Oblivion Dust

Oblivion Dust (OD) is a Japanese alternative rock band very influenced by early 90’s American rock bands, but with a trademark sonority that makes the band very unique. They stand out in the Japanese scene because a big part of their songs are written and sung in fluent English ^{English language} .

  In May 1995 the band 'Addict of the Trip Minds' stopped activities due differences in the direction of the band. The drummer 'Taka Motomura' (who played in the self-titled album indie 'Addict of the Trip Minds' in 94) and the bassist Derek Forbes (who had arrived short while ago to the band) decided reform the band starting over again and taking a "western style". In late 95´ they recruited K.A.Z as lead guitarist and in early 96´ recruited Ken Lloyd as vocalist and (in a beginning) guitarist. They started to make songs and went to Los Angeles, California to record their first album (which wasn't released until the following year) with 'Ray McVeigh' (The Professionals ^{The Professionals (band)} , Zilch ^{Zilch (band)} , Wild Crash 500, etc.) as producer (he would also be the producer of their second and third album), but once recording of the album was completed Derek Forbes dropped out of the band and was replaced on bass by 'Koozie Johns' (Jer Koozie) as support member in a few shows from mid 1996 until the end of that year, then he left the band and was replaced by 'Matt Garrett' as official member. In that moment, thanks to the help of Hide ^{hide (musician)} in September 1996, being their debut under this name in November 1996.

In January 1997, they released their first single entitled 'Sucker'. March witnessed the release of their second single 'Numb'. In April the group toured the West Coast of the United States with a series of 10 concerts. In May, they managed to release one more single and in June their first full length album entitled 'Looking for Elvis'. In July, they returned to the West Coast of the United States to play 10 more concerts and 'Matt Garrett' left the band. In September they did their first Japanese tour consisting of a total of 11 shows and 5 extra shows in October.

In January 1998, one new bassist joined the band as official member: RIKIJI. That same month they played as the sole Japanese opening band for the UK electronic group, The Prodigy's gig in Tokyo before a crowd of 10.000 fans, gaining the band a name for themselves. 1998 also saw the release of 2 singles and their second album: Misery Days. Between both singles, they toured again the West Coast of the United States in April. The rest of year they toured Japan and in November 1998, 'Souta Oofuruton' (Furuton) replaced 'Taka Motomura' who left around August.

In 1999 Oblivion Dust released 4 new singles, another new album called 'Reborn' and their first video, 'Overdose'. Apart from that, they toured all year long, playing with other well known bands such as Marilyn Manson ^{Marilyn Manson (band)} and Zilch ^{Zilch (band)} . In September their official fanclub, 'embryo', was temporarily opened, and December witnessed the opening of their official website.

The band began 2000 with a nationwide 'Reborn tour'. In February their fanclub was officially opened, and in May their new song entitled 'S.O.S.' appeared on the Japanese version of the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack. In the same year, the band played numerous sold-out gigs; they also played at the Summer Sonic Festival, released 2 singles, a new album called 'Butterfly Head' and their second video. The gig performed on December 23 at the Tokyo Bay NK Hall turned out to be RIKIJI's last, as he decided to quit the band soon afterwards.

In January 2001, their support guitarist since September 98', 'Masaru Yoshida' (May) gained the status of an official member, and the band was joined by a new bassist Ju-ken as a support member. The members didn't enjoy their new roles for long, because only a few months later, in June 30, Oblivion Dust announced that they would officially disband. The last release was the album entitled 'Radio Songs'(the best of Oblivion Dust) which came out two months later, finally the group did their 2 last concerts that were called Last two nights "THANK YOU & GOOD BYE" on September 22 and 23.

In June 28, 2007 was announced Ken Lloyd, K.A.Z and RIKIJI decided to get back together, playing two concerts called "Resurrected" in September 8 and 9. In November 7, it was announced they would release three digital download ^{music download} in three weeks before release of their first new album on stores in January 23 of 2008, this self-titled album was available in a regular edition and a limited edition that came with a DVD with the full performance of September 9 gig and the "Never Ending" music video.

Early in 2008, Oblivion Dust had a short tour to signify their reformation. Then, they performed on one night of the two-night Hide Memorial Summit on 4 May, alongside X Japan, Luna Sea, and others.

The mid 2008, the band released the single "Girl in Mono / Bed of Roses" and then announced an album for the early 2009.

In early 2009 was announced the album was delayed because the members haven't got enough time due to their sides projects.*Guitar : 'Pablo', started in the disbanded GIRAFFE in 1999. He was then a support guitarist for Fake? and for Takui Nakajima. He is currently playing in the hard rock outfit out of LA/Tokyo, Pay money To my Pain and from September 2007 he is Oblivion Dust support member.
*Drums : 'Masuo', he started as support member in September 2007. He is collaborator of several Japanese bands/artists as J ^{J (musician)} and Fake?, etc.*Bass : Ju-ken [only 2001]
*Guitar : 'Masaru Yoshida' [from 1998 to 2000, then official member only in 2001]
*Bass : 'Josh Lazie' [only 1997]
*Bass: 'Koozie Johns' (Jer Koozie) [In some shows in 1996]
Albums

*Looking for Elvis (June 25, 1997)
*Misery Days (July 23, 1998)
*Reborn (December 26, 1999)
*Butterfly Head (November 22, 2000)
*Radio Songs (August 8, 2001)
*Oblivion Dust (January 23, 2008)


Singles

*Sucker (January 22, 1997)
*Numb (March 26, 1997)
*Falling (May 20, 1997)
*Therapy (March 25, 1998)
*Trust (May 20, 1998)
*Blurred (8/12 cm) (January 13, 1999)
*You (March 25, 1999)
*Goodbye (October 27, 1999)
*Crazy (December 26, 1999)
*Forever (July 12, 2000)
*Designer Fetus (September 27, 2000)
*Girl in Mono / Bed of Roses (August 27, 2008)


Digital download

* Haze (December 26, 2007)
* When You Say (January 2, 2008)
* Never Ending (January 9, 2008)


DVDs

*Overdose (concert) (March 27, 2000)
*Oblivion Dust The DVD (music videos) (September 19, 2001)


VHS

*Overdose (concert) (October 27, 1999)
*Oblivion Dust - The Video (music videos) (July 12, 2000)


Extras

*Hide Tribute Spirits ^{Tribute Spirits} (#12 "Genkai Haretsu") (May 1, 1999)
*Mission: Impossible II soundtrack (#18 "S.O.S") (May 31, 2000)
*Oblivion Dust single collections (11 singles CDs + 1 live CD) (December 27, 2001)


Limited items

*Video Therapy (VHS for whose attended at Hibiya in April 3, 1999)
*Dear embryo (CD for their fanclub in September 1999)
*Free Sample Edit (CD for whose bought the single "Forever" in its first edition in July 12, 2000)
*Forever -English version- (CD for whose attended at Tokyo Bay NK Hall in December 23, 2000)
*Oblivion Dust Last Two Nights "Thank You & Goodbye" (VHS sold out to whose requested it in late 2001)*Notables collaborations in OD are as DJ in the song "You" and 'AD' from the American band 'FAT' as vocal backs up in the song "No regrets".
*The song "Lullabye" was featured in a 2007 Thai movie .