Person

TAIJI

Person

TAIJI

Type
Bassist
Also known as
Taiji, 沢田泰司
Born
July 12, 1966
Died
July 17, 2011
(aged 45)
Website
http://taiji-tsglaston.com

Taiji Sawada (Japanese: 沢田 泰司, Hepburn: Sawada Taiji; July 12, 1966 – July 17, 2011), also known mononymously as Taiji, was a Japanese musician and songwriter. He is best known as bassist of the rock band X from 1986 to 1992. The band rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, credited as founders of the Japanese visual kei movement. After leaving X in January 1992, Taiji went on to work with many other recording acts, including Loudness and D.T.R. In July 2011, Taiji was arrested in Saipan for a violent outburst that took place on the flight there. Facing federal charges in the United States-affiliated commonwealth, he attempted suicide by hanging in his jail cell, which left him brain dead. Taiji died in a hospital on July 11 after his family decided to turn off his life support. In 2018, readers and professional musicians voted him the best bassist in the history of hard rock and heavy metal in We Rock magazine's "Metal General Election".

Bands

Credited On

Biography

Translated from the ja.wikipedia article 沢田泰司 (CC BY-SA 4.0), revision 110384967.

Overview

He was a bassist, guitarist, arranger, and composer for X, LOUDNESS, D.T.R, Cloud Nine, THE KILLING RED ADDICTION, TAIJI with HEAVEN'S, and TSP.

Sister MAYO, who sings songs such as “Jumon Kourin: Magical Force”, is his younger sister.

In addition to bass, he also played guitar, and from his time in X onward he left behind many songs featuring acoustic guitar. Details of his activities are described below.

His stage names included “Ray” during his time with Dementia, “TAIJI” with X and Cloud Nine, “Sawada Taiji” from his joining of LOUDNESS onward, and “Sawada Taiji” (沢田大司, pronounced the same as his real name). In his later years, he generally used either “TAIJI”, from his time in X, or his real name, Sawada Taiji.

He married at the time of X’s major-label debut. He had one son and one daughter, but later divorced.

His fan club was called “Gasoline Cowboy”. Originally Sawada’s personal fan club, it later also began operating as the fan club of D.T.R. It was subsequently disbanded.

As his final activity, TAIJI with HEAVEN'S performed overseas in South Korea. HEAVENS remains active.

One of his hobbies and skills was cooking, at which he was of professional caliber.

History

TAIJI was born on July 12, 1966, in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. He was the second of three siblings, with an older brother and a younger sister; his sister was the singer Sister MAYO, as noted above. At the age of two, he put his hand into machinery at a factory operated by his parents, resulting in the amputation of his right middle finger above its first joint.

In 1974, while in the second grade of elementary school, he began playing acoustic guitar. Three months later, he made his stage debut at a class gathering, performing “Romance d’Amour,” the theme song from the film Forbidden Games.

From 1979, after entering junior high school, he became delinquent due to family circumstances: his parents divorced and his mother remarried.

In 1982, he entered Chiba Meitoku High School, began playing electric guitar, and became immersed in rock music. At the same time, he formed a band and devoted himself to covering artists including Iron Maiden, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Kiss, Motörhead, LOUDNESS, Kodomo Band, and others. He left school after only one year in order to become a professional musician. At this time, he formed a band called TRASH and played guitar. Hyaku of LADIES ROOM was also a member during the same period. The band advanced through contests with original songs written by Sawada, and he also received a Best Guitarist Award.

In 1984, after playing bass in his friend’s band DEMENTIA, he switched to bass guitar. During his time in DEMENTIA, he used the name Ray. After leaving DEMENTIA, he joined PROWLER, but clashed with its leader, Aoki Seibun, and left without performing a single concert. He was also disowned by his family and for a time supported himself by working as a live-in part-time employee at a love hotel in Shibuya.

In 1985, after playing in several bands, he officially joined X. At the time, Sawada did not intend to join because X’s musical style did not suit him. However, as YOSHIKI persistently invited him, he came to feel that “with this person, it might be possible to do something beyond music as well.” He later stated that he joined X on the condition that he would replace the guitarist he recommended, Yoshifumi “Hally” Yoshida, now of UNITED. Although he left the band once afterward, he rejoined in 1986. At the time, X required its members to bear considerable expenses even during its independent era, and part-time work was no longer enough to cover them; the members even sold their personal belongings to raise funds.

In 1989, X made its major-label debut. Sawada had been estranged from his parents since leaving high school, but after X’s major-label debut, he invited them to a concert and reconciled with them.

