KEIJI HAINO PROFILE

　1952 Born in Chiba prefecture, Japan. Shocked into taking up music by the song “When the music’s over” from The Doors 2nd album.
　1970 Debuts on the music scene as the vocalist with avant-garde trio Lost Aaraaff. Also performs solo under the name God’s Orchestra White One man Theatre. After the break up of Lost Aaraaf in 1974, listens extensively to country blues and jazz, and begins to develop his own theories of rhythm and space. Also takes up the guitar seriously around this time.
　1978 Forms Fushitsusha, his first leader group. The group is characterized as “a hard rock band that utilizes jazz methodology”, and although undergoing many member changes still exists today.
　1981 Releases “Watashi dake?” on Pinakotheca Records, his first solo vocal and guitar album. Travels to the USA for the first time.
　1987 After a lengthy break from playing, he begins playing solo and with Fushitsusha again. Also begins solo percussion performances the following year. These solo percussion performances, which have even been described as a form of dance, exhibit most directly the fruits of Haino’s long investigations into rhythm, space and breathing.
　1990 Plays for several years with the electronics / ethnic instruments unit Nijiumu.
　1992 Plays at the Moers Jazz Festival in Germany. Also performs solo at various cities in Germany and Holland. This results in a sudden expansion in Haino’s activities, and he currently plays several times a year in the USA and Europe to much acclaim.
　1995 Forms Vajra with Kan Mikami and Toshiaki Ishizuka. Also participates in a benefit concert for victims of the Kobe earthquake organized by Barre Phillips.
　1998 Forms a new band, Aihiyo, in order to play Japanese pops, sixties beat and children’s songs “the way they should be played”. The group currently consists of just haino solo, and the repertory has expanded to include Western music as well.
　2001 Forms another new band, Knead, with Ruins (Tatsuya Yoshida and Hisashi Sasaki).
　2002 Forms another new band, Head Rush, with Pill and Reck.
　2004 Forms another new band, Kikuri, with Masami Akita (Merzbow).
　2005 Forms another new band, Sanhedrin, with Tatsuya Yoshida and Mitsuru Nasuno.

　Haino currently performs as a vocalist, guitarist, percussionist, on hurdy-gurdy, tone generators, and a myriad of ethnic and ancient instruments. He performs in a vast array of contexts and forms solo, with Fushitsusha (currently duo with a bassist Yasushi Ozawa) and Aihiyo, and in collaboration with musicians both Japanese and foreign (previous collaborators are too many to mention, but have included Motoharu Yoshizawa, Kazutoki Umezu, Yoshisaburo Toyozumi, Shuichi Chino, Ayuo Takahashi, Michiyo Yagi, Yukuhiro Isso, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, Peter Brötzmann, Thurston Moore, Barre phillips, Faust, Tony Conrad, Mayo Thompson, AMM, Z’EV, Derek Bailey, Christian Marclay, Fred Frith, Lauren Mazzacane Coners, etc.). He has released well in excess of 100 record and CDs.