It has been announced that guitarist Chitose will be leaving visual kei band Chanty next year.
In a message on their official website, Chitose stated that he is leaving because he has the opportunity to pursue a path he is interested in outside of the music industry, and he feels like this may be his last chance to give it a shot. He thanked the fans for all of their support during his time with Chanty and promised to give his best until the end. His final performance with the band will be their one-man at Takadanobaba CLUB PHASE on April 10th.
In a blog post, Chitose elaborated a bit on the reason for his departure, stating that his mother's cancer relapse was what spurred him to action. Because of his mother's condition, he feels that he can no longer balance his responsibilities as the eldest son in his family with being a member of Chanty. While his mother is still mobile, he has decided to learn to cook from her and begin working as a lunch vendor.
He mentioned that he originally planned to leave playing guitar behind, but because his parents, friends and musicians he respects encouraged him to keep going, he is hoping to balance playing guitar in some form with his work after he leaves the band in April. He stated that he hopes he can make people smile with both his guitar and cooking in the future.
The members apologized profusely to all of the fans that were looking forward to seeing more of Chanty with its current line-up. However, the band also announced some good news. Chanty will release a new live DVD titled 5th anniversary oneman ~Chanty no sekai e youkoso~ on January 30th. The release will contain a total of 25 tracks from their September 16th show at TSUTAYA O-WEST.
Chanty also just released a new mini-album titled Kaisou suru Symposium in October. A trailer for the release can be viewed below.
