Tomiko Van

Tomiko Van (伴 都美子, Tomiko Van?)
Tomiko Van, at Shibuya with Do As Infinity partners.
Background information
Birth name	伴 都美子 (Van Tomiko,Pronounced: Ban Tomiko)
Also known as	Ban-chan
Born	January 9 1979 (1979-01-09) (age 30)
Origin	Yamato, Kumamoto, Japan
Genre(s)	J-Pop, J-Rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1999-2005 (Do As Infinity) 2005-Present (solo)
Label(s)	Avex Trax
Website	Official Site

Tomiko Van (伴 都美子, Ban Tomiko^?) (born January 9, 1979), is a Japanese J-Pop singer and also former member of the now disbanded band Do As Infinity, along with Ryo Owatari and Dai Nagao.

Career

Do As Infinity

Main article: Do As Infinity

First steps as solo artist

Tomiko gave her first steps as a solo artist while she was on D·A·I with the songs "Again", which appeared in charity album Song Nation, and later in 2003 with the song "drive me nuts", which was recorded for trance DJs project Cyber X. (Tomiko also appeared in six commercials for Japanese hair products company, LAVENUS ^[1].

Official solo career

2005

After Do As Infinity disbanded in September 2005, Avex Trax, Tomiko's label, announced that the singer was about to go as a solo artist.^{[citation needed]} However, before the announcement of the split-up, the official website was already found and posted by some fans on D·A·I forums, it led to an even bigger suspicion among the fans that Do As Infinity would split.^{[citation needed]}

2006

In 2006 Tomiko made her debut as a solo artist with her album FAREWELL, with an all new music style, with mainly soft ballads, and even getting into jazz tunes, a style really different from old her works with band Do As Infinity. Surprisingly for a Japanese artist, no singles were released prior to her album for promoting it and helping sales, and the album was finally released in March 2006.

Her first official single as a solo artist, Flower, was released in June of the same year, and managed to enter the weekly top 10 of the Japanese charts. Two other singles followed that year, one being Senkou, in stores in September, and the other being Yumeji, a late November release. On October 3, 2006, Tomiko announced that she shall make her debut role in the Japanese movie, Heat ISLAND, as a café bar manager. Apparently, it has already begun its production process. Tomiko also announced her second stage-play role in a Japanese version of a recent play in America, Brooklyn, which shall involve her singing talent as well as acting. However, she has stated that this will not put a halt on her career as a singer.

2007

2007 started out with Tomiko's first cover album entitled VOICE ~cover you with love~. Though entering the top 20, the album was not considered a great success as it did not manage to sell as well as her original album FAREWELL a year before. The album was the singer's only release that year.

2008

In 2008, Tomiko's 3rd and 2nd cover album, VOICE ~cover lovers rock~, is due in March. This time, she tries covering songs performed by male artists, such as SPITZ and Masaharu Fukuyama. Despite her one year hiatus from the music scene, the album charted at #10 on the 1st day of release, which can be considered good, given her hiatus and being a cover album.

Discography

Singles

Albums

Featured and collaborative releases

• drive me nuts (Cyber X Feat. Tomiko Van)
• TRUTH'94-meets tomiko van- (Cover version of TRF's original song)
• again (Various Artists album, Songnation, an Avex project consisting of collaborations between many different Avex artists)

References

External links

• (Japanese) Official Website
• Tomiko Van at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Tomiko Van

es:Tomiko Van

ko:반 도미코 he:טומיקו ואן ja:伴都美子 pl:Tomiko Van pt:Tomiko Van zh-yue:伴都美子