DUSTZ

DUSTZ was formed around vocalist Ray in October 2005 with his friends from childhood at a French international school. They launched their live performance-oriented activities, mainly performing mixture rock full of street sense that passionately renders their enthusiasm for music. Striking out by integrating French-speaking rap into their music, the band rapidly expanded their fan base by word of mouth, performing successful one-band shows even in their early days. And so they made their much-awaited indie debut with “Future,” which marked #2 on Tower Records’ indie chart and #18 on Japan Countdown, attracting attention among music fans. Second indie single “Lapis lazuli,” released in February 2009, won #1 on Tower Records’ indie chart, which was a dream come true. On May 27, 2009, DUSTZ released their major debut single “Break & Peace” (ending theme of TV anime Sengoku BASARA). Soon after, they were invited to a French music festival and became the first Japanese band to make a street performance a success, attracting thousands of people. The success continued with the release of second single “Brilliant Day” (used in TV drama Oretachiwa Tenshida! NO ANGEL NO LUCK) on October 7. 2010 saw the departure of the drummer, making DUSTZ a band of three half-Japanese, half-French descent members, namely vocalist Ray, guitarist KenT and bassist Gus. In December that year, they premiered a new key-visual made by three world-renowned creative directors Joji Kojima, Noritaka Tatehana and Koji Shiouchi. Its sensual yet sublime artwork caused sensation in music and fashion industries alike. On April 6, 2011, DUSTZ released their much-awaited new single entitled “Criez”, which was their first in a year and a half. With French, English and Japanese languages crisscrossing the tune, its new-generation, hybrid rock sound that no one had ever experienced spread around the globe as the first shout of the renewed DUSTZ. On May 21, DUSTZ announced that they would be making the opening theme of BLOOD-C, a high-profile TV anime famous as the collaborative project of CLAMP and Production I.G. Vocalist Ray has also been appearing in various topical films and dramas as actor Ray Fujita. He is currently acting in Les Misérables, the 100th anniversary gala of the Imperial Garden Theater. Dustz's first album Trois was released by Epic Records Japan on December 14, 2011 (source: DUSTZ official website)