NIRGILIS (ニルギリス) had its beginnings in 1993 at Kinki University when fellow… Read Full Bio ↴NIRGILIS (ニルギリス) had its beginnings in 1993 at Kinki University when fellow student Koki Ito responded to a flyer posted by Moyo Satake seeking anyone who wanted to form a band with him. Ito then came up with the band name, Nirgilis, which was taken from nirgilis black tea. At first the band line-up consisted of Satake, Ito and three girls. The three girls though quickly departed. New permanent band members were hard to find during this period. Nirgilis went through some 20 people before they would find a stable line-up years later.

Eventually Satake and Ito put the band on hiatus. After graduation the two continued to collaborate and exchange music even though Satake had taken residence in Tokyo during this period.

In the summer of 1998, Satake finally returned from Tokyo and the search for band members was on again. In the fall of 1998 Iwata Acchu joins as vocalist and keyboardist. Still without enough members to be considered a true band though, the search continued to fill the rest of the line-up. Then in the summer of 2000 Minoru Kurihara decides to join forces with Nirgilis as they were both conveniently looking for the same type of band members. In December 2001 Nirgilis recruits its final band member in the form of Inadera Yuki who was a friend of a friend of Ito's.

In October of 2002 Nirgilis debuted on the Oricon indie music charts after appearing in a compilations album. Then in December of 2002 Nirgilis released its first single, titled 'Soprano'. This single was followed by a 2nd single, 'Thunder' released in February of 2003. This single was their first to be released nation wide. In March of 2003 a third single was released. Odoremi w/ b-side secret. This EP contained a couple of house remixes by Yukihiro Fukudome.

April 2003 saw the release of Nirgilis' first full length album 'Tennis'. This album received much praise for the band from many indie mags and even a best of the year recognition from Bounce Magazine. June 2003 saw the released of another single 'Vuna'. Vuna had cross promotion with Tower Records and HMV and a limited edition was released along with a remix album for the album 'Tennis' titled 'Squash'. September 2003 saw the release of Mayonaka no Schneider as a single. This single gains power play on both Tokyo FM and FM Ishikawa. The single charts high on FM radio in Kyushu. In November 2003 Nirgilis performs at the Waseda Festival and Acchu also makes it on the cover of fashion magazine Kaji Kaji of Kansai.

January of 2004 saw the release of two singles, 'King' and 'Life'. Both singles ended being used as ending themes to a NHK TV drama from January-March of that year. King also gains heavy rotation on music video channel Space Shower TV. May 2004 saw the release of Nirgilis' second album 'New Standard'. It cracks the Oricon top 100. The album contains a couple of collaborations with the likes of such artist as Ken Isshi, Art-School and Orange Range. This album also receives much praise from many mags.

August 2004 saw the re-release of Odoremi as a 12" single. Nirgilis performs in Tokyo and Osaka. October 2004 Nirgilis performs on Space Shower TV and tours college campuses. In December of 2004 founding member Moyo Satake leaves Nirgilis due to musical differences of opinion. Nirgilis soldiers on as a 4-piece.

The band plays a couple of two in June of 2005. One in Osaka and another at Shinjuku loft. July 2005 saw Nirgilis finally sign to a major label. DefSTAR, a subsidiery of Sony Records.
In October of 2005 a limited edition single, 'Mairebo' is released with Tower Records. Nirgilis gains a more poppy sound around their indie/dance sound. Mairebo gains much club play.

March 2006 new single 'Sakura' is released and is used as the opening theme to the hit anime Eureka 7. June 2006 sees the release of the single '24 Searchlights' which is used as the ending them to Matthews Best Hit TV. And at the end of June Nirgilis third album, 'Boy' is finally released. November 2006 sees release of a new single 'Snow Kiss'. The single is ended up being used as the ending theme to the anime D.Gray-Man.