Yune Sugihara, born Yasuhiro Sugihara and better known by his stage name Sugizo, is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer.
37 Facts About Sugizo
2.
Sugizo is best known as the lead guitarist and violinist of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989.
3.
Sugizo started his solo career in 1997 and has since collaborated with a variety of different artists.
4.
Sugizo's Manchukuo-born father played trumpet in the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and his mother played cello in the same orchestra.
5.
From a young age, Sugizo was brought up on classical music and studied classical music theory.
6.
Sugizo practiced it for 3 hours per day, but without the right type of music or composer, began to hate playing music, and coercion from his parents aggravated his feeling of repulsion.
7.
When Sugizo was eleven or twelve years old, he began to play the trumpet.
8.
Sugizo preferred the trumpet's "dirty" image from the 1950s through the 1970s over playing the violin, which was seen as something for higher-class people.
9.
Sugizo's parents divorced when he was in high school, and his father moved out.
10.
Sugizo has a good relationship with his mother and has since reconciled with his father, who has another family.
11.
Sugizo has cited three Japanese guitarists as influences; Masami Tsuchiya, Kazumi Watanabe and You.
12.
Since J was already the bass player and Inoran preferred to play rhythm guitar, Sugizo became the lead guitarist and took on his stage name, which he believes Shinya came up with.
13.
Sugizo starred in Ken Nikai's movie Soundtrack and composed the music for the film.
14.
In 2003, following the release of "No More Machineguns Play the Guitar", Sugizo released his second album C:Lear.
15.
In March 2004, Sugizo formed the rock band The Flare with vocalist Yuna Katsuki.
16.
Sugizo created a new record label called "Embryo", which received major distribution from Universal Music Group for the music of The Flare.
17.
In May 2005, Sugizo organized the event "Neo Ascension Groove", with psychedelic jam session act Shag.
18.
Sugizo later had his first performance with Juno Reactor at the Tokyo Techno Festival, after starting talks with the band in 2005 about a possible collaboration.
19.
On March 28 and 29,2008, Sugizo played at X Japan's two reunion concerts as a stand-in along Wes Borland and Richard Fortus for the deceased hide.
20.
Sugizo wrote the song to convey his feelings and thoughts toward the people who suffered from the aftermath of nuclear war, and to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
21.
On May 1,2009, Sugizo officially joined X Japan as lead guitarist, violinist and backing vocalist.
22.
Sugizo was the music director and composer of the soundtrack for jidaigeki theatre stage play Nemuri Kyoshiro Buraihikae, featuring Gackt in the main role, which ran for 120 performances across Japan.
23.
Sugizo collaborated with a number of musicians on Dead End's tribute album, specifically on the song "Serafine".
24.
Sugizo was the musical director and composer for the new staging of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, staged by the same producer of the earlier 7 Doors play.
25.
Sugizo performed at Makuhari Messe at Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest, with X Japan.
26.
On March 4,2017, Sugizo took the stage at Wembley Arena in London with X Japan.
27.
Sugizo produced the theme songs for the 2019 Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin - Advent of the Red Comet anime.
28.
Also in 2019, Sugizo helped produce the Chinese pop rock band VOGUE5.
29.
Sugizo provided the theme songs for the July 2020 Gibiate anime; "Gibiate" with the Yoshida Brothers and "Endless" with Maki Ohguro.
30.
In November 2022, Sugizo was announced as a member of the supergroup The Last Rockstars, along with fellow musicians Yoshiki, Hyde, and Miyavi.
31.
Divorced, Sugizo has a daughter named Luna Artemis Sugihara, who was born on April 27,1996, in Tokyo, Japan.
32.
Sugizo finds all religions interesting and reads many books about them.
33.
In 2007, Sugizo became involved with Greenpeace, specifically regarding the whaling in Japan.
34.
Sugizo gave a name to one humpback whale and followed the Great Whale Trail.
35.
In 2016, Sugizo made a live performance at a Syrian refugee camps of Zaatari and Azraq in Jordan.
36.
Sugizo plays signature electric violins made by Kranz, and his bows are made by Codabow.
37.
Sugizo's effects are numerous and spanning several pedalboards and racks, but important staples are his DigiTech Whammy pedal for pitch effects, and delays and reverbs from various Eventide pedals and the TC Electronic 2290 Digital Delay.