Following the major-label debut, his conflict with YOSHIKI intensified, and from around 1991 he ceased to be an official member and was instead contracted as a studio musician. Publicly, he remained an official member of X until December 31, 1991.

On January 31, 1992, his departure was announced on Music Station. His final performances were the three Tokyo Dome shows on January 5, 6, and 7. Although the official announcement described the matter as a “departure,” he had in fact been dismissed by YOSHIKI. X’s official statement attributed the matter to differences in musical style and fashion, but Sawada wrote in his autobiography that the friction may have arisen because he complained about income disparities within the band and had begun openly criticizing YOSHIKI’s drumming. YOSHIKI, meanwhile, cited in his autobiography Yoshiki that, although “TAIJI’s bass was necessary for X,” TAIJI had “very easily broken a promise” made to him. As a result, the already recorded Art of Life had to be rerecorded.

In April 1992, he joined LOUDNESS, with whom he had been friendly, on the recommendation of its former bassist Masayoshi Yamashita. He changed his stage name from TAIJI to his real name, Sawada Taiji.

In November 1993, he left LOUDNESS. That year, LOUDNESS was effectively disbanded because of contractual troubles. Although leader Munetaka Higuchi later called for LOUDNESS to resume activities, Sawada had given up on the band during its period of inactivity and had decided to produce a solo album, later D.T.R. Because of the timing, he declined to reunite and was forced to leave. Higuchi, who had called for the resumption, also left shortly afterward. Thereafter, LOUDNESS, having lost all of its original members except Akira Takasaki, operated in a form close to an “Akira Takasaki Project” until the original members reunited in 2000.

In July 1994, he formed Dirty Trash Road, a band of which he was the leader. He simultaneously released the self-titled album Dirty Trash Road and Dirty Trash Road ~Acoustic, an album featuring different arrangements.

In 1995, he changed his stage name from his real name to Sawada Daiji and adopted D.T.R., previously an abbreviation for the band’s name, as its official name. D.T.R released its second album, Daring Tribal Roar. At the invitation of Shuichi Aoki of NIGHT HAWKS, he also formed Kings with Sgt. Luke Takamura III, now Luke Takamura of CANTA, formerly of Seikima-II, and Tomofumi “JOE” Miyawaki of 44MAGNUM and ZIGGY, among others. The group released an album.

Around 1996, D.T.R effectively ceased activities. At roughly the same time, he divorced his wife for financial reasons. He subsequently lived as a drifter for about two years, sleeping in parks and warehouses. During this period, he was assaulted in fights, including an incident in which his front teeth were broken with a piece of lumber.

In May 1998, upon receiving news of HIDE’s death, he rushed to the funeral despite being unable to sustain his own livelihood. At that time, YOSHIKI saw the teeth that had been broken in a fight and later gave him approximately 2 million yen. After reuniting with old friends for the first time in a long while at HIDE’s funeral, he resumed musical activities with their support. Around this time, he again adopted his real name, Sawada Taiji, as his stage name. He subsequently formed Cloud Nine, but soon left, citing his wish to pursue acoustic music that could not be performed in Cloud Nine. He then formed Oto Kaze, in which he served as both guitarist and bassist. His younger sister MASAYO was also a vocalist in Oto Kaze.

In 2005, he was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, tearing ligaments in his leg. To raise money for surgery, he put his bass guitar up for sale in an online auction.

In 2006, MASAYO’s departure from Oto Kaze was announced on the band’s official website on January 8. From July 30 of that year, he resumed D.T.R’s activities. His first official website as an individual was opened, and he launched the silver accessory brand DTROCKERS.

On June 13, 2007, he appeared as a guest at “6.14 Memorial LIVE TOKYO,” a memorial gig for MARRY, formerly of COLOR, held at HOLIDAY SHINJUKU. He revealed on his blog that the appearance had come at the invitation of Shintani of RAPES.

In October 2007, following the departure of bassist MARU from Cloud Nine, he made a sudden, limited-term return to Cloud Nine. No detailed announcement specified the duration of this limited term. Updates concerning D.T.R subsequently ceased as well.

He served as music director for the film attitude, released in July 2008. On his blog, he also announced that he would provide music for Atsushi Onita.

In September 2008, his chronic epilepsy and cerebral infarction worsened, and his artificial hip joint, which had been implanted due to necrosis of the left femoral head, became dislocated, requiring emergency surgery. He had difficulty walking, and staff revealed on his blog that he had been hospitalized after falling and severely striking his chest and throat on December 2.

In July 2009, he formed The Killing Red Addiction (TKRA) with former COLOR vocalist Dynamite Tommy and others. The band held its debut performance at the Whisky a Go Go, a live music venue in Los Angeles regarded as a mecca for rock bands.

