Do As Infinity
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Do As Infinity (Japanese: ドゥー・アズ・インフィニティ or Chinese: 大無限樂團) is a popular Japanese band who released their first single, "Tangerine Dream", on September 29, 1999. Their name is sometimes abbreviated as D.A.I., and is named for the band's guitarist Dai Nagao.
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Members
Main members:
- Tomiko Van (lyrics, vocals)
- Ryo Owatari (guitar, backup vocals)
- Dai Nagao (composition, guitar)
Other members:
- Naoki Hayashibe (guitar)
- Jun Matsumoto (drums)
- Hamano Kazko (chorus)
- Michitaro (bass)
- Takase Jun (keyboard)
History
(compiled and edited from various sources)
Nagao Dai started out as a composer for an amateur band. After its disbanding, Dai continued composing songs and he sent demo tapes to more than 50 record companies in Japan. Dai was eventually hired by avex to work as a composer. He was immediately given a task to compose songs for Ayumi Hamasaki and hitomi.
Eventually, auditions were held, and he chose Van Tomiko as lead singer, and Ryo Owatari as guitarist. On September 29th, 1999, the trio released their first single Tangerine Dream, and held a live concert at the Shibuya. They performed almost daily at a number of locations, ranging from Shibuya's 109 (which is famous for street performers), to Yokohama Station and travelled to Fukuoka and other cities.
The remainder of 1999 was spent performing both on the street and at in-store concerts at CD stores across the country. They also took part in choice events nationwide, including a festival in Tomiko Van's native Kumamoto prefecture. Their legendary streak of street concerts ended at one hundred, with a free concert for their fans, held at Shibuya Kokaido. The December release of their second single, Heart, didn't slow them down one bit. They continued to do public appearances all the way up to the year-end avex MILENNIUM COUNT DOWN 1999-2000 held on New Year's Eve in Roppongi's Velfarre club.
The band began the new year in the same way they ended the last by performing. They continued to appear on radio shows and at CD store events. Their third single, Oasis, was released at the end of January. It was their first Top 30 hit and it was chosen as the official TV commercial song for Kanebo Cosmetics' Testimo line of products.
The next single, Yesterday & Today, was chosen as the theme song for a drama series 'Nisennen no Koi', which starred popular actors Nakayama Miho and Kaneshiro Takeshi and was given the primetime slot. The c/w-track, Raven, was used as the ending song to the horror movie Uzumaki, which gathered more mainstream audiences for the band.
Their first album, BREAK OF DAWN, debuted on #3 of the Oricon album charts on the March of the same year, only a month after Yesterday & Today. They continued to make public appearances and do numerous live performances all over Japan. In the August of that year, the band released the single rumble fish. Rumble fish was used as the theme song for the hit movie Kamen Gakuen and SUMMER DAYS was used as a theme song for Fuji TV's OL Police, which would go on to become a staple at all DAI live concerts. SUMMER DAYS is also notable for being Do As Infinity's first all-english song (after BREAK OF DAWN from the album with same name). On the November of the same year, the band released the festive single We are. DAI would end the year and the century with another countdown live held at the Velfarre club in Roppongi.
2001 was a whirlwind year for the band. With an album and six singles under their belts, the trio was well on their way to becoming seasoned veterans in the business, but they still had not appeared on national television. That changed with the release of their first single in the new millennium, Desire. The single was performed on the hit TV show Music Station, but with a catch. For some reason, Van-chan represented the band by herself, but nevertheless the song and the band got national exposure. The televised performance brought Do As Infinity to an even wider audience, and helped to make their new album, New World, debut at an amazing number one on the Oricon album ranking charts.
With Desireﾕs release in January, and New World in February, the band deserved a break. But they would think nothing of it. The following month they would release their first promotional video collection on DVD, simply entitled 9, and would go on tour throughout the month of May. They closed out the month of May with the release of their ninth single, Week! The following month would see the release of Fukai Mori (Deep Forest), which was chosen as the second ending theme song for the hit anime series InuYasha. The song was a huge hit, and would soon become the bandﾕs signature song. The remainder of the year was spent in preparation for yet another live concert tour, which would begin in November, not long after the release of their 11th single, Boukenshatachi, and their third album, Deep Forest -- which inevitably debuted at number one on the charts.
The new year started with Van-chan appearing on the avex charity album VARIOUS ARTISTS FEATURING songnation, and the release of the band's 12th hit single, Hi no Ataru Sakamichi, the following month. Then the band went global. After releasing a best album, Do the Best, in March, the band traveled to Taiwan and Hong Kong in April for a special campaign. Their following overseas was almost as huge as in their own country, drawing an amazing 500 fans to their in-store event held at the HMV CD store in Hong Kong. The band took a short break upon returning to Japan, but released their 13th single in July, the double A-sided under the sun/under the moon. In August the band participated in avex's a-nation tour, performing in eight venues all over Japan.
