Kiyoharu Mori (森 清治), better known by his stage name Kiyoharu (清春), is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter, known as frontman of the rock bands Kuroyume and Sads. In 2003, he began a solo career, performing as both singer and guitarist.

Career

Kuroyume and Sads

Kiyoharu's musical career began in 1986 as a member of the independent band Double Bed, which folded after a few months of activity. He then formed Sus4 in 1987, before later joining Garnet. After the disbandment of Garnet in 1991, Kiyoharu, as well as former Garnet bassist, Hitoki, formed Kuroyume. Kuroyume began in the beginning days of the visual kei movement. They progressed from a typical dark image and sound, to a heavy sound influenced by punk rock. The band ended up a duo with Kiyoharu and Hitoki the only official members. Due to the severely strained relationship between the two, Kuroyume ended all activities in January 1999. Kiyoharu wasted no time and formed the band Sads in 1999. To support their 2000 album Babylon, the band held a national tour called Welcome to My Babylon. However, Kiyoharu made mistakes in the budgeting for its elaborate stage production, and ended up incurring a debt of 50 million yen. The band eventually formed their own record label, Fullface Records, in 2001. The label would sign its first act outside of Sads, Merry, for their first album Gendai Stoic. Sads' drummer, Eiji Mitsuzono announced his departure from the band in 2003, leaving the band on indefinite hiatus.

Solo career

After the pause in Sads' activities in 2003, Kiyoharu began releasing solo work. His debut album, Poetry, was released in 2004, showcasing not only his vocal skills, but his talent as a guitarist as well. He has collaborated with many artists, including Hyde (L'Arc-en-Ciel), Takanori Nishikawa, Kirito (Pierrot), Atsushi Sakurai (Buck-Tick), Gara (Merry), Sugizo (Luna Sea) etc. In 2006, Kiyoharu released two singles, as well as a new album, Vinnybeach -Kakuu no Kaigan-, followed by two long, promotional tours. The following single, "Slow", was featured as the opening song for the anime series The Wallflower. He released another studio album, Forever Love, in 2007. It is dedicated to his father, who died. Kiyoharu released "Aibu" in early 2008, and in May the next single, "Samidare", was released. In 2008, he released a set of twin albums entitled Rhythmless & Perspective lightsaw the light & shade and Rhythmless & Perspective shadesaw the light & shade. Each album contained 7 tracks of self-covers from his solo work and his work with Sads. The following year, he released the album Medley, a collection of Kuroyume covers. On July 11, 2012, he released Under the Sun. In September 2016, four trademark rights related to Kuroyume were auctioned off by the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau due to Kiyoharu's Full Face Records' debt and failure to pay taxes. All four were sold to the same unknown winner; one sold for 681,000 yen, and the other three were sold for 200,000 yen. Kiyoharu's manager said the singer wanted to buy the rights back from the unknown winner. Kiyoharu covered "Sadistic Emotion" by D'erlanger for 2017's D'erlanger Tribute Album Stairway to Heaven. In 2017, he participated in Sugizo's solo studio album, Oneness M, on the track "Voice". Kiyoharu released his tenth studio album, Japanese Menu/Distortion 10, on March 25, 2020.

Discography