Tetsuya Ogawa

Tetsuya Ogawa

As a L’Arc~en~Ciel member, tetsu never reveals his name. But fans worldwide somehow found out that his real name is Tetsuya Ogawa. He never denies or agrees with this actually. He was born on October 3, 1969, probably in Osaka since he spent his childhood there. He started playing guitar and bass around middle school with a neighbor of his. Later, in high school, he joined a band, called Byston Well. As the members graduated though, the band disbanded. After high school he didn’t go to college. He worked while kept playing bass. After joining another band, which disbanded again after some time, he decided to make a band himself. He started collecting members in Osaka. The first formation of the band was himself (bass), hyde (vocal), hiro (guitar), and pero (drums) and was named L’Arc~en~Ciel, it means rainbow in French. The band first performed in May 1991. They quickly received a great response, always had at least 100 people in the live house where they were performing and got more and more popular over time. Just about when they were to record their first indie album in 1992, hiro and pero quit. As the leader, tetsu looked for new members.

Luckily, Ken, a childhood friend of his agreed to join the band as the guitarist. He also managed to persuade Sakura, to be the drummer. Sakura used to be a support drummer for various bands. With this formation, L’Arc~en~Ciel released their first album, DUNE in 1993. In 1994 L’Arc~en~Ciel went major with Ki/oon Sony Records, their company until now. Their first single was “Blurry Eyes.” L’Arc~en~Ciel gained its success steadily. They started releasing singles and albums, and each one had a higher spot on the charts.

L'Arc~en~Ciel - ken, hyde, sakura, tetsu (www.larcology.proboards38.com)

In February 1997 a terrible tragedy happened. Sakura was arrested for heroin possession and by the end of the month all activity of the band was stopped. All plans, including the upcoming single, "The Fourth Avenue Café," were cancelled. L'Arc~en~Ciel items were pulled from the shelves. Their songs were cut from the airwaves and no longer used as theme songs. The media attention surrounding the band was terrible. Now that they had reached their peak, they had been shoved out of existence. It was as if L'Arc~en~Ciel had died. In April, through his own decision, Sakura left the band. He was no longer able to face them after what he had done. They had grown so close through the years, and having killed all that was the ultimate price. In a letter of apology he told his bandmates he would leave. Tetsu was not going to let his dreams be torn apart though. Tetsu was in luck once again, and approached Yukihiro, ex-drummer of a couple of bands, to be their support drummer for awhile. The now trio plus Yukihiro went abroad and recorded a new song there. It was released as a single in October that year. It was titled “Niji” which means rainbow too in Japanese. It was their comeback single. Yukihiro was not credited as a member yet. Later that year, in December, they held a concert in Tokyo Dome. All of the 56,000 tickets were sold out in no time. This proved that L’Arc~en~Ciel had not died even though Sakura was gone. The concert was a huge success.

Cover of Suite November album

The hiatus was to let each member pursue their own solo projects. Yukihiro and Ken made their own bands, respectively called acid android and S.O.A.P. Hyde went solo as HYDE and tetsu as TETSU69. TETSU69 released some singles and in November 2002 his first album, “Suite November.” Although everyone was busy with his own projects, L’Arc~en~Ciel was not abandoned.

In June-July 2003, they held Shibuya Seven Days, a seven day concert. It was clear that L’Arc~en~Ciel was coming back. Any fans’ worries vanished. They released an album in 2004, SMILE and the newest is AWAKE, released in 2005. L’Arc~en~Ciel’s popularity is not limited to Japan only. In July 2004 they performed in the United States for the first time, in an anime event, OTAKON, since one of their songs, Ready Steady Go was used as the theme song of a very popular anime. They also held concerts in Korea and China for the first time. It was entitled ASIALIVE 2005, held in September 2005 in Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo. The concerts were very successful. L’Arc~en~Ciel so far has made ten albums in the course of fifteen years. Their latest release was “Link” a single released on July 20, 2005. They are now in another break to focus on the solo projects. Tetsu even formed another band called Creature Creature. However, this is not the end of L’Arc~en~Ciel.

Current L'Arc~en~Ciel (yukihiro, tetsu, hyde, ken) (larcology.proboards38.com)

The one I admire most from the group is tetsu. He formed the band over than 15 years ago and had maintained the band together ever since. Fifteen years is not a short period of time. A lot of things happened during that period, the band endured so much. The most difficult must be about Sakura. When Sakura was arrested, the band had a really tough time. They were completely shut out from the public. Their songs were cut from the airwaves and no longer used as theme songs. The media attention surrounding the band was terrible. And of course the blame was greatest on the leader tetsu. However, tetsu managed to overcome all of those and brought L’Arc~en~Ciel to an even bigger popularity after that. He kept the band together. His work is extremely marvelous. He always strikes for perfection and that is what made L’Arc~en~Ciel the way they are now. Of course the other members also play a big part in making the band this renowned, but tetsu was the one who brings them together. His very first decision in deciding the band members and when to go major label was very precise. He made L’Arc~en~Ciel and has nurtured it for over 15 years. L’Arc~en~Ciel now is not only known in Japan. It is probably the most known Japanese band in outside Japan.

The works of TETSU69, his solo project, was less popular than the ones with L’Arc~en~Ciel but with no less quality. They still hit the charts quite nicely. Tetsu also published a book in March 2004, called Tetsugaku (A Study of tetsu). The book reveals a lot about him. After reading the book, I admire the person even more because I found that he really worked hard in everything he does and he has very firm principles. He did obtain everything with L’Arc~en~Ciel with some luck, but he worked really hard from the very beginning to make the band successful.

From going to one live house to another in early 1990s, to being a nation-wide popular band, L’Arc~en~Ciel went through a lot. And they gained all that because they really are a good band and produce excellent music. I love the band very much; it has a much bigger effect in my life than anything ever before. I think it is one of the best bands I have ever known and thus I admire the leader very much, who has brought them through everything and achieved such a huge success. tetsu is a very great and exceptional man.