samfree (Vocaloid producer)
Takayuki Sano (佐野貴幸) (born September 9, 1984, died September 24, 2015), better known by his stage name samfree, was a popular Japanese Vocaloid music producer. He was one of few producers to have used a variety of Vocaloids and released music using Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin, Megurine Luka, Megpoid, SF-A2 Development Code miki, Lily, Nekomura Iroha, Singer Pico, and IA, ZOLA PROJECT, galaco, and Yukari Yuzuki. In his career, he has more than 20 songs that have entered the Vocaloid Hall of Fame.
About the Artist
In November 2007, samfree started posted videos to Nico Nico Douga. In February 2007, his song Luka Luka Night Fever was uploaded and received tremendous praise. Thereafter, he started posted regular songs centered on the "Night Series" and also uploaded videos with him covering his own songs.
Among his released songs, Eurobeat songs such as Luka Luka Night Fever, Megu Megu Fire Endless Night, Lily Lily Burning Night, and Miki Miki Romantic Night are his most successful.
He was considered the godfather to the next re-awakening of Eurobeat in Japan.
In addition, he produced many ballad-style songs such as It was a Cherry Blossom-like Love (Hatsune Miku, Dec 13, 2007), Powder Snow (Hatsune Miku, Mar 5, 2008), and Even though I'm the Closest to You in the World (Hatsune Miku, Jun 30, 2008). He was sometimes referred to as "samfree, who has a reputation for ballads".
His songs Daybreak, Promise, Missing, and Dark Alice are famous among the community for having an anime song-style in music production
Besides Eurobeat, ballads, and anime song-style production, he was also known to produce trance, bossa nova, metal, and R&B. His range was so wide that fans and other producers alike would often wonder how many more genres he could produce.
On June 5, 2009, he covered the song "Rainbow Colors of Nico Nico Douga" 2 days after it was uploaded. Although it was in the "Covers" category on the website, his cover was removed by the right holder which upset fans as some of the other covers of the same song were still on the website. After several months of dispute, his cover was reinstated and now there are Vocaloid versions on the platform.
In his youth, he had started a website titled "SAM Free Music" exit which distributed music samples for free. His producer name is derived from this website. On September 2, 2009, the website moved to a site called Nation One.
He was very fond of the adult actor Billy Herrington, lovingly nicknamed "Aniki / Bro" by Japanese Netizens, and he would sometimes create music using the nickname Sam Freeington.
From 2010 to 2015, samfree composed the opening theme song for the popular anime series including After School Pleiades titled Stella-rium which began broadcasting in January 2015.
His final original Vocaloid song Mind Voice sung by Vocaloid IA, was uploaded in August 2015.
samfree was also a talented DJ and performed at many Vocaloid-related events such as Voca Nico Night. His sets were energetic and he would often step away from the turntables during his set to dance with the audience. In general, his setlist consisted of many of his "Night Series" songs but would often change it up in favor of his other popular music, such as Promise and Daybreak.
On September 24, 2015, samfree passed away at the age of 31. His family held a private ceremony. On the day that his passing was announced, fans worldwide shared their grief on social media and many popular Vocaloid artists shared their fond memories of being his friend. He was globally trending on Twitter for over five hours and remained top trend in Japan for over ten.
Discography
| # | Title | Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Daybreak | March 23, 2008 |
| 2nd | Missing | August 16, 2008 |
| 3rd | Akai mi Hajiketa/emorabu | November 30, 2008 |
| 4th | Story | July 6, 2009 |
| 5th | Crime | August 14, 2010 |
| 6th | Fever | September 4, 2011 |
Video Games
samfree's music has been featured in the Sega rhythm games, Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- (console), Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Arcade, and Miku Flick, Miku Flick02, as well as Dance Evolution, Reflec Beat (Konami), and Megpoid the Music (Internet Co.)