Alice Nine

PROFILE
alice nine is a visual rock band with a difficult to define sound; heavy but not usually aggressive. The band began in 2004 and got off to a quick start as both the first and second press of their first single sold out immediately! In the years following, this five member group has shown no sign of slowing down.


BIOGRAPHY
Formed in April of 2004, alice nine. retains today their original line-up: Shou (ex Givuss) on vocals, Tora (ex Givuss) and Hiroto (ex BAQUEPIA) on guitar, Saga (ex Visage) on bass and Nao (ex Fatima) on drums. Shortly after forming, the band held their first live at the Ikebukuro Cyber and continued to perform, including their June participation in "Ps Company presents: Tribal Arivall Vol.81".

The next month, they released their first maxi-single Namae wa madanai, which was limited to 1000 copies and sold out during its pre-order period. They released a second press of Namae wa madanai in August, this one limited to 3000 copies, which also sold out. During this time, they went on a short two-man tour with fellow indie band Ayabie, with the final tour performance at Shibuya O-East selling out.

In September, this young band joined the label PS Company (home to such groups such as The GazettE, Kagrra,, and miyavi) and released their first mini-album shortly afterwards. Like alice nine.'s previous releases, this one was also limited and did well, coming in third on the Oricon Indies chart. They also went on a second two-man tour, this time with the group Karen and it was much larger than their first with Ayabie; this tour took them all across the country with about a dozen shows. They continued to perform for the rest of the year, ending their first year together at an event at the Holiday Shinjuku.

alice nine. kicked 2005 off by holding their first one-man live at Liquid Room-Ebisu. They participated in a number of other events throughout February and March, including a live on Valentine's Day at Electric Land Lady. In the next three months, they released three more singles and then the band spent April by playing as label-mate Kagrra,'s opening band during their 2005 tour. In June, they held another two-man tour with Ayabie, this one much more extensive than their previous tour together, taking both bands across Japan.

When July rolled around, alice nine. had just finished up their tour with Ayabie when they hopped right back into the tour busses to participate in "Ps Company presents: Tribal Arivall Tour 2005" with Kra and bis, both also PS Company artists at that time. The band also released their second mini-album, ALICE IN WONDEЯLAND, on July 27th to the delight of their fans. After that exhaustive summer, the band seemed to take a bit of a break in August and September, performing only once and doing various in-store events. As the temperature began to cool, however, alice nine. heated back up, performing at the Shibuya O-West with Duel Jewel and Soroban in October before re-releasing previous CDs such as their first single once again. When December came, fans found alice nine. taking part in the massive "Peace & Smile Carnival Tour", organized, naturally, by the PS Company label and featuring their artists. Also during this month, the band's official fanclub opened.

In 2006, alice nine. brought in the new year with some new releases: their first live DVD titled ALICE IN WONDEЯ FILM and then three new singles, one of which was featured in an animated series. In April, alice nine. released their first full length album, Zekkeishoku. alice nine. seemed to take a brief breather over the summer but fans weren't left waiting long as the group released their second DVD, NUMBER SIX, this one containing a short movie written by guitarist Tora as well as a music video and some behind-the-scenes footage. In October, they released an internet-only single, Blue Planet, which required a Japanese credit card to access. They ended the year by performing at various events, including Beat Shuffle's anniversary show held on December 30th.

The band kicked off 2007 with a number of new releases, including a DVD, new single, and photobook. Perhaps the most exciting news for their many international fans however was their participation in the Jrock Revolution event held in Los Angeles, California. After taking part in this multiband event at the end of May, they continued to produce plenty of new music, including their second full album, Alpha.