Nirgilis

History

Nirgilis began in 1993 when Kinki University students Moyo Satake and Kōki Itō started the group. Three more members—Acchu Iwata, Minoru Kurihara, and Yuki Inadera—joined in 1995. The band put out its debut single, "Soprano," on December 10, 2002. The following year saw two more singles: "Thunder" and the double A-side "Odoremi"/"Secret." Their first album, Tennis, arrived on April 30, 2003, and the year closed with the single "Schneider at Midnight" on September 18. The silhouette of a young girl that became the group's lasting emblem first appeared on the Tennis cover; it was based on a photo of model Dani Odom, born Kayla Kessel.

In 2004, the triple A-side "King"/"Ice Skating for Life"/"Lemon" kicked things off, followed by the album Newstandard on May 26. That album featured production from experimental musician Hoppy Kamiyama and techno artist Ken Ishii. On July 23, 12-inch remixes of "Odoremi" by Herbest Moon came out. Satake left the band that December. Nirgilis signed with DefStar Records in June 2005, and their sole release that year was the "Mairebo" single on October 20. The anime Eureka Seven started using their song "sakura" as an opening theme on January 29, 2006; the track was released as a single on March 1. That year, the band played the Sony Music Festival at Yoyogi Station in Tokyo and at Osaka's Osakajo Hall. The D.Gray-man anime premiered on October 3, 2006, with "SNOW KISS" as its first ending theme. Nirgilis also dropped the singles "24 Searchlights" and "SNOW KISS" in 2006, along with the album BOY.