPHY 2001.08.22 - Lapidary (full album)
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