Niche Genres For Baddies - Track One: Visual Kei

Tia Babatzikos
17 hours ago
5 min read

Note From Tia: In my opinion, one of the coolest things about heavy music is the sheer range of different forms it can come in. Metal itself has something like 50 different subgenres, and more and more artists are pushing the boundaries of what heavy music can be defined as. I wanted to start this blog series in order to draw attention to some of my favourite lesser known or more niche heavy music subgenres, as well as spotlighting talented local artists in these genres. Hope you all enjoy! ♡

Visual Kei Deep Dive:

Visual Kei (ビジュアル系 or Vkei) is one of my all time favourite music movements, which emerged from Japan in the 1980s and is still alive and breathing to this day. Visual Kei means “visual style”, referring to the theatrical and flamboyant stage outfits worn by band members, which were initially inspired by Western post-punk and glam metal aesthetics. From androgyny and goth to Rococo and Victorian influences, Visual Kei aesthetics have developed over time into hyper-unique subgenres.

Musically, Visual Kei doesn’t conform to or refer to one genre, however Visual Kei bands typically play heavy music genres like gothic rock, metal, industrial, alternative rock and post-punk. Some of my all time favourite Vkei bands include Plastic Tree, Dir En Grey and Buck-Tick, which all sound quite different to one another. The overall melodrama, maximalism and melancholy are what I absolutely adore about Vkei as a whole.

Interview With Harminia:

Harminia (ハーミニア) is a solo Visual Kei x Alt-Rock artist who has emerged from Melbourne’s underground scene.

Check out our conversation about her music, inspirations and the Visual Kei scene in Melbourne below! ♡

what was your inspiration behind the name 'harminia'?

Harminia: I coined it after reading The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which is a book of invented words. There was one word, harmonoia, derived from harmony + paranoia. I thought it captured my crestfallen/grunge tendency.

how would you personally define being a visual kei artist?

Harminia: To me, visual kei is less of a strict genre and more of a term for experimentation, performance, and self-myth.

"The simplest way I can define it is: it’s the maximalism of everything yours. In my case, musically, I come from a love of 90s and 2000s western alt-rock, grunge, shoegaze, so I carry that lineage. Visually, I pick apart different vkei artists, anime, gothic fashion, and morph them into one chimera".

That concept follows even my writing. I’ve always been drawn to chemistry, astronomy, and clinical language, so they’re scattered in my lyrics. At the same time, a lot of the project is framed like a mystery case: my merch becomes harminia’s evidence box, my photobooks are case diaries. That probably comes from my love of detective fiction.

which visual kei bands have been the most inspiring or influential to you as an artist?

Harminia: Plastic Tree. Every day I dissect their songs and keep finding new objects inside them. Ryutaro’s writing is so obscure, so abstract and so opposite mine. Like a puzzle-box. One day I want to decode all their songs.

fu#k, marry, kill: atsushi sakurai, mana-sama or kyo?

Harminia: I would marry mana-sama in a gothic church just to hear him speak at least once. (but my real answer just for you, tia, is fu#k atsushi, marry mana, and kill kyo)

from angel wings & coloured contacts to leather & lace, what are the main inspirations behind your style and aesthetic?

Harminia: A lot of it began with Versailles—especially Hizaki and Jasmine You’s aristocrat lolita style, and Kamijo’s vampire gaze. Then Plastic Tree—Ryutaro’s recent soft melancholic fashion. I used to jokingly tell myself Nana + Reira = harminia, since I saw my styles in both of them.

you have an upcoming EP titled ‘nana’ which is inspired by the anime of the same name (which is my fave anime of all time!!) what aspects of ‘nana’ or other anime influence you as an artist?

Harminia: Yes! My upcoming EP is the long-awaited 'nana'. Beyond the Y2k culture, Vivienne Westwood, and behind-the-scenes of being a musician, it was the opening scene of Nana catching a train to tokyo with her guitar that I vividly keep in my head. I regard it as a grand representation of chasing after everything with total abandon.

Another thing that struck out to me was the flashback scene where she watched Ren onstage for the first time, looking up at him wide-eyed. I finally understood what it really meant after I found myself in that exact situation and walked out of a concert crying. I think that’s what truly kickstarted harminia into Melbourne’s music scene.

how would you describe the visual kei scene in melbourne?

Harminia: Since discovering that there is a vkei community in Melbourne, I find myself coaxing them out of hiding. I meet them at my shows, at events, and through messages online. I’ve also had people from other states reach out, which makes me really want to tour soon and play for them in person. I also love hearing about visual kei artists outside of Japan. I recently discovered there was even a book compiling overseas vkei artists.

"It makes me proud that people have embraced and pursued visual kei in their own ways."

Recently, you started offering signed polaroid pictures (cheki) at your shows, which is a massive part of vkei culture. in your own words, how do things like cheki or furi help create community in the vkei scene?

Harminia: I’m already very drawn to all things retro, and I think physical mementos are very foundational. Against the digital world, polaroids could hold specific, signed, and impossible-to-duplicate type of memories.

Touching on that, someday, I’d also love to make a harminia trading card collection, like the Pokémon cards I used to have as a child. I think furi has an adrenaline kind of magic. All I’ve really seen at my shows so far are moshpits, so I would love to look through my low-visibility white lenses and see silhouettes doing furi together.

are there other melbourne based visual kei bands that you want to let people know about?

Harminia: If there are, I’d really like to play a show with them! I think right now it’s a game of hide-and-seek. So if there are other Melbourne-based visual kei or J-rock-inspired artists out there—where are you hiding? please come out!

& are there any final messages that you want to let anyone reading this know about you or your music? ♡

Harminia:

—I want to throw a visual kei party where we can show off all our CDs, dress like our favourite vkei artists, listen to J-rock, and take Polaroids together.

—One of my dreams is to do a show in Tokyo one day, then eat ramen/drink sake with everyone — staff, band, fans — in an alley somewhere after the gig.

—As an extension of my music, I also make gothic diaries and write literary books, which I publish worldwide through Amazon. I see them as another doorway into my mental dream theatre.

thank you, tia. ★

You can listen to Harminia's music here and check out some of her other creative pursuits as well as her live show dates here! ♡