Olivia Lufkin
Olivia Lufkin (born December 9, 1979), professionally known as Olivia, is a Japanese-American bilingual singer and songwriter.[2] She is the daughter of a Japanese mother and an American father.[3] Her two younger siblings are Jeffrey Lufkin, a musician she regularly collaborates with, and Caroline Lufkin, an independent musician. Lufkin began her solo career after singing in the Japanese girl group, D&D. She gained mainstream success in 2006 after creating songs for the fictional band Trapnest under the alias of Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest). The songs were used for the popular anime adaptation of Nana.[4]
Olivia Lufkin | |
|---|---|
 Olivia Lufkin at the 2007 Japan Expo | |
| Born | December 9, 1979[1] Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Other names | Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Height | 153 cm (5 ft 0 in) |
| Spouse(s) | Owen Vallis ( m. 2012) |
| Relatives | Caroline Lufkin (younger sister) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres |
|
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels |
|
| Associated acts | D&D |
| Website | avexnet |
Early life
Lufkin was born in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. In 1982 she moved to San Diego, California, then back to Okinawa. Olivia later moved to North Carolina for two years before returning to Okinawa.
Career
Olivia was discovered by the director of "Rising Productions" (Vision Factory) while attending the Okinawa Actors' School, subsequently signing to Avex Trax as part of the Japanese idol group D&D. Producer Tetsuya Komuro heard of Olivia one day and decided that she would be perfect for a project he was planning along with Jean Michel Jarre. The project was to create the theme song for the 1998 FIFA World Cup entitled Together Now. The single was released a month after D&D's first and only album. It was then decided that D&D would separate into two groups: 'Olivia' as Olivia's solo-project and Aya & Chika as Aya & Chika from D&D.[5]
1999–2002: Solo artist
Her first single, "I.L.Y. (Yokubō)," had a driving pop rock sound. While she did not write her first two singles, which were composed and produced by T2ya, she wrote her third single, "Dear Angel," and most of her singles since then.
In 1999 and 2000, Olivia released six singles, all with a pop-rock sound.[6] Toward the end of 2000, she released her first solo album, Synchronicity, which contained all singles released to date, five new tracks and one bonus track. It would peak at number twenty on the Oricon Charts.
After a hiatus of more than a year, Olivia began to take control of her career, releasing her seventh single "Sea Me" on December 12, 2001. This single marks her switch to one of Avex Trax's sub-labels, Cutting Edge, from which she continues to release singles and albums.[7] Her releases became increasingly rare and sporadic thereafter, with a Video Clips Collection appearing four months later.
Olivia's next single, "Into the Stars," was planned to be released in July 2002 with an album at the end of the year. However, plans were changed as the single was postponed until September. The album release was similarly delayed.
2003–2004: New style
2003 saw a complete style change and an onslaught of mini-albums as she began a series of collaborations with her brother, Jeffrey Lufkin. During this time, her music became considerably darker in both style and lyrical content. Instead of singles, four mini-albums were released exclusively through Tower Records Japan in Shibuya, Tokyo. These included: Internal Bleeding Strawberry, Merry&Hell Go Round, Comatose Bunny Butcher and The Return of the Chlorophyll Bunny.[8]
Alongside this, Olivia decided to launch a rare-items fashion label called Black Daisy Ville with her friend Friedia Niimura (Rin Kozue). This fashion line continued until the summer of 2004 featuring a line of clothes and accessories. Friedia later moved to the United States and the line discontinued.
In 2004, Olivia released her second album The Lost Lolli. This album primarily featured the best material from her four mini-albums and introduced two new tracks, "Alone in Our Castle" and "Fake Flowers" as well as two re-arrangements. The album was released nationwide with a limited first press version available at Tower Records Japan. "SpiderSpins (Lost Lolli Mix)" would be used as a promotional radio single and video for the release. The Lost Lolli would only peak at #111 on the Oricon Charts. However, despite the moderate success of the album, Avex Trax released an overseas version of this album, reflecting Olivia's increasing success outside Japan. Typically, only chart-topping artists release overseas versions of their albums.
2005–2006: Hiatus
After releasing The Lost Lolli, Olivia went on an unofficial hiatus except for a performance at the "Halloween of the Living Dead" concert hosted by Hyde on October 30, 2005. She continued to work as a fashion model.
In 2006 she provided vocals for the lead vocalist character Reira Serizawa in the fictional band Trapnest as a part of the anime adaptation of Nana.[9] She produced songs under the alias Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) alongside fellow Avex artist, Anna Tsuchiya, who plays the role of Nana Osaki, the vocalist for Trapnest's rival band Black Stones.
