The GazettE & Collaborations & Solo Projects?
This is a somewhat random topic that I've nevertheless been thinking about a lot this year, mainly because in one post-Dome interview Ruki mentioned that it'd be nice to do some collaborations with other bands in the future. And they did do some, or at least Ruki and Aoi did, with the session bands for the PSC 7 Days event.
But before that, there really haven't been any (musical) collaborations with anyone, apart from PSC family happenings, in years.
In fact, the GazettE is pretty much a band that seems oddly solitary in the arguably underground genre of visual kei. Aoi even confirmed in an interview (can't remember which >.<) the impression of many fans, that in multi-band events they tend to stick together, huddling in a corner when everyone else socializes. This seems to have changed a little this year, though. Aoi certainly seems to have started going out with various other musicians, as we got to know when he was still on Twitter. And Ruki seems (at least superficially) well-connected, too.
But the GazettE as a band hasn't collaborated with any other band in a long while, not since they got popular enough to do one-man tours. Their very first tour at PSC back in 2003 was with another band, Hanamuke. Many sources say that the two bands even collaborated on two songs, but I have no idea if these songs were ever recorded or performed somewhere. If it's true though, they must have got along real swell. (They do look pretty happy together in that picture below.) Hanamuke actually disbanded soon after their two-man tour, just when they were getting more popular, and two members went on to found KuRt, which is a respected band.
Actually, Hanamuke was a pretty good band, too, in my opinion. I checked them out at YouTube and found some cool stuff. The vocalist, TenTen was his name back then, seems to have been a pretty big personality; I imagine he and Ruki really hit it off. At one time TenTen actually seems to have sported black neck stripes similar to the ones Ruki has later made his trademark. Not sure which one had them first, though. Maybe they were popular with all vkei musicians insecure about their neck line? XD Anyway, if you're interested in what Hanamuke sounded like, check out at least the lovely Senkou Hanabi ('Sparkler') and the more fast-paced Kokoro no mahou ('Magic of the Heart', more or less). The guitarwork in them is pretty damn pro.
Hanamuke & Gazetto. (Ruki looks lovely :D)
Gazetto had also another collaborative tour that year, this time with Vidoll, who were signed at Undercode (and before that at Matina, of course, like Gazetto). The bands were later featured on the cover of the November issue of Cure magazine together. Well, actually it was just the vocalists, as you can see below. I'm not sure if the bands even had an actual photoshoot together. In any event, Vidoll went on to be a pretty popular and influential band in the v-kei scene, as I'm sure you knew (although unfortunately they disbanded last January). I don't know who came up with the idea that these two bands should have a tour together - perhaps they were acquainted with each other since their Matina days?
(I actually got curious as to how Vidoll sounded back in 2003 and went to search for footage and I have to say: I think I'm in love. Jui sang (and sings) well, and the bass was very prominent and had a wonderful warm tone, which I always appreciate. And this song that I happened to click on at YT, Tsuki no Jukai no Calendar, is truly a lovely song overall. I'm going to gonna have to look into this band more, for sure. I have of course seen some of their more recent PVs before but have never been too impressed. Maybe their old school stuff is more to my liking.)
Cure, November 2003 (from Shattered Tranquility)
In December 2003 Gazetto had a show with Deadman, a band that was influential in making nagoya-kei, vkei's goth little brother, popular. Which is a bit odd, since only the vocalist looked like what people might call a goth. The other members dressed in normal street clothes so they're not even visual kei. Well, anyway, Deadman had this artsy, dark image and music, which makes me wonder if they and Gazetto had much overlap in their fanbases at all. I suppose it would have been better if they didn't, since then there'd have been more people at the live, though.
Deadman and Gazetto both performed at the Beauti-fool's Fest event at the end of 2003 too, organized by the magazine Fool's Mate, of course. Basically all vkei bands that FM considered possible big names of the future were on that show. Kra, Miyavi, Mucc, D'espairsRay, Merry... and some bands I've never heard of. The Gazemen were in good company.
The vocalists of the bands performing.
In the autumn of 2004 there was one more, final co-headlining tour, this time with PSC bands Kra and BIS. Kra is naturally a band that all Gazette fans know, so there's no need for introductions. But did you know that in October 2004 they released an EP called Fiction (under their alter ego band name, 36481?) on which they cover other PSC bands? From Gazetto they had Linda, which they also performed live in 2004 (footage is of course available on YT) and also at the Peace & Smile Carnival in 2009. (Other songs on the EP were from Miyavi, Kaggra and... Kra, confusingly enough.)
About BIS, though. That band had only been put together a few months earlier, but the members weren't exactly newbies, since they'd been in vkei circles for a while. Also, that year their first mini-album released after the tour was kind of an indies hit. Despite this early success, in subsequent years their popularity waned and waned, and they didn't release much, and then in 2008 they disbanded. It might have had something to do with them rather abruptly switching from visual kei to a more low-key look.
And that's it. No more collaborations for the GazettE after 2004. (The Summer Sonic doesn't really count.) In March 2012 they'll have been together for ten years - a watershed age for bands. Many groups either split up or take a break and start having solo projects around this time. But will the GazettE be affected by this phenomenon? I do think that they'll definitely be wanting to do something new and different now that they've already played at Dome and every other big venue in Japan. Breaking up is a ridiculous thought, of course - this is a band that genuinely still loves playing together and whose members like hanging out with each other in their free time, as well. It's a band of brothers!
What about solo projects, though? Ruki and Aoi I can see doing something on the side, mostly since they've done some non-GazettE things already on a small scale. Aoi, who has a very distinct composing style, might want to do a solo album. Ruki, on the other hand, probably wouldn't go for an album (why bother when he's already mostly in charge of the GazettE's musical direction?), but he might like doing a duet with some other artist, perhaps a woman. He has already incorporated female vocals into so many Gaze songs - why not go a step further?
As to Kai, Uruha and Reita, I can't really see it... I know Reita and Uruha used to be the main composers in their early bands when they hadn't still met Ruki, but I wonder if they would like to make music of their own now, so many years later. Uruha, of course, has done a handful of songs for the GazettE, whereas Reita only a few and not in recent years. Well, apparently Reita does write music nowadays too, but his songs just never to make it past the critical eyes of the other members. I actually have this head!canon that he keeps making these hardcore punk "songs" and presents them with great enthusiasm at team meetings, and then everyone else is just "errr..." about them. XD
So, maybe Reita would very much like a solo project for his stuff! But it would probably have to be a collaborative effort with Uruha. They've always been in a band together, since they were kids, and from their interviews I've gathered that it was mostly because of Uruha that Reita kept playing the bass in those early years. In fact, without Uruha he'd a lazy sod sitting home watching telly and talking to his bird.
And maybe Kai could join them in this (imaginary) project, too. I can't really picture him wanting to play with anyone else but the GazettE. He really just strikes me as a person who gets very attached to people and doesn't like change. And Reita probably couldn't handle playing with another drummer, anyway, judging by the interview snippets from the recently released Bass and Drums book (as translated by hakitarun on her Twitter account). Basically he too is a guy who dislikes change.
So, in conclusion, we have Aoi doing an album full of (old man) soft rock, Ruki singing with Koda Kumi (oh, come on, wouldn't that be awesome?), and Reita & Uruha & Kai making an eclectic, possibly instrumental, punk-heavy-jazz album. I'm kinda digging this scenario.