Artists

AJICO

Biography

UA is a pop artist with a flair for international eclecticsm. Asai Kenichi was the front man for one of Japan's most successful rock groups.

These two divergent artists came together to form one of the most potent super groups the Japanese music scene has ever seen.

The roots of AJICO were planted when Asai attended one of UA's concerts. He handed a demo tape of his songs to his Blankey Jet City bandmate Nakamura Tatsuya, a mutual friend of UA.

While UA worked on her 1999 album, turbo, she invited Asai to co-wrote two songs: "Strawberry Time" and "Gogo".

In 2000, Blankey Jet City disbanded, and Asai found himself with time to pursue other projects. He and UA collaborated on more songs, leading both to decide to form a group to perform them.

UA immediately recruited drummer Shiino Kyoichi, who accompanied the singer on her "turbotone" tour. They also grabbed TOKIE from the rap-rock group RIZE to play bass. AJICO was thus born.

The quartet released its first single, "Hadoo", in late 2000, and the song became a hit. They released a second single, "Utsukushii Koto", in January 2001 before dropping a full-length album, Fukamidori, a month later.

AJICO embarked on a tour in March 2001, capturing the live performances on film for AJICO Show. An accompanying live album was also released.

AJICO has since gone on hiatus, with Asai forming other projects and UA going back to her solo work. TOKIE, however, left RIZE when AJICO started to tour and has since become a session musician. TOKIE most recently collaborated with Asai's former bandmate Nakamura Tatsuya in his jazz-rock combo, LOSALIOS.

Members

UA: Vocals
Asai Kenichi: Guitar, vocals
TOKIE: Bass
Shiino Kyoichi: Drums