- Metallica, Guns N' Roses, X Japan, Dir en grey, Elvis Presley, Michael Hedges, Sly and the Family Stone, Marcus Miller, Louis Johnson, Ani DiFranco, B.B. King, Tommy Emmanuel, Kabuki, Hideto Matsumoto, Visual Kei, Luna Sea, GACKT, Korn
Joining the already established Visual Kei band Dué le Quartz in the summer of 1999 as a guitarist and backing vocalist under the stage name Miyabi, the band achieved indie success within the visual kei scene, releasing four albums, six singles, and nine videos until the band's disbandment in 2002. After the disbandment, he changed his name to Miyavi and remained signed with Dué le Quartz's record label PS Company as a solo artist, releasing his first album Gagaku in 2002 and the singles "Shindemo Boogie-Woogie", "Pop is dead" and "Jingle Bell." His first major album, Miyavizm, was released in 2005, peaking in the top ten of the Oricon charts, and he embarked on his first world tour in 2007. Toward the end of 2006, Miyavi moved to Los Angeles, California for six months to study English and dance, where he would often give free street performances at the Venice Beach boardwalk and Santa Monica Pier.
In 2004, he starred in a fictional quasi-autobiographical film called Oresama, where he travels back in time to Osaka in 1984 and starts a band. Yes, that is the plot of the movie. Ten years later, he was personally selected by Angelina Jolie to play the role of Mutsuhiro Watanabe in the 2014 film Unbroken.
In March 2009, Miyavi married former J-Pop artist Melody Ishikawa (stylized as melody.) in a private ceremony, shortly before his departure from PS Company. Their first child, Lovelie “Aily” Miyavi Ishihara, was born in July of that year. and their second child, Jewelie Aoi Ishihara, was born in October 2010. Their third child, Skyler Kakeru Ishihara, was born on February 24, 2021. After moving to America in 2014, he resided between Tokyo and Los Angeles with his wife and two children; following the birth of his son Skyler the family relocated to Tokyo permanently.
Album Discography:
- Gagaku (2002)
- Galyuu (2003)
- Miyavizm (2005)
- MYV Pops (2006)
- Miyaviuta - Dokusou (2006)
- This iz the Japanese Kabuki Rock (2008)
- What's My Name? (2010)
- Live in London (2011)
- Samurai Sessions (2012)
- The Others (2015)
- Miyavi (2013)
- Fire Bird (2016)
Filmography:
- Ryomano Tsumato Sono Ottoto Aijin (2002): cameo
- Oresama (2004): As Himself
- Unbroken (2014) (billed as Takamasa Ishihara): Watanabe
- Kong: Skull Island (2017): Gunpei Ikari
- Stray (2017): Jin
- Bleach (2018): Byakuya Kuchiki
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019): Udo
- Arcane (2021): Finn
Miyavi provides examples of:
- Album Filler: The instrumentals on Galyuu.
- Anti-Love Song: "Selfish Love", "I Love you I love you I love you and I hate you", "Girls, be ambitious." to name a few.
- As Himself: A time-traveling, Adam Westing example in Oresama.
- Audience Participation Song: "What's My Name" and "Are You Ready to Rock?"
- Badass Boast: From "SURVIVE":"I'll bite you so you can't look away
Who the fuck is saying I already lost my fangs?"
- Break-Up Song: "Kekkonshiki no Uta", "Girls, be ambitious".
- Cover Version: "Blew" by Nirvana.
- Epic Instrumental Opener: "Jikoai, Jigajisan, Jiishiki, Kajou" from the album Miyaviuta - Dokusou.
- Evolving Music: Miyavi's Due Le Quartz covers and the Samurai Sessions EP.
- Genre Shift: He's experimented with almost every imaginable genre, and some that might not even exist to anyone other than Miyavi himself.
- Graceful Loser: "Kekkonshiki no Uta" is written from the point of view of one.
- Greatest Hits Album: Three of them.
- Grief Song: A popular theory surrounding the song "Itoshii Hito (Beta de Suman)" is that it was written for his unborn child that had either miscarried, was stillborn, or aborted.
