After joining KAZUYA (ex. FANATIC CRISIS) to form BOUNTY in March 2007, Aoi also began dividing his time between BOUNTY and his solo career. He released his first maxi-single as a solo artist, VISION, in December, and it reached 16th on the Oricon Indies chart.
In 2008, Aoi moved onward with an ambitious schedule. Continuously booked with live performances at visual kei hot spots like Takadanobaba AREA, HOLIDAY SHINJUKU, CLUB JUNK BOX, and SENDAI HOOK, he released his second single EDEN on May 28. This single made it to 7th place on the Oricon indies chart. Both of these singles have Aoi on vocals, Tohru Nagae on drums, SHUN as guitarist, and OYABUN (Little Non) playing bass. Aoi composed the music and lyrics for all of the songs, while the arrangements were done by both himself and his drummer Tohru Nagae. Not even a month after EDEN’s release, his first full album, Veil, went on sale.
In July 2008 Aoi ventured to Europe and performed in Villepinte, France at the largest Japanese culture event in Europe, Japan Expo. He followed up with a return to France in November for a conference and autograph session at Chibi Japan Expo in Marseilles.
Aoi’s first release of 2009 was the maxi-single MASQUERADE, which came out in February. Further expanding his fan base overseas, in June he ventured to Germany and appeared at the Japanese culture event Japantag in Düsseldorf for a signing session, and made an appearance at this year's Japan Expo. In late July and early August he performed in Bonn, Germany and Paris, France respectively during his Aoi - Euro Tour 2009. Aoi is certainly a promising new artist you'll want to be sure to keep an eye on.
As a solo artist, Aoi follows an unusual path for a new visual kei act. His music creates its own atmosphere that overlaps heavy low sounds with lighter scampering elements, and includes a nice range of instruments such as keyboards and violins.
Aoi's lyrics often exist in a fantastic setting while still conveying reality, and his songs already show a diversity of styles, some of which will draw you in with their sadly delicate melodies, while others are more energetic and will really get audiences stirred up at lives.
