aiko opened the doors to a professional career as an artist, all while living a full life as a DJ. Though she still felt very passionate about singing, multiple challenges awaited her.
ーDid you start up your music activities in earnest once you graduated from junior college with the hopes of becoming a professional?
aiko: Yeah, I wrote songs and did concerts.
ーWere you solo then? Or were you in a band?
aiko: I was never in any bands after graduating. I did everything solo. My friends helped out when I held concerts, though.
ーDid you have any part-time jobs?
aiko: Yes. I had a part-time job as a DJ that I’d had since I was in music school. I kept working there even after I graduated.
ーWhat got you started as a radio DJ?
aiko: There was this producer from FM OSAKA who came to see me every now and then when I was in the “Teens Music Festival”. He gave me his business card back then. I got a phone call from him about half a year later where he invited me to go get a coffee with him. I went; I was totally stoked. “We’re doing an audition for our radio program,” he told me when I got there. “Why don’t you try out?” I panicked at that but then we got to talking, and he was like, “Go on, just try and chit-chat.” There was an actual DJ thereーthey were doing an audition to find someone to pair him up with. That DJ was this super professional, amazing guy named Yaguchi Kiyoharu. For my audition, I put on “Primal” by ORIGINAL LOVE and did a track-by-track introduction. Every time I talked, the studio standing outside the window would chuckle.
ーDid you say something funny?
aiko: Nah, I don’t remember saying anything funny at all. I was a total amateurーso I guess that must’ve been kinda funny. (laughs) I had zero clue what a radio DJ was supposed to be like and it was my very first radio audition. Not to mention, I never went to school for that. I was just talking as myself. The next day, I got a phone call saying they decided to put me on the program. The only thing I managed to say was, “WHAT!?”
ーYou’ve loved and listened to the radio since you were a little kid though. Maybe you were an ‘amateur’, but I’m sure you must’ve picked up on some key points.
aiko: Maybe you’re right… I really did listen to the radio a lot. As a kid, it didn’t matter if I was super duper playful and bubbly at school. When I got home I’d hole myself up in my room and listen to the radio. Sometimes I thought about the things I’d do if I were a DJ while I listened along. I also used to leave these really long messages on my friends’ answering machines of me talking like I was a DJ. I even added commercials in the middleーI’d go, “Chara Cha-chara, Cha-cha-cha!” like a commercial jingle. (laughs)
ーSo what kind of radio show did you do for your celebration-worthy first job as a DJ?
aiko: It was a music program called “Count Down Kansai TOP40” that ran on Mondays from 3 to 5 AM. I introduced top 40 songs on that week’s charts, and between songs I’d read postcards from my listeners or talk about artist information. Basically, an abbreviated version of another show that played on different weekday from 12 to 8 PM about the top 100. I had originally auditioned to be the assistant for the super long 12-8 PM program, but since I did such a great job chatting them up, they thought I’d be a better fit for the late-night sister program.
ーBut I’m sure you must’ve felt like there was a lot of pressure on you having to talk all by yourself as a brand new DJ, didn’t you?