A river floating through the woods, the excitement that builds as you near the end of a line for a roller coaster, the twinkling of the stars and the mixture of wonder and shock as one wrestles with the vastness of the universe, Yuka Nagase can pluck-out the melodies and harmonies from all these phenomena and imbue them into her music. An entity who crosses the lines between physical and virtual, reality and daydreams, URL and IRL, one might call Yuka herself an experience to say nothing of the music she makes. Her joining RIOT MUSIC could be called a miracle.
It’s hard to imagine Yuka Nagse sitting at a computer and typing out the application for RIOT MUSIC’s “Virtual Artist Audition Vol. 1.” Of course she eats, sleeps, and gets dressed every day just like everyone else, but something about her seems so elusive, like beyond her normally-aloof expression she’s holding onto some ancient wisdom that allows her to communicate with pure beings of sound. Fact of the matter is though, her introduction to this Virtual Music Agency was through the same audition series that connected RIOT with Iori Matsunaga and Suzuna Nagihara.
How Yuka felt during the audition, how she wowed the judges, it remains a mystery to us. It’s fun to ponder how it may have gone down; Did she just whip out the acoustic guitar and bring them to tears by playing up a bittersweet inflection to her voice? Maybe she allowed her childlike side to flourish, dancing about the synth waves and electronic bubbles common in her original music. Whatever may be the case, Yuka Nagase did indeed pass her addition and in fall of 2021 would start bringing her eclectic compositional stylings into the RIOT MUSIC arsenal where in short-order she would lay the foundations for a lane entirely her own.
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A Brief Highlight of Yuka’s Brightest Moments (So Far!!!)
Yuka Nagase Debuts With RIOT MUSIC
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As if signing with RIOT MUSIC and embarking onto the dream of music making professional came as naturally as eating breakfast, Yuka started off her tenure at the Virtual Music Agency with a cover of YAKUSHIMARU Etsuko’s “AfterSchoolDi(e)stra(u)ction”; A playful track with compounding melodies unlike what anyone else at RIOT had tackled before, yet a natural fit for the eccentric Yuka Nagase.
RIOT MUSIC 1st Live “Re:Volt”
Yuka’s first half a year at RIOT MUSIC smoothly sailed by, and despite the fact that her vibe took on a different energy than her peers, their first collaborative live concert proved to be a huge success! Performing with the whole RIOT family for the first time remains a fond memory for their lovable oddball.
Yuka Nagase Releases 1st Big Original “Kakeru, Tomaru”
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The time came for Yuka to make a definitive, original statement as an artist. A spirit so naturally charismatic and charming, her and her musical collaborators had no trouble agreeing to do something a bit different for her first single: Drawing influence from Japan’s rich history of ever-evolving electronic music, mix with Yuka Nagase’s curious touch, “Kakery, Tomaru'' proudly proclaimed Yuka’s arrival.
Yuka Unleashes Creeping Sensation “Torokeru Tetsugaku” Onto The World
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Reminiscent of a whimsical stroll in the afternoon twilight, Yuka’s “Torokeru Tetsugaku” would slowly catch on across the internet with over 100 millions listens across different platforms as time passed, making it a retroactive milestone for the young artist.
RIOT MUSIC’s 1st Mini-Album “RIOT OF EMOTIONS”
Yuka Drops Original Song “Zurui Yo Ne” For The Album
A year and a half and already having clawed their way to recognition, RIOT MUSIC deemed the time right to release their first collaborative album RIOT OF EMOTIONS. Titled after the Virtual Music Agency’s core mission, to start a RIOT OF EMOTIONS that would change the world, each member collaborated on a group single and contributed one new original. Yuka’s ‘Zurui Yo Ne’ saw her present a stripped down, melancholic side of herself.
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Yuka Nagase Releases First Album “a look front”
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Perhaps inspired by working on “RIOT OF EMOTIONS,” Yuka Nagase decided to release her own full length album with RIOT MUSIC, a first for any of the artists in the Agency! Cycling through 8 colorful songs that each reflect a different shade of Yuka Nagase, listening to the playful yet introspective “a look front” could be the closest any of us will ever get to being able to understand the complex inner workings of RIOT’s radiant and most unpredictable musical force.
Yuka Holds First Solo Concerts “Alook”
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Yuka Nagse, not content to just put out the album and go home, just days later held her first ever solo live concert. While this was a streaming affair, in typical Yuka fashion it blurred the lines between dimensions throwing the restrictions on being a Virtual Artist out the window. A partial archive remains available to watch. A small editor’s note here, be sure to check out the event website for a fun internet throwback~
RIOT MUSIC “Re:Volt 2022”
After Yuka finished embarking on a wealth of solo activity, she joined back up with her RIOT MUSIC sisters for the second Re:Volt, straight from Shibuya. With the dynamic Miona Sumeragi now in the fray and more experience under everyone’s belts, Yuka and her team knocked this concert out of the park!
Yuka Nagase Drops 2 Originals In One Day
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If you haven’t realized it by now, Yuka Nagase constantly graces sounds and harmonies with her voice. When one original’s finished, her mind’s already beginning to coalesce around the next. For a melodic creature like her, it's the equivalent to breathing. This time, she saw fit to release the “Binetsuen / Mizuiro no kimi” double single both translating drastically different halves of her into song: The former the most intimate and intense song she’s done yet, and letter cushioning the heavy blow with a dose of soft whimsy.
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Yuka Delivers Yet Another Original 1 Month Later
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Like she needed to get one more piece of her soul out there, Yuka would follow up her double single with “Kyou to Mada Bye Bye Shitakunai No,” roughly translating to “I don’t want to say bye yet today.” With a heavy pop sensibility and something more upbeat than usual coming from Yuka, it’s clear she still has so much more to show everyone.
Yuka Nagase Heads to AFA Singapore For International Debut
At the time of publishing we are days away from Yuka Nagase making her international debut at AFA Singapore 2022, the first for any RIOT artist. Being the most leftfield out of the line-up, sending her out in the world showcases RIOT MUSIC’s diversity in the RIOT OF EMOTIONS they strive to create, as well as acknowledging how far along Yuka herself has come as a live performer.
Turning heads all over the world, you can’t help but feel a little curious and a little inspired when you hear Yuka Nagase. From her inspired choices of covers, to her genre-bending originals, even the way she’s innovated her live-performances, it’s not hard to see just how much she cares about music. Her first two years with RIOT MUSIC have been a blast and we hope you’ll join her for what happens next!
Music video from my new EP People Who Know You Don’t Know You. Made the song, shot and edited all the footage. Links to stream/download: https://songwhip.com/eggplantpurplemoves/people-who-know-you-don%C2%B4t-know-you