Keitaro Ujiie (Japanese: 氏家 慶太郎, Hepburn: Ujiie Keitarō, born February 23, 1997), professionally known as Snail's House or Ujico*,[1] is a Japanese electronic musician. He currently resides in Saitama, Japan.[2]

Snail's House
Birth nameKeitaro Ujiie
(氏家 慶太郎)
Also known asUjico*, StripeCat
Born (1997-02-23) February 23, 1997 (age 27)
Komae, Tokyo, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)Composer, producer
Years active2012–present
LabelsYouth Composer Association
Cachettenotes
Attack the Music
Tasty
Websiteujicosnail.com

History

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He started publishing music on SoundCloud in 2012 under the name Ujico* (which he stated was a childhood nickname given to him by a friend).[3] In 2013, Ujiie created his own record label, Youth Composer Association, a Tokyo-based label specifically geared towards young musicians.[2] In 2014, after listening to performances by Hiromi Uehara and various jazz fusion music,[4] Ujiie was inspired to start playing the piano.[3]

From that point, his music career began to grow and he created a separate Snail's House outfit for his "kawaii" music, which officially began on August 30, 2014, with the release of "Nyan Nyan Angel!". His first two EPs as Snail's House, Kirara and Kawaii Collective, were released in mid-2015, containing high-pitched vocal chops, vibrant synthesizer sounds, and happy-sounding melodies.[5][6][7]

On October 10, 2017, the music video for the song "Pixel Galaxy" was released onto Youtube. It quickly began to go viral and it gave Ujiie a large boost in followers, though the song has significantly fewer plays on all music streaming services, the music video now has more than 100 million views on YouTube.[8]

On October 9, 2018, Ujiie announced that a small game was being developed for his upcoming two-track album Snailchan Adventure.[9] The album was released on October 23 with an accompanying music video,[10] and Ujiie published a preview of the unfinished game.[9] As of May 1, 2019, the game has not been released, with development presumed to be ongoing.[11]

Discography

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Date Title As Record label
July 13, 2013 Ujico Rain Ujico* N/A; self-released
October 23, 2013 Aerie N/A; self-released
February 21, 2014 VASS DROPPER Youth Composer Association
April 27, 2014 PF:Addiction
June 30, 2014 Goodbye, Our World EP
July 10, 2014 VASS DROPPER 2
December 30, 2014 Storyteller
March 30, 2015 Junction EP
March 31, 2015 VASS DROPPER 3
May 13, 2015 Kirara Snail's House TREKKIE TRAX
May 31, 2015 Kawaii Collective N/A; self-released
June 29, 2015 -PROGRESS- Ujico*
September 19, 2015 Nyan Nyan Angel! Remixes Snail's House Youth Composer Association
December 24, 2015 Sweety Sweety N/A; self-released
December 30, 2015 空中都市 (Kūchū Toshi) Ujico* Youth Composer Association
March 29, 2016 Ordinary Songs Snail's House N/A; self-released
June 12, 2016 Dream Castle Ujico*
August 27, 2016 Love Story[12] Snail's House
November 17, 2016 Ordinary Songs 2
November 18, 2016 Summer Nostalgia EP Ujico* Youth Composer Association
February 23, 2017 Pixel Galaxy Snail's House N/A; self-released
June 15, 2017 Ordinary Songs 3
September 10, 2017 WonderWorld Ujico* Cachettenotes
November 19, 2017 [FLOWERS] DiverseSystem
November 30, 2017 エイリアン☆ポップ (Alien☆Pop) Snail's House N/A; self-released
February 23, 2018 Ordinary Songs 4
March 23, 2018 Snö[13]
June 1, 2018 StripeCat Collection
July 28, 2018 L'été
October 23, 2018 Snailchan Adventure
January 18, 2019 エイリアン☆ポップ II (Alien☆Pop II)
February 23, 2019 Scenery
July 6, 2019 エイリアン☆ポップ III (Alien☆Pop III)
August 16, 2019 Love Magic
January 3, 2020 -AYAKASHI- Ujico*
February 23, 2020 Vass Dropper 4
March 31, 2020 ujbeats vol.1 Snail's House Cachettenotes
October 23, 2020 Imaginarium
February 13, 2021 love songs
August 12, 2021 Pâtisserie Snail
November 7, 2021 SUPERGIRL
December 22, 2021 Christmas of Wandering Ghost
December 29, 2021 Cosmic Air Ride GUMIKUMA Records
January 28, 2022 DREAMY BEACH Cachettenotes
April 23, 2022 Biscuit Funk
June 11, 2022 Astrogirl Hololive Production
July 23, 2022 PIXELIZE
September 22, 2022 ujbeats vol.2
October 23, 2022 Restart!
December 10, 2022 Cherry
February 3, 2023 Lumi
July 19, 2023 Fashionista
August 26, 2023 エイリアン☆ポップ IV (Alien☆Pop IV)
March 23, 2024 Sound Traveller
May 18, 2024 PIXELIZE II

References

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  1. ^ Lachlan Johnston (March 19, 2017). "The Sounds of Tokyo's Hyper-Cute Underground Movement". otaquest.com. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Tokyo Transmission: Introducing Ujico – DMNDR". x.dmndr.com. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "discussions.001 // Tokyo-Based Producer 'Ujico*/Snail's House' - OTAQUEST". OTAQUEST. May 17, 2017. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  4. ^ Editorial (April 3, 2019). "Coming Out Of His Shell: Chatting With Snail's House Mastermind Keitaro Ujiie". Bandcamp Daily. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  5. ^ "Future Bass Music Gets a Kawaii Makeover". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  6. ^ "Eight Kawaii Artists Using Grotesque Sounds to Redefine "Cute" Japanese Music". Bandcamp Daily. March 23, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "Snail's House Releases Infectious New Single 'Warp Star'". OTAQUEST. July 19, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  8. ^ Snail's House - Pixel Galaxy (Official MV), retrieved 2022-09-27
  9. ^ a b "Ujico*/Snail's House on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  10. ^ Ujico*/Snail's House (October 23, 2018), Snail's House - Snailchan Adventure (Official MV), retrieved October 24, 2018
  11. ^ Johnston, Lachlan (January 25, 2019). "Snail's House' Upcoming Game "Snailchan Adventure" Previewed". OTAQUEST. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  12. ^ Patrick ST. Michel (September 18, 2018). "Latest release from Snail's House is a love story for the 'kawaii' bass scene". Japan Times. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  13. ^ Ryan, Austin R. (March 30, 2018). "Snail's House gets mellow with "Snö" - LemonWire". LemonWire. Retrieved September 17, 2018.