Career

Ayako Mori, known by her stage name Salyu, who would later become the singer for Lily Chou Chou, was born on October 13th, 1980. Salyu began singing in elementary school after contracting pneumonia. In 1998, while attending high school, she was inspired to become a singer after watching her friend perform live. She auditioned in a high school for a Sony musician audition and was accepted. While at a Sony music training facility, music producer Takeshi Kobayashi happened to see an audition video of her. He was impressed and decided to meet her. They started to work closely, making demo tapes and even creating her stage name Salyu. Koyabashi was also preparing a soundtrack for Shuji Iwai's novel and film All About Lily Chou Chou at the same time. They decided to work on the project together, the three of them. In April 2000, Lily Chou Chou music began to be released, starting with the single Glide and later Kyōmei (Kūkyo na Ishi). Three music videos directed by Shunji Iwai were also produced for the project. The group released their album, Kokyū, in October 2001, a week and a half after the film was released. After the film, the group stopped releasing music. Interestingly, a Lily Chou song, "Kaifuku Suru Kizu" was featured in the soundtrack of the film Kill Bill. Salyu then debuted as a musician in 2004. She has continued to work with Kobayashi and has continued to occasionally perform tracks from the movie. For the film's 10th anniversary in 2010, the band reformed for a period featuring guitarist Yukio Nagoshi without Iwai's involvement. The group released a single titled "Ether" in December 2010 and released a music video for it. The group then performed live at the Nakano Sun Plaza Hall on December 15, 2010. Salyu has gone on to have a decently successful career, releasing various albums and singles which gained traction.