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history

the foundations

Do As Infinity was formed in September 1999. This date would become sentimental and important, as DAI would use the month of September to mark other major turning points in the band's career. Each band member worked seperately as amateur musicians and songwriters who auditioned for major record label Avex. Eventually, they were all signed and introduced through Avex, with Dai Nagao being the first to be recruited for a new project - which he named after himself.

The band started out with a long series of intense street performance concerts that would eventually become legendary. 100 live concerts were performed in on streets and in music stores at different spots in Japan, including Tokyo's Shibuya district, Fukuoka, Yokohama, and Kumamoto. As an unknown band still looking to prove themselves, DAI would also hand out free copies of their music to willing strangers in the city. Their efforts paid off when, during their final free live concert of the legendary streak, the band members noticed that many attendees of previous concerts had returned as fans.

This initial series of street performances cemented Do As Infinity's strength of powerful live performances, something they continued to focus on all throughout their career, regardless of how famous they became. The first single released was Tangerine Dream. The road to success was gradual, but they gained more and more passionate fans throughout the years as their music was spread. After a few years of hard work, Do As Infinity reached wide-spread popularity in Japan. They became notable for their strong concerts, which did not include any fancy gimmicks, props, or special effects - just great rock music. Among anime fans internationally, Do As Infinity became best known for singing anime Inuyasha ending theme songs, Fukai Mori and Shinjitsu no Uta.

the disbanding

They disbanded in September 2005 after six years of great music. DAI held a final concert at Budokan on the sixth anniversary of their debut single. The split was amicable and hinted at through previous song releases. Afterwards, Tomiko pursued a solo career and released four albums: Farewell, Voice, Voice 2, and Van. Ryo formed a new band, Missile Innovation. Dai continued to write songs for various high-profile artists under the Avex Trax label.

the resurrection

In 2008, DAI announced their reformation. This was done during a surprise appearance (and performance) at the summer A-Nation concert festival. In true DAI style, Do As Infinity celebrated this with a free live concert in Tokyo the day after their official reunion date. Tomiko and Ryo returned, but Dai did not.

Coming full circle with the anime series that brought them many fans in the past, DAI provided the opening theme song for Inuyasha's final season. DAI's first new single after this reunion was ∞1, released in June 2009, and their first new album since the reformation was released in September 2009, titled Eternal Flame. Their 2011-released album, Eight, received positive reviews from fans as being notably better quality and more innovative than Eternal Flame.