The manga's author, Ai Yazawa, asked for Olivia when a staff member at Avex gave her a copy of Olivia's singles "Sea Me" and "Into the Stars". It is reported that she exclaimed, "It can only be her!" when she first heard the music. "A Little Pain" was Olivia's first release for this role in which she first made the general theme to the lyrics, then wrote the song in English. Later on, the lyrics were changed to Japanese. The single is about "Reira's loneliness, pain, and strength," as Olivia found that she could relate well to the character.
Olivia later said that her musical expression had changed, that the hiatus was because she had been "feeling pretty depressed," and "started to notice and realize a lot of her faults" and that her style "has gotten a lot more detailed," it's "pleasing to the ear"and "a lot cooler". Olivia had to research Reira's character, as she "never really read manga". "A Little Pain" is specifically tailored to the point of view of Reira. She states, "It was fun to sing as another person. Like an actress. I wrote the lyrics with the image that Reira looked to herself and wrote it. But because she's Reira, she has to help all around her, and that’s why it seems as though she sings for everyone, but she sings for herself. I wrote it with that idea in my mind."[10]
When "A Little Pain" was first released, it reached number eight on the Oricon Charts, her first top ten hit. After the second week, this single had outsold the total sales for her debut single, "I.L.Y. (Yokubō)" which was her highest selling single to date at the time.[2]
Olivia continued to release Nana-related material throughout 2006. The next opening and ending theme songs used were both by Olivia. The single "Wish/Starless Night" was released in October and peaked at number seven. Following the success of these releases, Olivia's first US appearance was scheduled for the Asian entertainment convention Pacific Media Expo held in Los Angeles, California in October 2006.[11]
2007–present: modest success
On January 17, 2007, The Cloudy Dreamer was released in CD and CD+DVD formats. The album debuted at number fifteen on the Oricon Weekly Charts - her highest ranking album to date. In addition to the singles previously released, the mini-album also featured the songs "Dream Catcher", which was used as the ending theme for the live action television drama series of Jigoku Shōjo, "If You Only Knew", which was used as the main theme for the Korean drama The Snow Queen, as well as an English version of "Wish". Later in February, the compilation album Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) was released featuring the singles from the Nana and some new songs.
Nana Best, another compilation album, was released shortly thereafter. This album featured the hit songs from the anime and one unreleased song by both Olivia and Anna Tsuchiya.[12] Olivia and Anna performed these songs together live at Shibuya-AX in March 2007.[13]
On July 6, 2007, Olivia held a concert in Paris, France at the popular venue, La Locomotive[14] singing songs from Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest), The Lost Lolli and The Cloudy Dreamer. She made a guest appearance at the Japan Expo on July 6 and 7.
A new song, "Bleeding Heart" was a collaborative effort with her brother, Jeffrey Lufkin. It appeared on the Vision Factory compilation album Flower Festival: Vision Factory Presents.[15] It was released on March 19, 2008.
Olivia released her sixth mini album, Trinka Trinka, on September 17 with all new material.[16] It featured "Rain", which was used as the second ending theme to K-tai Investigator 7. The track line up confused fans as a few of the track titles were changed, such as "Real Love" which she premiered during her Paris concert, which was renamed to "Your Smile" and quite possibly "I'm So Excited" was retitled as "Trinka Trinka". Following the release of this mini album, Olivia held a live show on October 24, 2008, at Shibuya Womb.
On December 30, 2008, Olivia participated in a duo showcase with Inoran in which she covered a few of his songs such as "Owl's Tear" and "Monsoon Baby". They talked about their collaboration single which was released on April 15, 2009. It was titled "Sailing Free" and it served as the theme song to a new game of the saga Sengoku Basara, called "Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes". "Sailing Free" was her first single in three years.
Trinka Trinka was re-released in France which included "Sailing Free" and it's b-sides (Love Love Love and Undress) along with a bonus track which was revealed to be World's End Girlfriend's remix of "If You Only Knew". She gave a concert for the visitors of the German Anime convention Connichi at the Kongress Palais of Kassel (former Stadthalle Kassel) from September 10–12, 2010. Olivia talked about a new release, a greatest hits album that was released on October 13, 2010. The Greatest Hits album included two brand new tracks called "Sunlight" and "Be Your Friend". These tracks saw another turn in Olivia's musical style; a combination of Trinka Trinka's pop style and The Lost Lolli's dark electronica.
Olivia's latest live appearance was at UppCon 2011, after which she took a hiatus from the music industry.