Do As Infinityﾕs 14th single, Shinjitsu no Uta, was released in October, and sparked the beginning of a new project for the band. Despite their success, they wanted to show their fans that they had not forgotten them. They advertised on their website for fans to send them short stories using the bandﾕs previous releases as themes and using the word shinjitsu (truth) somewhere in the story. Entitled Your Truth, these stories are now available in book form. The band closed out the year with another live tour, understatedly titled Do As Infinity greatest year 02 ~ALL STANDING~, and the year-end release of their fourth album, True Song.
The band has come a long way since their days of performing in front of commuters on the street. At the time of this writing, the band is in the midst of yet another live concert tour, showcasing their brand new album NEED YOUR LOVE. Do As Infinity has achieved superstar status in the four years since their debut, and will no doubt continue to be successful in the years to come.
Along with video collections and recorded live concerts, Do As Infinity is still going strong. Although Nagao Dai isn't as active as he was in the beginning (he doesn't participate in promotional events anymore, such as video clips or photo shoots) he is still the main composer and the brain behind the band. He does, though, appear in concerts from time to time.
sources:Do As Infinity Familiar, Enduring Sound
-- by David Alexander S. Dial
http:/vitamin-infinity-of-music.blogspot.com
edit:vitamin
edit2: tkc1024
Discography
Singles
- Tangerine Dream (1999/09/29) - #58
- Heart (1999/12/08) - #56
- Oasis (2000/01/26) - #25
- Yesterday & Today (2000/02/23) #10
- Rumble Fish (2000/08/02/) - #20
- We Are. (2000/11/29) - #16
- Desire (2001/01/24) - #8
- 遠くまで Tooku Made (2001/04/25) - #12
- Week! (2001/05/30) - #8
- 深い森 Fukai Mori (2001/06/27) - #5
- 冒険者たち Boukensha-tachi (2001/09/05) - #7
- 陽のあたる坂道 Hi no Ataru Sakamichi (2002/02/27) - #5
- Under the Sun/Under the Moon (2002/07/31) - #5
- 真実の詩 Shinjitsu no Uta (2002/10/30) - #5
- 魔法の言葉~Would you marry me?~ Mahou no Kotoba ~Would You Marry Me?~ (2003/06/11) - #4
- 本日ハ晴天ナリ Honjitsu wa Weiten Nari (2003/09/25) - #4
- 柊 Hiiragi (2003/11/06) - #7
- 楽園 Rakuen (2004/12/15) - #2
- For the Future (2005/01/19) - #6
- タオ Tao (2005/07/27) - #?
Albums
- Break of Dawn (March 23, 2000) - #3
- New World (February 21, 2001) - #1
- Deep Forest (September 12, 2001) #1
- True Song (December 27, 2002) - #5
- Gates of Heaven (November 27, 2003) - #3
- Need Your Love (February 16, 2005) - #3
Note how the albums start with the final letter of the previous album.
Compilation
- Do the Best (March 20, 2002) - #1
- Do the Best+DVD (March 31, 2004) - #3
- DO THE B-SIDE (September 23, 2004) - #7
Live
- Do The Live (March 12, 2003) - #12
- Do As Infinity LIVE IN JAPAN (March 21, 2004) - #23
DVD
DVD Single
Video Clips
- 9 (2001/03/07)
- 5 (2001/09/27)
- THE CLIP SELECTION (2002/12/11)
- 8 (2004/01/07)
Live
- Do As Infinity LIVE TOUR 2001 ~DEEP FOREST~ (2002/03/20)
- Do As Infinity LIVE IN JAPAN (2004/03/31)
- Do As Infinity LIVE YEAR 2004 (2005/03/03)
Videos
Video Clips
- 9 (2001/03/07)
- 5 (2001/09/27)
Others
- again / TOMIKO VAN from Do As Infinity (from the Songnation album)
- Drive me nuts / Cyber X feat. Tomiko Van - #27
- El Dorado / atami (Guest Vo. tomiko van, Guest EG.ryo owatari) (from the Doppler album)
- COME ON NOW! / NORTHERN BRIGHTS (大渡亮ゲストコーラス参加)
- I Miss You? / Do As Infinity for TRAPNEST (from the LOVE for NANA ~Only 1 Tribute album)
External links
- Do As Infinity Official Website (Japanese) (http://www.d-a-i.com/)
- do-as-infinity.com (http://www.do-as-infinity.com/)
- The Do As Infinity English forum (http://www.daiforum.com/)
- Do As Infinity's Unofficial Site V.5 (http://squirrel.ko9.net/)
- 最愛DAI＊大無限樂團 (http://tw.club.yahoo.com/clubs/Do_As_Infinity_/)
- 最愛Do As Infinity (http://tw.club.yahoo.com/clubs/do_as_infinity/)