Sifow
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| sifow シーフォウ |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | 藤田志穂 (Fujita Shiho) |
| Also known as | sifow |
| Born | May 11, 1985 |
| Origin | Chiba, Japan |
| Genre(s) | J-pop |
| Years active | 2005– |
| Label(s) | Avex Trax |
| Website | http://www.avexnet.or.jp/sifow/ |
sifow (シーフォウ?) (born Fujita Shiho (藤田志穂?) on May 11, 1985 in Chiba, Japan), is a Japanese pop singer signed under the Avex Trax music label.
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[edit] Biography
At the age of 19, sifow started realizing she had a bad image of herself because she was a ganguro gyaru. Ganguro girls are generally known not to study hard at school and not pursue any goal or career. Their tans pose a significant health risk, specifically to skin cancer. Thus ganguros are usually seen as not caring about their future and only living the moment. For this reason, they are rarely taken seriously by society. Because of her appearance, sifow suffered a lot of prejudice and she started to consider her image and herself more seriously. sifow felt her image projected an unclean and misleading image of herself. She started keeping a blog and considering her future. Her blog contained her dreams and ambitions and soon started getting a lot of attention. She felt the need of getting people take her seriously.
In April 2006, she set up her own company and christened it "G-Revo" which means "gal revolution". It received a lot of support from her blog readers and her friends. The idea of the company started in January 2005 when she published her opinion on how people think of gyaru. It was simply a journal of interviews and columns that were positive and served as a shout out to the younger generation, in particular males. Her aim was basically to recreate a fresher image of a gyaru. She wants to prove that the real meaning behind being a gyaru is their fashion, attitude, speech and feelings.
In 2004, sifow started her modeling career, which gave her a lot of exposure in fashion magazines. She also appeared in the magazine for "Gal's World - Charisma". However, she soon realized she wanted to sing rather than simply model. She came up with the stage name sifow and made her debut in the indie scene with a self produced single titled "I Uta". This single was released on April 17, 2005 and all the promotion and sales were done online from her official site. A promotional video was also filmed. Surprisingly enough she sold 500 copies in 8 minutes and 1,000 copies within three days. The single was limited to 2,000 copies which were sold out. For the reason of her internet promotion, sifow started being called a "net-artist". Later on sifow released her second single "mermaid story" and her third/fourth single "Apple - blue/red", which both sold out. Her singles got a lot of attention because of her unique sense of style.
In 2005 she got noticed by avex trax and she got a contract from them. Her first release was her mini album titled "& YOU revolution", released February 15, 2006. Two tracks were new, while the other three were from her previous releases. They were rearranged and rerecorded. sifow also filmed a promotional video for one of her songs from this album, "Jewel". It was directed by Takahide Ishii, who also directed Ami Suzuki's "To be Free" and a few Exile clips. Nonetheless avex seemed to give little promotion to sifow's album and it did not get a lot of attention. That same month, sifow also modeled for Konami’s "DDR Strike".
sifow released a book titled "a gal revolution" on April 17, 2006 and was limited to 20,000 copies. The reprint had already been decided even before the publication, due to popular demand. In May, sifow returned with a single titled "CLOVER". Both songs included within the single were upbeat and invigorating. Her promotional video was filmed in Okinawa and made a strong use of contrasts.
On May 19, 2006, sifow opened a clothes outlet, called "REVROSSA×CLARITY" in Shibuya.
In July 2006, sifow appeared on the track listing of the remix album titled "EROCAWA TRANCE", where a remix of "Jewel" was included within the track listing. Also she released second single "LOVE & PEACE". The style slightly varied from her previous releases due to it being much more energetic. In the photoshoot for this single, sifow appeared with sexy and colourful outfits and her promotional video made use of a lot of bizarre and amusing themes and imagery. It seems that this single had more promotion than her previous two releases. It is the ending song for a show called "スポんちゅ" and she has also appeared in a few magazines. She performed a few special live concerts in August.
sifow’s musical style is quite unique, compared to various mainstream female artists. Instead of taking the pop genre formula, she seems to experiment a lot with eurobeat, mixed with trance and with a hint of fantasy. It is reminiscent to the musical genres which were typically used in the 1990s. Although her vocals are not exactly what you'd call impressive, they are quite pleasant to listen to and happen to be soothing. sifow also writes her lyrics for her songs.
sifow recognizes herself as a role model to young women and therefore promotes a strong image and through G-Revo she is able to support these girls to live their dreams and aim for their future. She feels that she has three facets of herself; a gyaru, a president and an artist.
sifow released her debut album "CLAЯITY" on September 13, 2006.
Her follow-up single is entitled "Carat" and was released March 7, 2007. Sadly, this single did not chart on the Oricon Charts. Although this is the case, the song was widely likened by her fanbase. [1]
She released her next single entitled "RULE" on 16 May 2007. The theme of this single was "More than a friend, Less than a Lover" [2]
Her 5th avex single (夏花火) will be released July 25th and will be the ending theme to the TV show co-presented by sifow 'ＤＥＥＰ★ＰＡＲＡＤＩＳＥ'. 夏花火 means "Summer Fireworks". A new studio album entitled "Love Spell" will follow on August 15th 2007.
[edit] Hiatus
In early February 2008 sifow announced that her music career was to be put on an indefinite hiatus.[3] For now, it is unknown how long this hiatus will last.
The reason is because sifow is going to open a school in 2010, and fans speculate that only then will she return to the music scene, if at all.
[edit] Discography
- Further information: sifow discography
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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