Pata (musician)
Pata 石塚 智昭 | |||||
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Pata in New York, 2014 | |||||
| Background information | |||||
| Birth name | Tomoaki Ishizuka | ||||
| Born | November 4, 1965 Chiba, Japan | ||||
| Genres | |||||
| Occupation | Musician | ||||
| Instrument | Guitar | ||||
| Years active | 1979–present | ||||
| Labels | |||||
| Member of | |||||
| Website | pata-official.com | ||||
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 石塚 智昭 | ||||
| Hiragana | いしづか ともあき | ||||
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Tomoaki Ishizuka (Japanese: 石塚 智昭, Hepburn: Ishizuka Tomoaki; born November 4, 1965), known exclusively by his stage name Pata, is a Japanese musician. He is best known as rhythm guitarist of the visual kei rock band X Japan. He joined the band in 1987, stayed with them until their dissolution in 1997, and rejoined when the band reunited in 2007.
Pata began a solo career in 1993, releasing two studio albums featuring Western musicians such as Tommy Aldridge, Tim Bogert, James Christian and Chuck Wright. When X Japan disbanded, he formed the short-lived duo P.A.F. in 1998 with former Make-Up singer NoB and the rock band Dope HEADz in 2000 with X Japan bassist Heath and former Spread Beaver programmer I.N.A. Both projects released two studio albums before ceasing activity. Pata then formed the instrumental band Ra:IN in 2002, which still tours extensively to this day.