"Split Milk", 1998.
Stella Maria formed in 1994. In 1995, the group released their first two demos: "Tabularesa" and "Ai Doll", both of which sold rather poorly for the young group. In early 1996, original bassist Kisaki left the group, and was eventually replaced by Naoya. This lineup made their debut on the "Jester's Brain" omnibus in May of 1996, and also released their first single, "Un-Titled", later that August. Immediately after the release of "Un-Titled", however, one of the original guitarists of Stella Maria, Seine, also left, and was then temporarily replaced by Jun. After a few months, Jun also left Stella Maria, and Jun was never replaced, and Stella Maria remained a one-guitar band throughout the remainder of their run. In March of 1997, Stella Maria released their second single, "Nostalgia", and also released their first mini-album, "~Cage~", later that month. The album sold rather well, and in August of 1997, the group appeared on the "End of the Century Rockers IV" omnibus, and despite their dizzying lineup changes, started to finally develop a small cult following. In January of 1998, Stella Maria released their second mini-album, "Split Milk", and also released their third single, "There is Nothing to Understand", a month later. In the summer of 1998, Stella Maria's final blow came when original frontman Ray left, leaving guitarist #4 as the only original member of Stella Maria. By late 1998, Tsurugi was brought in to replace Ray, and in January of 1999, Stella Maria released their third mini-album, "Shimon (指紋)", which was a huge failure in the visual underground. Due to the horrible sales of "Shimon", Stella Maria decided to disband later in 1999. Naoya joined one last indies band, Crunch, which also split in 2002. After the demise of Crunch, Naoya retired from the visual scene. #4 became a support member for Ramble Fish, and also joined the obscure indies band LU-C Sort Drive. When both bands disbanding by 2002, #4 then retired from the visual scene, and joined Captain Double Lynch, until he soon departed. He then joined the short lived band Kumo no Ryodan (雲の旅団), before trying his hand at fronting a band, when he formed Skunk Works in 2005, under the alias of Yonkichi (よんきち). However, Skunk Works ended up disbanding by 2011, and Yonkichi then retired from the underground music scene in general.
