Tatsuro began a solo career in December 2021 and simultaneously released the albums = (Equal) and Hikagaku Hoteishiki the following year.
[5] Tatsuro said his interest in music started in fifth grade when he became a fan of Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi and The Blue Hearts due to the influence of his older brother.
[3] Twice a week, he would commute to Tokyo, rehearse with Mucc in the middle of the night, and then take the train back to Ibaraki at around 5 am, until he quit school halfway through the program.
Antique, their debut EP, was released in 1999 by Misshitsu Neurose, an independent record label formed by Cali Gari guitarist Ao Sakurai.
Mucc later signed to Danger Crue Records and established their own sublabel, Shu, for the 2002 release of their second album Hōmura Uta.
In 2009, Tatsuro formed the visual kei supergroup Karasu (カラス) with Hiroto (Alice Nine), Mizuki (Sadie), Dunch (Jealkb) and Kenzo (Ayabie).
[18][19] Second single "Free" was released on October 27 and used as the opening theme song of the Battle Spirits: Brave anime.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Tatsuro"), was scheduled to be held at five venues between January 15 to February 4, 2022, with two performances a day for a total of 10 concerts.
[26] His backing band consisted of Adachi on keyboards, Dezert drummer Sora, Nocturnal Bloodlust bassist Masa, and guitarists Umi (Vistlip) and Nao (Arlequin).
[28][29] In-between, Tatsuro played two acoustic concerts on April 12 and 20 where he was backed only by Adachi and violinist Hiromi Gotoh.
The songs on = (Equal) were written by Tatsuro and composed by him and Adachi with Sora, Ellegarden guitarist Shinichi Ubukata, and Merry vocalist Gara appearing as guest musicians.
[2][26] The songwriters include Ken (L'Arc-en-Ciel), Shuuji Ishii (Cali Gari), Eijun Suganami (The Back Horn), and Take (Flow).
[31] Nano Kitaoka, music producer for the franchise, called the track "a fusion of old-fashioned visual kei and modern goodness".
[21] The backing band consisted of Adachi, Gotoh, Hirotaka, Metronome bassist Riu, and guitarists Yuu (Merry) and Lin (Unite).
[35] Featuring covers of songs by artists such as RC Succession, Glay and Kuroyume, it was sold only at concerts or via mail order.
"[5] When an interviewer suggested a singer must be thinking about the lyrics while performing, Tatsuro dismissed the notion and stated that singing was like riding a bicycle.
[42] He said he got the idea after seeing Cocco's April 20, 2001 performance on Music Station, where the barefooted singer abruptly left the studio after finishing her song.
[41] He further explained that this was in Mucc's indie days when they had no money; whenever they were putting together new costumes, the shoes were typically the most expensive part, but as a visual kei band they could not simply wear sneakers.
[5] Although = (Equal) also features some guest musicians, for that album Tatsuro determined himself how the songs would sound before selecting people accordingly.
[5] In 2022, Tatsuro said his solo work had an influence on Mucc, specifically mentioning how the band went on to include rap music on their subsequent album.
[5] In an interview about his third solo album Colors, Tatsuro revealed that when he decided to write songs with a "band sound", the resulting music was a "bit intense" and naturally brought out dark lyrics, like Mucc.
[7] He cited Buck-Tick frontman Atsushi Sakurai as the vocalist who has influenced him the most, including his lyrics and stage presence, but is also very fond of The Yellow Monkey's Kazuya Yoshii.