Kaoru (musician)

File:Kaoru final.jpg

Kaoru

Kaoru (薫) (born February 17, 1974 in Hyougo, Japan) is one of the guitarists of the Japanese rock group Dir en grey. He has been with the band since its inception in 1997 and was previously a member of La:Sadie's and Charm. He has composed most of Dir en grey's songs (at least up to the VULGAR album, at which individual credits for the music were dropped). His contributions display a fair amount of variety, ranging from slow ballads such as "ZAKURO" to upeat numbers like "JESSICA".

Kaoru's signature guitar is the custom-made ESP Ganesa (now in its ninth version), though he also uses ESP Vipers, such as the D-KV-420. He also uses instruments by Gibson and Morris. His guitar sound relies heavily on manipulation, using feedback to produce screeching sounds or bizarre noises. The tempo of his solos varries strongly, similar to his compostions.

Trivia

• Recently, both Kaoru and fellow Dir en grey guitarist Die have been seen with members of American rock band Wednesday 13, and both of them appear briefly in the music video for Wednesday 13's song, "Bad Things".

External links

• Kaoru's custom guitars at ESP