Ayase (born April 4, 1994) is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a Vocaloid producer and songwriter for Yoasobi, a musical duo composed of himself and vocalist Ikura. He was also a vocalist of the rock band Davinci until its disbandment in 2020.
In 2012, at age of 16, Ayase formed the rock band Davinci with classmates from high school, performing under the name Keiichirō, and he served as both the vocalist and leader of the band. Due to his band activity, he later dropped out of high school, and in 2016, the band relocated to Tokyo.[7] In October 2018, the band went on hiatus due to Ayase's medical treatment for peptic ulcer disease.[12] Eventually, the band announced their disbandment two years later in July 2020.[13]
During Davinci's hiatus, Ayase started making music using the Vocaloid software voicebank Hatsune Miku during his stay at the hospital. He released his first song "Sentensei Assault Girl" via video-sharing website YouTube and Niconico on December 24, 2018.[14] Following this, he continued to self-publish several songs, including "Last Resort" in April 2019, which was his first song to gain popularity.[15] Eventually, Ayase released his debut extended play Ghost City Tokyo, recorded by Hatsune Miku vocals, on November 17, 2019.[16][17]
Around the time "Last Resort" became popular,[18] in mid 2019, Ayase received an offer from Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Yohei Yashiro and Shuya Yamamoto, to collaborate on a project to produce songs inspired by short stories published on creative writing social media Monogatary.com[ja].[19] He found Ikura on Instagram, where she covered the song,[20] and later checked her YouTube channel, and contacted her directly to persuade her to form the duo, called Yoasobi.[11] Their debut single "Yoru ni Kakeru", which was released in December 2019, went viral and became a musical success in Japan, which resulted in Yoasobi increasing in popularity in the Japanese music scene.[21][22]
In 2020, Ayase wrote and produced the song "Saikai", performed by singers Lisa and Uru, to promote Sonynoise-cancelling headphones.[23] His second EP Mikunoyoasobi was released exclusively on CD to Tower Records Japan on January 6, 2021. The EP contains cover versions by Hatsune Miku of seven tracks from Yoasobi's debut EP The Book, including "Yoru ni Kakeru", which previously appeared on Ghost City Tokyo.[24] Ayase's self-cover of two tracks from Ghost City Tokyo, "Yoru Naderu Menō" and "Yūrei Tōkyō", were released to streaming platforms on September 8, 2021, after previously being published on YouTube and Niconico during 2019 to 2020.[25] He collaborated with Creepy Nuts and Lilas Ikuta on the single "Baka Majime", which featured on All Night Nippon 55th-anniversary stage drama Ano Yoru o Oboe Teru.[26]
2022–present: Further activities
Ayase released his first non-Vocaloid single "Hōwa", alongside self-cover of "Cinema", on September 30, 2022.[27] In 2023, he recorded two anime opening themes: "Shock!" for Buddy Daddies,[28] and "Hiten" with R-Shitei[ja] for the 2023 edition of Rurouni Kenshin.[29] Ayase and Vocaloid producers Syudou, Surii, and Tsumiki collaborated for the EP Ryūgūjō, as Dreamers; Ayase wrote the song "Kira Kira Kira". It was released exclusively at the Creators Market of Hatsune Miku: Magical Mirai 2023 festival in Osaka on August 11.[30] In 2024, Ayase wrote and performed the song "From Now!", which was also co-composed and arranged by Yasutaka Nakata, and was released on September 6.[31] It was used for limited event quests and commercials for the mobile game Monster Hunter Now.[32] He was in charge of writing and producing the theme song for the 2024 medical filmDoctor-X: The Movie, titled "Episode X", which was performed by Ado.[33]
Personal life
Ayase has been dating Nina Ai, who works on some of Yoasobi's cover artworks and music videos, including "Yoru ni Kakeru".[34]
↑ Japan physical and digital combined sale figures for Mikunoyoasobi[38][39]
1 2 "Yoru Naderu Menō" was first voiced by Hatsune Miku and was non-commercially published through YouTube and Niconico in early 2019. A self-cover of the song was commercially released on EP Ghost City Tokyo in late 2019. The same self-cover was re-released in 2021, alongside "Yūrei Tōkyō".
↑ "Yūrei Tōkyō" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 36 on the Download Songs.[44]
↑ "Hōwa" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 25 on the Digital Singles Chart.[46]
↑ "Hōwa" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 36 on the Download Songs.[47]
↑ "Cinema" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 42 on the Digital Singles Chart.[46]
↑ "Cinema" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 56 on the Download Songs.[47]
↑ "Hiten" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 9 on the Digital Singles Chart.[48]
↑ "From Now!" did not enter Oricon Combined Singles Chart, but peaked at number 47 on the Digital Singles Chart.[50]
↑ "From Now!" did not enter Billboard Japan Hot 100, but peaked at number 47 on the Download Songs.[51]
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