Do As Infinity is a Japanese pop and rock band that formed in 1999 with three members: vocalist Tomiko Van, guitarist Ryo Owatari, and guitarist and composer Dai Nagao. The band's name is sometimes abbreviated as DAI, alluding to the fact that Do As Infinity was named after Nagao. Signed to Avex Trax, the band released their debut single "Tangerine Dream" on September 29, 1999, followed by three more singles between 1999 and 2000, which appeared on their debut album Break of Dawn (2000). In December 2000, Nagao decided to devote all his time to composing the music and no longer appeared at live events. Five more studio albums were released between 2001 with New World and 2005 with Need Your Love.

With the release of their A-side singles compilation album Do the A-side (2005), Do As Infinity disbanded on September 29, 2005. The members continued work in the music industry, with Van pursuing a solo career, Owatari working with his band Missile Innovation formed in 2004, and Nagao continuing to work with other artists at Avex Trax. The band reformed on September 29, 2008, but Nagao did not return. Do As Infinity had their first new single release "∞1", in June 2009, They performed almost daily at a number of locations, ranging from Shibuya's 109, The band 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. "Oasis" was their first song to be used in an advertisement.

2000

The next single, "Yesterday & Today" was chosen as the theme song for the drama series Nisennen no Koi, which starred popular actors Miho Nakayama 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 number three on the Oricon album charts in 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 August of that year, the band released the single "Rumble Fish", which was used as the theme song for the hit movie Kamen Gakuen; the cover of "Rumble Fish" was taken in Taiwan, and the trip provided the inspiration for "Shinjitsu no Uta".

2008-present

The band played a reunion show at the final show of 2008's A-nation, as stated on the official BBS and blog entries of supporting musicians. Reportedly, Do As Infinity rehearsed for a month. As "secret guests" during the A-nation live concert on August 30, 2008, the band announced they would officially reform on September 29, 2008, and that they would be holding a free concert in Yoyogi Park on September 30, 2008. They would eventually embark on a nationwide tour once more to celebrate their reunion. The band released their 21st single, "∞1", on June 17, 2009; it included four new songs. On September 30, 2009, the band released their seventh studio album, Eternal Flame. Do As Infinity provided the opening theme song, "Kimi ga Inai Mirai", to Inuyasha: The Final Act in 2009; the single for "Kimi ga Inai Mirai" was released on January 20, 2010.

Do As Infinity debuted their song "Everything Will Be All Right" on December 24, 2009, as the official 2010 promotional theme song for professional Kyōtei boat racing. "Everything Will Be All Right", as well as three other songs, was included on the band's 23rd single, "∞2", released on June 16, 2010. Do As Infinity released their 24th single "Jidaishin" on September 29, 2010. The single commemorated their 11-year anniversary and the physical copies were exclusively sold on the online music retailer Mu-mo, where they subsequently sold out. It was broadcast live via Internet streaming through Nico Nico Douga for free. The band released their eighth studio album Eight on January 19, 2011. Do As Infinity released their 25th single on July 27, 2011. The band's 26th single was released on September 7, 2011. Do As Infinity's 27th single was released on November 16, 2011. In 2012, Do As Infinity released two more studio albums: their ninth album Time Machine on February 29 and their tenth album Do As Infinity X on October 10. The band released the compilation album The Best of Do As Infinity on January 1, 2014. The band's 28th single "Mysterious Magic" was released on December 10, 2014; the song was used as an opening theme to the anime series Fairy Tail. Do As Infinity released their 11th album Brand New Days on February 25, 2015.

Credit to songs

Under the concept of "Whoever the songwriter is, it is D.A.I", the credit was written as "D.A.I" at first, even if any other member would compose the music. After "Be Free" was collected in Do the B-side, it came to be specified who wrote a song, and, after re-formation, it came to be specified who composed as well. Tomiko Van and Ryo Owatari mainly write lyrics. Saiko Kawamura, which is a joint pen name of Jun Harada and Kayoko Shinchi, and Naoto Suzuki also write songs besides them. It seems that Dai Nagao composed almost all the music except for "Azayaka na Hana" collected in Gates of Heaven, which Ryo Owatari composed. They produced the first and the second singles by themselves, but Seiji Kameda became a joint producer from the third single; he also plays a bass guitar in recording.

Do! Creative!!

Do! Creative!! was a semiannual contest held by Do As Infinity and Avex Trax to give Do As Infinity fans a chance to compose songs that the band later performs. The first instance of Do! Creative!! was held between March 14 and April 14, 2009. Of the approximately 1000 songs received, three were chosen to be placed on Eternal Flame: "Nighter" composed by Yu, "Kitakaze" composed by Yosuke Kawashima, and "Honō" composed by Shinpei. For the second contest, held between September 1 and October 31, 2009, three were selected, two of which appear on "∞2": "Everything Will Be Alright" by Shohei Ohi, and "Haruka" by Fumiyasu Sueoka;

Tour Band (2009)

  • Takumi Ishida (guitar)
  • Yukiko Shibuya (bass guitar)
  • Jun Takase (keyboard)
  • Noriyasu "Kaasuke" Kawamura (drums) (Originally he was a recording drummer from their first album Break of Dawn, and participated in the tour band from 2008.)

Discography

Studio albums

  • Break of Dawn (2000)
  • New World (2001)
  • Deep Forest (2001)
  • True Song (2002)
  • Gates of Heaven (2003)
  • Need Your Love (2005)
  • Eternal Flame (2009)
  • Eight (2011)
  • Time Machine (2012)
  • Do As Infinity X (2012)
  • Brand New Days (2015)
  • Alive (2018)
  • Do As Infinity (2019)
  • Reborn (2026)

Compilation albums

  • Do the Best (2002)
  • Do the Best+DVD (2004)
  • Do the B-side (2004)
  • Do the A-side (2005)
  • Do the Best "Great Supporters Selection" (2006)
  • Minus V (2006)
  • The Best of Do As Infinity (2014)
  • 2 of Us [Red] -14 Re:Singles- (2016)
  • 2 of Us [Blue] -14 Re:Singles- (2016)
  • Lounge (2019)
  • Do the B-side 2 (2019)

Live albums

  • Do the Live (2003)
  • Live in Japan (2004)
  • Do As Infinity: Final (2006)
  • Do As Infinity 14th Anniversary: Dive At It Limited Live 2013 (2014)
  • Do As Infinity 16th Anniversary: October's Garden (2016)

Box set

  • Do the Box (2006)

References

  • Do As Infinity's official website