Laissez Faire

Laissez Faire was a visual kei indies band which was around for a few years. Their leader and main songwriter was guitarist Dye and because of this, most of their songs were guitar-driven. Instead of only using electric guitars, Dye often used an acoustic guitar, which gave the band its own sound and charm.

Laissez Faire started in December 1997. Their name was picked by Dye who had studied French at university and his few holidays in France probably inspired the band name. The vocalist Kin was added to the band, alongside guitarists Dye and Kaz and bassist Atsushi. Around the beginning of their career the band did not have a drummer.

They started to release nearly ten demo-tapes over their first two years. Most of the demo-tapes were distributed only at their live shows and in limited numbers. In 2000 the band's efforts finally paid off. At their very first one man on June 11th, Ayane (ex Crescent) was introduced to the fans as the new drummer of the band. Shortly after, the band appeared on several compilation albums, including Shock Edge 2000. Then on November 20, they finally released their first single, Lily.

Their second single, Replica, was released in the following year. The band also appeared on other compilation albums and everything seemed to be going quite well for Laissez Faire until Dye announced he was going to leave the band. This was quite a disaster for them, because Dye was the band leader and main composer.

However, the band started to tour again and then, as if Dye's departure wasn't enough yet, Atsushi left as well. He was replaced quickly by Kazutake but it couldn't prevent the band from ceasing activity completely soon thereafter. The band's four year career ended on October 20, 2001, at their final live at Takadanobaba AREA.

The end of Laissez Faire also meant the end of the music career for some of its members. However, Kin, Kazutake and Dye didn’t stay silent for long and became members of new bands. Kin is currently the vocalist of a name called Brancher. Both Kazutake and Dye went on to join various new bands in the following years, but are no longer active in the visual kei indies scene today.