Pata (musician)

66
Pata (musician) bigraphy, stories - Japanese musician

Pata (musician) : biography

November 4, 1965 –

, known exclusively by his stage name Pata (taken from the manga Patalliro!, as he was said to resemble the title character), is a Japanese musician. He is best known as rhythm guitarist for the popular heavy metal group X Japan. He joined the band in 1987, stayed with them until their dissolution in 1997 and rejoined when the band started a comeback in 2007.

A year after their breakup, he formed the short-lived duo P.A.F. with singer NoB and created the band Dope HEADz with X Japan bassist Heath and former Spread Beaver percussionist/programmer I.N.A. in 2000. Right after they ceased activity, Pata formed the instrumental band Ra:IN in 2002, which still tours extensively to this day.

Discography

Solo
  • Pata (November 4, 1993), Oricon Peak Position: #11 oricon.co.jp Retrieved 2011-01-01
  • Pata’s Bootleg (1994, VHS)
  • "Fly Away" (September 21, 1994) #35 oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  • "Shine on Me" (January 21, 1995) #94
  • Raised on Rock (July 5, 1995) #33
  • Improvisation Guitar Style (August 20, 2007, DVD)
With P.A.F.
  • "Love & Fake" (February 21, 1998)
  • Patent Applied For (March 25, 1998)
  • "Slapstick Life" (October 21, 1998)
  • "The Big Time" (January 21, 1999)
  • Pat.#0002 (February 24, 1999)
  • Live (July 23, 1999)
With Dope HEADz
  • "Glow" (February 21, 2001) #35 oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  • "True Lies" (April 25, 2001) #35
  • Primitive Impulse (June 6, 2001) #20 oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  • Planet of the Dope (July 24, 2002) #59
With Rain

Ra:IN discography

With X Japan
Other work
  • Overdoing (Tokyo Yankees, October 20, 1992, guest guitar on "Drugstore Cowboy")
  • Ja, Zoo (hide with Spread Beaver, November 21, 1998, guitar on "Fish Scratch Fever" and "Hurry Go Round")
  • R.U.O.K.?!, (Nanase Aikawa, November, 19, 2005, guitar on "Foolish 555", "Rock Star’s Steady" and "Everybody Goes")
  • "In Motion" (hide, July 10, 2002, guitar)

Career

1980–97: Early bands and X Japan

Little is known about Pata’s early years as he tends to keep his past and personal life to himself. He taught himself to play guitar on a Stratocaster. He formed his first band in 1980, and two years later created the band Black Rose, later known as Judy, but chose to disband it in 1985 or 1986. Prior to disbanding, Yoshiki filled in on drums at several performances. Pata actually asked Yoshiki to join Judy, as at the time X was going through member changes, but he declined. Pata first played with X Japan (then named X) in 1987 as a session musician, on the songs "Stab Me in the Back" and "No Connexion" for the sampler Skull Thrash Zone Volume I. After supporting them at a couple live shows, he officially joined the band later that year. They released their first album Vanishing Vision in 1988 and toured extensively in support of the record. They would become one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, and later widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei.

X ‘s major label debut album, Blue Blood, was released in April 1989 and debuted at number six on the Oricon chart. Its success earned the band the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1990. Their third album Jealousy was released in 1991 and debuted at number one, selling over 600,000 copies. It was later certified million by the RIAJ. Shortly after the release of 1993’s Art of Life, which also topped the Oricon, the members of X Japan took a break to start solo projects. Dahlia, which would become the band’s last album, was released on November 4, 1996 and once again, it reached the number one spot. In September 1997, it was announced that X Japan would disband, they performed their farewell show, aptly titled The Last Live, at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, 1997.