- Hell Is That Noise: In his early days, he was prone to randomly shrieking in a shrill, hoarse voice at the top of his lungs at anyone, anything, or nothing in particular. For absolutely no reason whatsoever.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: GACKT, and Kai from The GazettE.
- I Am the Band:
- Miyavi did this for his early albums, programming the drums and bass, while playing the guitar and singing.
- His live band that accompanies him on tours is called Ishihara Gundan, meaning "The Ishihara Army."
- I Have Many Names: 雅, MYV, MYV 382 TOKYO, DJ MYV, 382, The Samurai Guitarist, DJ 382, Miyabi.
- Intercourse with You: "Secret" has the lyrics is "Down on your knees, eat my heat, c'mon and set me free."
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: "Kekkonshiki no Uta ~ Kisetsu Hazure no WEDDING" is about congratulating the woman he loves on the day of her wedding to another man.
- Japanese Ranguage: Slips into this at times. His English is relatively commendable, owing the development to the fact that his wife is American and his career has hit off overseas, but he's still not a fluent speaker.
- One-Man Band: Miyavi has done several live shows where he plays guitar, sings, and plays drums on this thing called a GigPig.
- Our Vampires Are Different: The music video for "Señor, Señora, Señorita". He's a salsa-dancing vampire in a matador outfit.
- Power Ballad: "Itoshii Hito (Beta de Suman) -2006 ver.-"
- Rearrange the Song: Miyavi has done this with his own music a couple of times. Specific examples include "Are You Ready to Rock?" and "Are You Ready to Love
- Self-Titled Album:
- Miyavi, released in 2013.
- Nearly-eponymous albums include MYV☆POPS',' Miyaviuta -dokusou-, and Miyavizm. Gagaku and Galyuu'' are written with the same kanji as his name.
- Signature Style: Slap-guitar.
- Something Blues: "Aa, Kanashiki Kana Yatoware no Mi no Blues", "Chillin' Chillin' Money Blue$", "21st Century Tokyo Blues", and "Ame ni Utaeba ~Pichipichi Chappuchappu Ran Ran Blues~"
- Special Guest: While his latest Samurai Sessions tracks are all about this, he has featured quite a few special guests along the way of his career before that. Among others, Pata as his 2nd guitar on Galyuu, and a single collaboration with Sugizo, and another collaboration with Tomoyasu Hotei.
- Stage Names: Briefly used Miyabi during his time with Due Le Quartz, then he began using Miyavi afterward. He's also used DJ 382, MYV, and MYV 382 TOKYO at different points. His real name is Takamasa Ishihara.
- Stripperiffic: Invoked in the "Shindemo Boogie Woogie" PV, which seems to take place in a strip club.
- Supergroup: Joined S.K.I.N in 2007, alongside GACKT, Yoshiki, and Sugizo. They played a rather disastrous debut concert at Anime Expo in Long Beach, California on June 29th, 2007, and never reunited.note
- Take That!: "Freedom Fighters" is this toward the Bush Administration.
- Tears of Blood: During the music video for "Señor, Señora, Señorita."
- The Reveal: In a MySpace post made in April 2009, after his departure from PS Company and the foundation of his record label J-Glam, Inc., he formally announced the record label with a letter prefaced "Ishihara Takamasa, CEO of J-Glam Inc." This is how he revealed his legal birth name to the world.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!: "Kusare Gedou He", which translates to "Son of a Bitch". Half the song is Miyavi yelling "Brainy SON OF A BITCH!"
- Xtreme Kool Letterz:
- "2 B Wiz U", "Thanx Givin' Day", and "Kabuki Boiz" to name a few.
- Miyabi is a Japanese word meaning "refinement" or "elegance." Because Japanese has no "v" sound, his name qualifies as this trope.
- Visual Kei: Started out as this, and has experimented with the style almost as much as he has with his music. He calmed down once his children were born, dropping the style completely by 2013.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The aptly titled "Freedom Fighters" lampshades, of all things, the September 11th attacks."Take the wheel, boy, and charge (not into buildings) into this era."
