In elementary school, Aya heard electric guitars for the first time at a Ventures' concert, and in junior high she henceforth devoted herself to hard rock and punk.
She was introduced to grunge when she heard Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind, which would have huge stylistic influence on her own musical career.
Making demo tracks took up a great part of her time, but she also sharpened her skills by performing on American army bases and the streets of Shibuya.
Aya arranged the songs and used an 8-track multi-tape recorder to create all the various effects and harmonies, playing guitar, bass, and drums (machine) herself.
In December 2000, Aya traveled to Seattle to record 3 singles at "Studio X", which was well known for its association with '90s grunge bands Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Nirvana.
In June 2001, they reunited in Seattle to finish the debut album, but this time they were joined by Krist Novoselic, the bass player from Nirvana, whom Aya had long admired.
When she opened for grizzled Japanese rocker Eikichi Yazawa's 30th anniversary stadium gigs, she proved she could work a crowd of over 50,000 people with exceptional confidence.
"SHADOWS ON THE ROAD" and "BAGHDAD SKY" are ballads with a brazen acoustic feel, while "BLUE BUTTERFLY" is an over six-minute epic that showcases the breadth and depth of scale of Aya's talents, with a montage of Metallica and Radiohead set against a majestic soundscape.