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Aya Gloomy: The Japanese Pop Artist And Her Influences

Aya Gloomy, the stage name of Aya Yanase, is a Japanese pop artist.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Biography

Born in Tokyo, Aya began writing music in junior high school by playing guitar in a band. Her early influences included Björk and MTV as well as electronic indie pop groups such as Glass Candy and Chromatics.^[5]^[6] She decided to use the moniker of Aya Gloomy after finding the word gloomy in a dictionary; she liked it not only for its phonetic similarity to gummy candies, which she enjoyed, but also because she liked the way its melancholic meaning clashed with the bright and sweet nature of candy.^[7]

More recently, she has also cited Japanese avant-pop artists from the 1980's such as Jun Togawa and Dip in the Pool as influences for her debut album.^[1]

Aya Gloomy is an electro-pop solo artist from Tokyo Japan, Aya Gloomy is the stage name for Aya Yanase. Aya was born in 1994, she started teaching herself how to make music at 16. Aya first started getting into music in high school when she joined a music club. It was in that club that she started composing music for band competitions and then became fascinated with electronic music. She joined Big Love Records in 2017 until she got signed to a new label called “21 N FUN” before her release of “IRO IRO” in 2022. ^[8]

Aya has a unique sound to her music she combines traditional pop music with electronic styles and uses synthesizers as one of the main instruments. Her sound isn’t the only unique part of her style, she is unique in how she styles her clothing and hair. Aya dresses in a style similar to Harajuku with bright and bold colors, she applies the same style to her hair often changing it with new fashion colors. Besides creating music Aya is also a fashion model, she appeared in FRUiTS a Japanese street fashion magazine that covers the Harajuku district. Aya also owns a second-hand clothing store called “Pom Pom Shop” where she finds cute clothing and styles it with recycled items. Her shop is known as a 90s and 2000s style shop and is a way for her to share her inspirations. Aya currently has 4 singles, 2 albums, and 1 EP. Her most popular songs are “vs Reality,” “KANJIRU,” “静かに消える,” “I miss you,” and “Run Away (^ ^): she is currently sitting at 6,374 monthly listeners on Spotify.

One music video to “IRO IRO” by Aya Gloomy shows her style and personality perfectly. The music video was directed entirely by Aya and she was also in control of the makeup and outfits. Aya used her personal style for the outfits in the music video making it bright with a mix of bold colors and patterns. She also picked an abandoned theme park for the filming location carrying the brightness of her style and music to the background as well.

Bjork
Aya didn’t come up with her music style on her own even with it being as unique as it is. She had many influences two of which were Bjork and Glass Candy. Bjork, whose full name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Björk began her music career at the age of 11, similarly to Aya who also started making music at a young age. Bjork’s music has an eclectic musical style drawing on electronica, pop, dance, trip-hop, jazz, and avant-garde music. She was known as the "Queen of Experimental Pop," and is one of the most influential pioneers in electronic and experimental music. Bjork being such an essential part of the electronic music style is what influenced Aya to add a similar element to her music. Aya also took inspiration from Bjorks unique clothing style. Bjork similarly to Aya wears clothing that would stand out in a crowd. Bjork wears bright colors and strange patterns in an unconventional way. Aya wears clothing in a similar fashion but with the addition of a Harajuku type style. (add comparison to the sound of each artist and style of each artist)

Glass Candy
Another big influence for Aya was the band Glass Candy.^[9] Glass Candy is an American electro band from Portland Oregon that formed in 1996. The band has Ida No as the main vocalist and Jonny Jewel as the guitarist, synthesist, and producer. Aya took inspiration from their electronic sound and use of a synthesizer which she incorporated into her music. Aya also took inspiration from their style which can be seen through their album covers. Aya Gloomy and Glass Candy have bright and unique Album covers in common: Aya used a similar uniqueness and personalized it by modernizing her covers. Glass Candy has a unique style like both Aya Gloomy and Bjork. Ida No has even described their work, specifically their earlier compositions as “droney and weird.” Aya Gloomy’s sound is described similarly and is highlighted more by her clothing style and music videos. The description “droney and weird” can be seen obviously in the “IRO IRO” music video mentioned before. The filming location is at an abandoned theme park giving the music video a sluggish feel or a “droney” feel. The outfits on the other hand being bright and interesting makes the video unique and weird.

Discography

Albums

陸の孤島 (Big Love Records, 2018)
Tokyo Hakai (Self-released, 2021)

Singles and EPs

Only You (Self-released, 2015)
Ennui Ground (STBO Recordings, Big Love Records, 2017)
Kanjiru (Self-released, 2019)

Stuff to add

straight facts about Aya: (this will be removed eventually its for reference)

Aya Gloomy is a solo artist from Tokyo, Japan

Born 1994

Japanese electro-pop/ synthpop artist
Electropop definition: "A popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with outstanding heavy emphasis on its electronic sound."

Synthpop info: "is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 1970s."

Starting learning to make music by herself at 16
Is also a fashion model
Has a shop that sells second-hand clothes called “pompom shop"
Has a unique clothing style (kinda Harajuku)
The music video for IRO IRO: makeup, outfits and was directed by Aya
known for changing hair colors
was inspired by ’80s and ’90s Japanese musicians like Miki Nakani, Jun Togawa, Chiemi Manabe, and Deep in the Pool

Short and sweet summary of Björk and the similar style she has with Aya Gloomy: Background who is Björk?
Her full name Björk Guðmundsdóttir
She is an Iceland is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress.
Born on November 21, 1965; she is currently 58 years old.
She has developed an eclectic musical style over a career spanning four decades, drawing on electronica, pop, dance, trip hop, jazz, and avant-garde music. Regarded as the "Queen of Experimental Pop," she is one of the most influential pioneers in electronic and experimental music. She has influenced many artists including Aya Gloomy.

Björk began her music career at the age of 11 and gained international recognition as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Sugarcubes by the age of 21. Similar to Aya both artists got involved with music at a young age.
Over her three-decade solo career, Björk has developed an eclectic and avant-garde musical style that incorporates aspects of electronic, dance, alternative dance, trip hop, experimental, glitch, jazz, alternative rock, instrumental, and contemporary classical music. Similar to Aya she incorporates various types of music into one.

(can add more stuff here about Björk)

Björk, the stage name and various music albums of Björk Guðmundsdóttir, is an Iceland eclectic singer. (add resources/ additional references)