Personal life
She started working at a kindergarten in Okinawa, and later moved to California. In 2012, she married Canadian Owen Vallis.[17] They had a son Atlas in January 2014.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales[19] |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [20] | |||
| Synchronicity | 20 | 41,000 | |
| The Lost Lolli |
|
121 | 2,700 |
| Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) |
|
24 | 14,000 |
Extended plays
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales[19] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [20] |
TWN East Asian [21] | |||
| Internal Bleeding Strawberry |
|
— | — | |
| Merry & Hell Go Round |
|
— | — | |
| Comatose Bunny Butcher |
|
— | — | |
| The Return of the Chlorophyll Bunny |
|
— | — | |
| The Cloudy Dreamer |
|
15 | — | 19,000 |
| Trinka Trinka |
|
76 | 20 | 1,700 |
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Peak positions | Sales[19] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPN [20][22] |
TWN East Asian [21][upper-alpha 1] | |||
| Nana Best |
|
20 | 3 | 21,000 |
| Greatest Hits |
|
108 | — | 900 |
Singles
As a lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales[19] | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Singles Charts [20] |
Billboard Japan Hot 100 [23][upper-alpha 2] | ||||
| "ILY (Yokubō)" | 1999 | 32 | — | 25,000 | Synchronicity |
| "Re-act" | 29 | — | 22,000 | ||
| "Dear Angel" | 29 | — | 15,000 | ||
| "Dress Me Up" | 2000 | 36 | — | 22,000 | |
| "Dekinai" | 57 | — | 4,000 | ||
| "Color of Your Spoon" | 30 | — | 14,000 | ||
| "Sea Me" | 2001 | 89 | — | 2,500 | The Lost Lolli |
| "Into the Stars" | 2002 | 99 | — | 2,000 | |
| "A Little Pain"[upper-alpha 3] | 2006 | 8 | — | 43,000 | Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest) |
| "Wish"[upper-alpha 4] | 7 | — | 28,000 | ||
| "Starless Night"[upper-alpha 5] | — | ||||
| "Sailing Free" | 2009 | 25 | —[upper-alpha 6] | 4,200 | Greatest Hits |
As a featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Sales[19] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oricon Singles Charts [20] | ||||
| "Together Now" (Jean Michel Jarre & Tetsuya Komuro) | 1998 | 32 | 76,000 | Music of the World Cup: Allez! Ola! Ole! |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Japan Hot 100 [23] | |||
| "Spiderspins" | 2004 | — | The Lost Lolli |
| "Stars Shining Out" | 2007 | — | The Cloudy Dreamer |
| "If You Only Knew (World's End Girlfriend Remix)" | — | non-album single | |
| "Rain" | 2008 | —[upper-alpha 7] | Trinka Trinka |
DVDs
- Video Clips - Cutting Edge - March 13, 2002
Other appearances
| Title | Year | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Welcome to the Museum" (Tetsuya Komuro) | 1998 | TK 1998: Latest Works | Chorus |
| "Dreams" (Tetsuya Komuro) | |||
| "Empty Lies" (Tetsuya Komuro) | |||
| "Bleeding Heart" | 2008 | Flower Festival: Vision Factory Presents | |
| "Calling (Kingdom Mix)" | 2012 | Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance OST | The World Ends with You soundtrack song cover |
Notes
- Position for Nana Best was taken from .
- The Japan Hot 100 was established in February 2008.
- As Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest).
- As Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest).
- As Olivia Inspi' Reira (Trapnest).
- Charted at number 33 on the Billboard Japan Hot Singles Sales chart.[24]
- Charted at number 81 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Airplay chart.[25]
References
- "D&D" (in Japanese). Avex Trax. 1999. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- Oricon Profile Retrieved November 09 2007
- "English interview "OLIVIA's Birthday Interview"". 2009-08-12.
- "Olivia Profile". Official Website Profile Information (in Japanese). Avex Entertainment. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- J!-ENT Interviews Olivia Retrieved December 09 2006
- Olivia biography Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 09 2007
- Olivia profile Retrieved November 09 2007
- Olivia @allmusic Retrieved November 09 2007
- Jame profile Archived 2007-05-25 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 09 2007
- translation of Olivia interview from her official web Archived 2007-02-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 09 2007
- Olivia live at PMX Archived 2007-10-29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 09 2007
- J!-ENT Nana Event Spotlight Retrieved November 09 2007
- Nana Premium live Archived 2009-07-01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 09 2007
- Olivia Live in Paris Archived 2007-10-29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved November 09 2007
- Flower Festival Official Website Retrieved March 27, 2008
- Trinka Trinka album listing Retrieved August 08 2008
- Nautiljon Profile
- "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- "OLIVIAのリリース一覧" [A Look at Olivia's Releases]. Oricon. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- "G-Music J-Pop Chart" (in Chinese). G-Music. 2007 week 21, 2008 week 38. Archived from the original on May 8, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- "Nana Best". Oricon. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- "Hot 100｜JAPAN Charts｜Billboard JAPAN" (in Japanese). Billboard.
- "Hot Singles Sales 2009/04/27". Billboard (in Japanese). April 27, 2009. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
- "Adult Contemporary Airplay 2008/09/22". Billboard (in Japanese). September 22, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olivia Lufkin. |
- Official blog (in Japanese)
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Olivia Lufkin discography at MusicBrainz
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