In November 2009, he announced the dissolution of D.T.R (Dirty Trash Road, hereafter the former D.T.R), whose activities had stagnated since 2007. Sawada gave the reason as “psychological damage caused by staff embezzling D.T.R’s earnings.” According to Sawada, all profits related to D.T.R had gone exclusively to staff, with not a single yen returned to the members. It was also stated that musical differences among the members had been a factor. At the same time, Sawada and Kuroda announced the formation of a band also named D.T.R (hereafter the new D.T.R). The new D.T.R was explained as an abbreviation of “Death to Rive.” Apart from Sawada and Kuroda, members of the former D.T.R did not participate. Applications were solicited for other members and staff.

In 2010, he established TS GLASTON COMPANY.

In January 2010, he launched his band TAIJI with HEAVEN’S in earnest. Under the name TAIJI with HEAVEN’S, he released its first mini-album.

In April 2010, he launched TS PROJECT (TSP), a joint project involving three bands, with Shu of Cloud Nine, DAI of TAIJI with HEAVENS, and HINA of CRAZY QUARTER MILE. In October, C.O.R.E’s Tadao “TAZZ” Maruki replaced DAI as vocalist. From its launch onward, TSP performed actively.

In July 2010, media reported that he would make an emergency appearance at “X JAPAN WORLD TOUR Live in YOKOHAMA Cho Kyoko Toppa Shichiten Hakki ~Sekai ni Mukatte~,” held at Yokohama International Stadium on August 14 and 15. As reported, Sawada performed “X” on both dates under the name TAIJI, as he had done at the time, appearing with his former X JAPAN bandmates for the first time in approximately 18 years since the three Tokyo Dome shows in 1992, “Hakai ni Mukatte.” In an interview after the concerts, YOSHIKI stated, “There may be occasions when we have TAIJI come again.”

In February 2011, TSP released its first recording, Rest In Peace, as a supplement to We Rock magazine.

In 2011, TAIJI with HEAVEN’S signed with the South Korean Frontman-group and began activities in South Korea. TOKIYA participated as a guest guitarist. RYUTARO later left, and the band adopted a twin-guitar format in pursuit of a broad range of songs and diverse arrangements. The group planned live performances after adding a fifth member, HAL, but these were canceled due to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

On July 17, 2011, five days after his 45th birthday, he died on Saipan. He was 45.

Amplifiers Used

During X's “Jealousy” period, the equipment used included Ampeg SVT and Ampeg SVT-II bass amplifiers, a Roland DEP-5 multi-effects unit, a ROCKTRON 300A compressor, a KORG DT-1 TUNER, an EX-Pro wireless system, and an Ampeg 810E SP cabinet.

At D.T.R's debut concert at Shibuya Kokaido (渋谷公会堂), the equipment used included an ASHLY power amplifier, a ROCKTRON RT1190 rack interface, a ROCKTRON PATCHMATE programmable switcher, two PEARCE BC-1 preamplifiers, a FURMAN PL-PLUS J stabilized power supply/lighting unit, three PEAVEY MARK VIII bass amplifiers, an EBS bass amplifier, PEAVY and EBS cabinets, a Roland JC-120 guitar amplifier, an audio-technica AT-MA50 stereo mixing amplifier, an ART Multiverb ALPHA SE multi-effects unit, a BOSS TU-12 tuner, a CRYBABY bass wah pedal, an IBaneZ VL-10 volume pedal, a BOSS FS-5L footswitch, and a moog bass synthesizer.

During X JAPAN WORLD TOUR Live in YOKOHAMA Chokyoko Toppa Shichiten Hakki: Sekai ni Mukatte, the equipment used included a GALLIEN-KRUEGER Fusion550 amplifier, a ROGER MAYER STONE X fuzz unit, a BOSS CE-3 compression sustainer, and an AMPEG cabinet.

Band History

  • TRASH
  • DEMENTIA
  • PROWLER
  • X (1985)
  • DEAD WIRE (later included Kyo and Tetsu of SAVER TIGER and D'ERLANGER among its members)
  • X (1986–1992)
  • LOUDNESS (1992–November 1993)
  • D.T.R (1994–1996)
  • KINGS (1995)
  • CLOUD NINE (2000–April 2001)
  • Otokaze (音風) (2003–2006)
  • D.T.R (2007)
  • TAIJI WITH HEAVEN'S (2006–)
  • THE KILLING RED ADDICTION (2009–)
  • TSP (2010–)
  • X JAPAN (2011–)

Sources

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