Ayase (music producer)
Japanese musician and record producer (born 1994)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
- record producer
Ayase | |
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Ayase in 2024 | |
| Born | April 4, 1994 Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan |
| Other name | Keiichirō |
| Occupations |
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| Agents | |
| Musical career | |
| Origin | Japan |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 2012–present |
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| Member of |
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| Formerly of | Davinci |
Early life
Ayase was born on April 4, 1994, in Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.[3] When he was around 3 or 4 years old, he received his first piano lessons from his grandmother, who was a music teacher. When he started elementary school, he received professional piano lessons at a music school. In his later grade school years, he also learned how to play acoustic guitar after he was given an acoustic guitar as a Christmas present. The first song he learned to play on guitar was originally written by Ringo Sheena.
His early musical influences were Exile, Sukima Switch, Kobukuro,[4] Radwimps,[5] Aiko,[6] Post Malone,[7] Yumi Matsutoya, Mariya Takeuchi, and Toshinobu Kubota.[8] He also stated that he was influenced by several rock and metal bands, such as Maximum the Hormone, Coldrain, Crossfaith, SiM, Slipknot and Bring Me the Horizon before he found the band.[9] His music genre influences include '80s and '90s music, K-pop,[10] J-pop, and folk music.[8]
Career
2012–2020: Davinci
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.[6] In October 2018, the band went on hiatus due to Ayase's medical treatment for peptic ulcer disease.[11] Eventually, the band announced their disbandment two years later in July 2020.[12]
2018–2022: Breakthrough and Yoasobi
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.[13] Following this, he continued to self-publish several songs, including "Last Resort" in April 2019, which was his first song to gain popularity.[14] Eventually, Ayase released his debut extended play Ghost City Tokyo, recorded by Hatsune Miku vocals, on November 17, 2019.[15][16]
Around the time "Last Resort" became popular,[17] 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.[18] He found Ikura on Instagram, where she covered the song,[19] and later checked her YouTube channel, and contacted her directly to persuade her to form the duo, called Yoasobi.[10] 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.[20][21]
In 2020, Ayase wrote and produced the song "Saikai", performed by singers Lisa and Uru, to promote Sony noise-cancelling headphones.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24] 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.[25]
2022–present: Dialogue
Ayase released his first non-Vocaloid single, "Hōwa", alongside a self-cover of "Cinema", on September 30, 2022.[26] In 2023, he recorded two anime opening themes: "Shock!" for Buddy Daddies,[27] and "Hiten" with R-Shitei for the 2023 edition of Rurouni Kenshin.[28] 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.[29] 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.[30] It was used for limited event quests and commercials for the mobile game Monster Hunter Now.[31] He was in charge of writing and producing the theme song for the 2024 medical film Doctor-X: The Movie, titled "Episode X", which was performed by Ado.[32]
Ayase released his third EP, Dialogue, the first album outside the Vocaloid scene, on May 27, 2026. It was preceded by the lead single, "Urusa", a week earlier.[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]
Discography
Extended plays
| Title | Details | Peak positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [35] |
JPN Cmb. [36] |
JPN Hot [37] | |||
| Ghost City Tokyo |
Track listing
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— | — | — | |
| Mikunoyoasobi |
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15 | 24 | 18 |
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| Dialogue |
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— | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | |||||
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [40] |
JPN Cmb. [41] |
JPN Hot [42] | ||||
| "Suima" (with Kankan) |
2021 | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Yoru Naderu Menō"[B] | — | 24 | 25 |
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Ghost City Tokyo | |
| "Yūrei Tōkyō" | — | —[C] | Non-album single | |||
| "Baka Majime" (with Creepy Nuts and Lilas Ikuta) |
2022 | — | 50 | 38 |
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Ensemble Play |
| "Hōwa" | — | —[D] | —[E] | Non-album single | ||
| "Cinema" | — | —[F] | —[G] | |||
| "Shock!" | 2023 | — | — | — | ||
| "Hiten" (with R-Shitei) |
38 | —[H] | 73 | |||
| "Kira Kira Kira"[49] (as Dreamers) |
— | — | — | Ryūgūjō | ||
| "From Now!" | 2024 | — | —[I] | —[J] | Non-album single | |
| "Urusa" | 2026 | — | — | — | Dialogue | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that region. | ||||||
Non-commercial releases
| Title | Year | Vocalist(s) | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Sentensei Assault Girl" | 2018 | Hatsune Miku | Non-album songs |
| "I'm Not Crying" | 2019 | ||
| "Happy Ender" | Ghost City Tokyo | ||
| "Yoru Naderu Menō"[B] | Non-album songs | ||
| "Last Resort" | Ghost City Tokyo | ||
| "Pseudohumans" | V Flower and Hatsune Miku | Non-album songs | |
| "Killer Queen" | Hatsune Miku | Ghost City Tokyo | |
| "Fiction Blue" | |||
| "Cynical Night Plan" | 2020 | Non-album songs | |
| "Yokubari" | |||
| "Bitter Sweet Samba" (Ayase remix)[52] | 2021 | N/a |
Guest appearances
Songwriting and production credits
All song credits are adapted from the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers's database unless stated otherwise.[53]
| Song | Year | Artist | Album | Lyricist | Composer | Arranger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Evergreen"[54] | 2019 | Ryushen | Non-album single |  |
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| "Inochi ga Naite Itanda" | 2020 | The Binary | Jiu | |
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| "Wanderer" | Satomi | Non-album single | |
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| "Saikai" | Lisa, Uru | Non-album single | |
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| "Sen'ya Ichiya" | Hey! Say! JUMP | Fab!: Music Speaks | |
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| "Shout!" | TTJ | Non-album single | |
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| "Snow Dance" | 2021 | Genin wa Jibun ni Aru | Multiverse | |
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| "Never Ending" | Shoose | Velvet Night | |
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| "Shinkai" | Nana Mori | Non-album single | |
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| "Yuke" | Lisa | Lander | |
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| "Alter Garden" | Regret (Arisa Kōri) | Caligula 2 Original Soundtrack | |
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| "Cinema" | Vivid Bad Squad | "Rad Dogs" / "Cinema" | |
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| "Introduction" | 2022 | Poppin'Party | "Poppin'Dream" | |
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| "Kaimaku Zenoparade" | Varis | Kakusei Historia | |
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| "Wonder Light" | Idolish7 | Non-album single | |
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| "Michizure" | 2023 | Hoshimachi Suisei | Specter | |
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| "Datsu Karitekita Neko Shōkōgun" | Uru | Contrast | |
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| "Michishirube" | Masayuki Suzuki | Soul Navigation | |
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| "Four-Man Cell" | Top 4 (Kiyo, Retort, Ushizawa, Gatchman) | Non-album single | |
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| "Episode X" | 2024 | Ado | Ado's Best Adobum | |
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Awards and nominations
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s)/work(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Record Awards | 2023 | Best Composition Award | "Idol" | Won | [55] |
| JASRAC Awards | 2023 | Silver Prize | "Yoru ni Kakeru" | Won | [56] |
| 2024 | Gold Prize | "Idol" | Won | [57] | |
| 2025 | Won | [58] | |||
| Music Awards Japan | 2025 | Song of the Year for Creators | Won | [59] |
Notes
- "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".