Mayu Nakazawa (中澤真由 ''Nakazawa Mayu''), known by the stage name immi, is a Japanese
Electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
singer and songwriter. She is signed onto
DefStar Records.
[
] While she writes and composes her own music, she is also regularly produced by N.A.i.D. and JETBIKINI.
History
Nakazawa has had experience with the arts since childhood. She learned to play piano at the age of five and took several art classes over the next seven years. After entering high school, she began to create her own music and perform live at various local venues. At the age of 16, she met producer Satoshi Kadokura through a family friend. He recommended that Nakazawa begin to pursue a music career in Tokyo. Shortly after graduating from university in 2001, Nakazawa signed onto
Universal Music Japan
, often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...
using her real name, where she released four singles and one album over the course of one year. However, sales flopped and her material failed to chart on the Oricon rankings.
[
] Nakazawa then stopped releasing further material with Universal Music as she was dismissed from the label.
In 2007, she adopted the stage name immi and made several releases with the label Grand Trax (a division of her management agency Grand Funk), along with digital distribution by
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
,
Napster
Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...
, and
Mora
Mora may refer to:
People
* Mora (surname)
Places Sweden
* Mora, Säter, Sweden
* Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality
* Mora Municipality, Sweden
United States
* Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community
* Mora, Minnesota, a city
* M ...
. Her first single, "Cosmic Pink", was released on 28 November 2007 on iTunes Japan and was downloaded over 50,000 times in one week. The song "Local Train" was used in a commercial for
Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
. Her second single, "Klaxon", was released on 12 March 2008, and contained a cover of "
Lovesong" by
The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...
. On 6 August 2008, she released her first album ''Switch'' on iTunes, and a physical CD edition was released on 10 September 2008.
In the summer of 2009, she signed to
DefStar Records and released her first
EP with the label, ''Wonder EP'', on 22 July 2009. Her second EP, ''Alice EP'', was released on 14 October 2009.
Immi's fourth overall single and first maxi single after signing onto DefStar Records, "Sign of Love," was released on 19 May 2010. The title track is the opening theme for the
noitaminA
is a Japanese Block programming, programming block on Fuji TV devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 00:45 to 1:15. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typic ...
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
''
House of Five Leaves
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsume Ono. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Monthly Ikki'' from November 2005 to July 2010, with its chapters published in eight volumes under the Ikki Comix imprin ...
''. On 27 May 2010, Immi's official website announced the release of her first major studio-length album, ''Spiral'', to be released on 16 June 2010. The album includes the title tracks from ''Wonder EP'', ''Alice EP'', and "Sign of Love."
She is now part of Tacomimi, DJ unit formed by her and longtime collaborator Jetbikini.
As of 2021, she composes as part of D i AN, a collaboration between her, producer A-Bee and vocalist Seidenba Saku.
Discography
Studio albums
;as Mayu Nakazawa
* ''Step into My Heart'' (27 November 2002)
;as immi
* ''Switch'' (6 August 2008)
* ''Spiral'' (16 June 2010)
Remix albums
;as immi
* ''RimmiX'' (25 March 2009)
Extended plays
;as Mayu Nakazawa
* ''Jellyfish EP'' (1 January 2006)
;as immi
* ''Wonder EP'' (22 July 2009)
* ''Alice EP'' (14 October 2009)
* ''Two Faced EP'' (20 November 2015)
Singles
;as Mayu Nakazawa
* "Hoka no Daredemo Nai Anata Wa" (28 November 2001)
* "Changes" (27 February 2002)
* "I wanna let you know ~Ai no Michijun~" (10 July 2002)
* "Funky Flushin'/Not One of Us" (6 November 2002)
;as immi
* "Cosmic Pink" (28 November 2007)
* "
Klaxon
A horn is a sound-making device that can be equipped to motor vehicles, buses, bicycles, trains, trams (otherwise known as streetcars in North America), and other types of vehicles. The sound made usually resembles a "honk" (older vehicles) or a ...
" (12 March 2008)
* "RimmiX (HMV Limited)" (7 January 2009)
* "Sign of Love" (19 May 2010)
Collaborations
;The PBJ (feat. immi) (2 songs)
* "Luminosity Abundance" (7 October 2015)
References
External links
IMMI WorksImmi's official blogUniversal Music Japan profileGrand Trax LabelDiAN Facebook page{{Authority control
1983 births
Defstar Records artists
Japanese electronic musicians
Japanese electronica musicians
Living people
Musicians from Aichi Prefecture
Place of birth missing (living people)
Japanese women in electronic music