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Data: (from "hyp No. 5") (original)
| Name: | 春名真樹 (HARUNA Masaki) |
| Birth date: | 5/3/19secret |
| Birthplace: | Osaka |
| Blood type: | B |
| Hobbies, skills: | housekeeping, distant drama |
| Favorite artists: | Pet Shop Boys, Susumu Hirasawa, Sachiko Sakurai, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Charlie Sheen, Kaneto Shiozawa, Naomi Fujiyama, Marc Almond, etc... |
| Favorite tobacco and drinks: | Parliament Light wine and such |
| Main type of instrument used: | MAXON wireless |
| Goal: | The ideal self |
| Previous bands: | None |
Known affiliations:
Atsushi Fukuyama's previous band (name unknown) - as a keyboardist
Pride of mind (1992-1996)
Malice Mizer (2000-2001)
Solo career as "Klaha" (2002-present)
Masaki Haruna was one of the founders of Pride of mind, along with Atsushi Fukuyama. Prior to meeting Fukuyama-san (through a mutual friend), his tastes ran more toward traditional forms such as opera, classical music, and French chansons. However, his outlook was changed by Atsushi Fukuyama's music and he became keyboardist in a band with him. At that time, the two began to form the concept of Pride of mind, and eventually brought that vision to fruition. In Pride of mind, Haruna-san was the vocalist and lyricist - the capacity in which he eventually rose to fame.
Masaki left Pride of mind in 1996, with no stated intention to continue in music; little is known about the subsequent four years. It seems that around this time he appeared in at least one advertisement for "Ragtag", a secondhand fashion shop, which may be the source of Japanese rumors that he was an advertising model.
(click for full-size)
Scanned by colorsofromance; original source unknown
However, in 2000 he resurfaced under the name "Klaha", as the session vocalist for Malice Mizer's final album, "Bara no seidou". It is believed that he was introduced to the band by means of his friendship with bassist Yu~ki. After that album and a 2-day live at the Nippon Budoukan, he became Malice Mizer's full-time vocalist; together they released the three singles "Gardenia", "Beast of Blood", and "Garnet", as well as a silent film "Bara no konrei". Klaha also appeared in several photobooks during this period. After Malice Mizer disbanded on December 11, 2001 (reportedly due to creative differences), Klaha capitalized on his newfound fame by starting a solo career. In a sharp departure from his Malice Mizer days, Klaha billed himself as a pop artist, choosing to create more light, sentimental music and dropping the elegant gothic image. His first album, "Nostal Lab", was released on December 4, 2002 (my review here); shortly thereafter, he followed it up with the single "Märchen". Both of these releases were accompanied by short live tours and instore appearances. Following "Märchen", Klaha went into seclusion for around a year, reemerging in early 2004 with his mini-album "切望" ("Setsubou"); he played one live to accompany it. After promising a return to music in 2006 and 2007, 2008 passed without any further communications; as of July 2009 his official site went down.
As of this writing (April 2022), Klaha has steadfastly resisted the siren song of the entertainment world, having made no further outreach to the public. In 2018, when Malice Mizer held a 25th-anniversary live event, bandleader Mana attempted to contact Klaha and invite him to perform, but was unable to reach him.
A curious postscript to Klaha's career is that the musical rights to his solo work have not been abandoned; they are apparently managed (at least in part) by S4MG since 2009 at the latest, and "Märchen" was re-released by them on various digital platforms in 2017 or thereabouts.