Today, you might recognize JUN as one of the guitarist for the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) band GOTCHAROCKA, but this group definitely isn’t his first step into the music industry.
In the past, JUN has been a part of different bands and projects, some more known and ‘successful’ than others. At one point he even pursued a solo career! And this is exactly what I want to bring to the table today, since these solo works seem to be lost in the musical void nowadays.
After the disbanding of the ヴィジュアル系 (Visual Kei) super-band Phantasmagoria – probably JUN’s most well-known project – in 2007, he started to pursue a career as a solo musician under the name ‘attic’.
attic was a relatively short-lived endeavor that only released two singles.
“Atomic Smile” was released in March of 2007, a largely instrumental single that really highlights JUN’s skills as a guitarist and composer through the instrumental tracks “Spacers pop”, “Depth or Length” (this one is a whopping 7 minutes and 43 seconds long by the way!) and “ANIMAL STAR” before showing off his capabilities as a singer-songwriter with the hidden fourth track “Funny Place”. This track shows us a glimpse of JUN’s rebellious and upbeat nature, even if it is worded a little oddly at times.
This is a theme we’ll definitely see more of in attic’s near future.
“It’s like I fell in love with a dream.”
“Mechanical Ugly Gang” followed suit in December of 2007, and unlike its predecessor, this single was released in two different formats. TYPE A, which contained the tracks “UGLY GANG”, “DRAMATIC” and “Everybody soul”, as well as a music video for “DRAMATIC”, while TYPE B contained the two previously mentioned tracks as well as bonus track “Flake”.
Where the first single was largely an instrumental work, the second one is pretty much the opposite, since only the first track is an instrumental piece with a lot of personality – a perfect preview for what “DRAMATIC”, probably the most familiar track of this era of JUN’s works, is going to bring us directly after. While “Atomic Smile” had more of a ‘I created this in my bedroom’-vibe (mostly due to the inclusion of “Funny Place”), “Mechanical Ugly Gang” doubles down on the rebellious personality and overall message of following one’s dreams. This theme comes forward in the music video, sure, but it also really shows in the lyrics for “Everybody soul” in particular.
(Unfortunately attic nor Jun had an official YouTube channel at the time, so it’s not possible to link an official version here either.
This is a reupload from a fan account.)
It’s probably also interesting to note that the production, arrangement, guitar, vocal, keyboard, bass and drum programming for both of these singles were all done by JUN himself with no help from other musicians. Although 伊織 (IORI) (the other guitarist of Phantasmagoria) and 圓光寺 公香 (Enkouji Kimika), who I unfortunately couldn’t find more information on, are also credited as guest chorus on the second single.
“The brightest star told me, my name is Kujira.”
Both singles were released through the UNDER CODE PRODUCTION label, owned by at that time former fellow-band mate in Phantasmagoria, KISAKI. A decision that changed with JUN’s second attempt – if you can even call it that – at a solo career. In August of 2008 the single “Look for ‘MR.NAME’” was released through Daiki Sound, bearing just the name ‘jun’ as an artist, not attic.
Much like the second single from the year before, “Look for ‘MR.NAME’” was released in two types: a blue type containing the song “name is “KUJIRA’” as well as an accompanying music video, while the orange type contained the song “Brave” as well as a music video for the same track. Both versions also share the second track “power source”.
Both songs are a complete contrast towards the songs on “Mechanical Ugly Gang”, which spoke from a rebellious point of view. Both A-sides from “Look for ‘MR.NAME’” speak about finding oneself in different ways, and “Power source” actually expresses confusion by the world around the narrator. If this is a direct expression of Jun himself is not for me to conclude, but it does seem like this release is expressing his feelings in a way only a musician can.
(Again, there is no official channel for JUN’s works, so this is a fan upload as well.)
Unfortunately this release concludes JUN’s journey as a solo artist. Since after a brief silence JUN teamed up with伊織 (IORI) to form spiv states, which followed much of the signature composition style JUN showed us with his solo works.
As much as I want to dive into the story of spiv states right now, it’s not the time to do so. Yet…
JUN is currently the guitarist of GOTCHAROCKA, a band formed in 2012 together with vocalist JUI (ex.VIDOLL) and guitarist Toya (ex.Charlotte). So while his solo career seems to be over for the time being, his passion for music is as bright as ever.
A question for you, the reader…
The story of attic and jun is an experiment. And I really need your help. Did you enjoy this type of article? Would you like to see more in the future? And if so, what artist would you like me to cover next?