Mana (musician)

About

Mana (Japanese: まな, 魔名) is a Japanese musician, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer, best known as guitarist of the visual kei rock band Malice Mizer from their formation in 1992 until their indefinite hiatus in 2001. A year later, Mana formed the gothic metal band Moi dix Mois as his solo project.
Mana founded the independent record label Midi:Nette in 1994. In addition to signing electronic music duo Schwarz Stein, it has released the majority of Malice Mizer’s musical output and all of Moi dix Mois’ material as well as 2 albums and 2 singles by Kanon Wakeshima. His clothing label, Moi-même-Moitié, was established in 1999 and is credited with helping popularize the Gothic Lolita fashion movement.

Mana was born in Hiroshima. His real name is not known publicly. Mana is a stage name, and is sometimes written with the kanji 魔名, which reads “evil name” or “devil’s name”. His fans refer to him as Mana-sama. At an early age, he was introduced to classical music by his parents, who were both music teachers. As a child, he listened to nothing but metal music.
Mana started playing in bands when he was in high school, with his first two live performances being…