English Page
◆Summary
gutyco writes songs and sings as she pleases. Her songs have no boarders, though you can find “Enka” (popular music genre in Japan that adopts Japanese traditional vocal style) and “Kayo- Kyoku” (also a popular Japanese music genre, a base of modern J-pop) at the base of her song writing.
gutyco sings as she plays the piano, with orchestral samplers, and with a band (acoustic or electronic). gutyco also creates visual art in digital media and edits her own music videos, embracing herself as a multi-creator.
When asked what her favorite book is, she would answer “the Three Musketeers”- D’Artagnan is her hero and aspiration.
◆Biography
gutyco was born in Wakayama, raised in Osaka.
Music was always around gutyco when she was growing up, as her parents loved music both Japanese or otherwise. Her father, a big music enthusiast, especially had a large influence on gutyco to have desire and passion for writing songs and singing.
The first song gutyco learned to sing was “San toi ma mie,” a chanson that was translated into Japanese and massively popular in Japan in the 1960’s, and her father used to sing the song all the time. By the age of four, gutyco was able to correct her father when he sang it wrong. gutyco still clearly remembers the joy of being complemented for having pointed out the mistake that her father made in the lyrics, and admits that this was probably when her childhood dream of becoming a singer came about.
In her late teenage years, gutyco worked towards the dream but only to fail. Her passion dried out when both of her parents passed away within the same year before she turned twenty. gutyco found herself having become “just an ordinary adult who happened to love singing.”
When she started working as an office worker, her co-workers invited her to join their band as a vocalist. With no knowledge of chords, let alone any ability to play one single musical instrument, gutyco immersed herself in singing. Five years had passed when the band started to crumble.
gutyco faced a harsh reality that she could not sing without someone else playing a musical instrument for her.
In 2008, at the age of 33, gutyco decided to learn how to play the piano and the guitar. Through her teachers of these two instruments, gutyco learned chords, songwriting, and basic musical theory for the first time in life. It was a battle against time and the not-so-young brain and hands, but gutyco kept practicing everyday. Her lost passion gradually came back and her hard practice started to pay off. As she gained experiences in songwriting and singing as she played the piano or the guitar, gutyco started to believe one thing; with passion, anyone can achieve anything.
In her songs gutyco beautifully or sometimes with her quirky sense of humor writes about yin and yang of life, weaving stories of obstacles, sorrow, and suffering, but in a mysterious way one can find hope by the end of her song.
gutyco started her career as a musician on opening-act stages in 2011 after being a part of an acoustic band. In 2012, gutyco wrote and produced her debut album “Doll and Master.” Although with no publicity, she gathered 124 people in the audience for her first solo concert. With this success, gutyco ventured out to perform at local venues and events.
In 2015, gutyco produced and released her second album, “Beyond the Illusion.” and sold 237 tickets for her second solo concert. In the November of the following year, gutyco released “the Song of Beginning,” her third album. Through 2017, gutyco performed on many stages; large or small, solo or with other musicians, locally and in distant cities. In 2018, gutyco let go of her salary paying job to focus on her career in music as an artist, which brought her yet more challenges.
Her personality and rather limited musical skills have taken her so far, but she wants more; expand her fan base so that more people can enjoy her music. Having realized the appetite for further guidance in skills, she dove into intensive musical and vocal training in 2019, as well as accepting more offers to perform live.
gutyco’s drive to create and perform better with more originality never dies— gutyco continues to write songs and sing so she can remind her audience that they are the protagonist of their own stories called life.
