Rayko is a Tokyo-born, Los Angeles-based vocalist, full-time working composer, multi-instrumentalist, and a SAG/AFTRA actress, who fronts a Los Angeles based Symphonic Rock band called Lolita Dark.
Her life in music started at 4 years old, when she composed her very first full-length pop song about her mother. Her library now consists of hundreds of published and ready-to-be-published songs. The versatility in her writing ranges from ABBA to ZAPPA.
RECENT WORK
Vocalist for “Happy Ride” with Baymax Tokyo Disneyland (Disney Entertainment)
Session vocalist on an up-and-coming Disney Entertainment project
Vocalist/Actress on a season 5/10 episode of Eric Andre Show (Adult Swim)
Composer/Performer for Amazon Prime 2-time Emmy Winning hit series The Man in The High Castle (S01E02 “Until We Meet Again” & S02E03 “Sumidagawa”)
Composer/Performer of the ending credit “Forgiveness” for The Wolves of Saving Hill featuring Kurt Fuller (Pursuit of Happiness, Supernatural), Michael Masse (The Amazing Spiderman) and Jack McGee (Moneyball)
Composer/Performer for Music Meditation program Gratitude Video (Amazon Alexa, Pray.com, Apple Podcast)
Vocalist/Performer on the Opening Gala at Animal exhibit in LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) at Peterson’s Automobile Museum
Vocalist/Performer for the fundraising dinner event for Animal exhibit in LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) at Ray’s restaurant at LACMA
Composer/Performer of the theme song for the award-winning Stay Alive suicide prevention documentary film
…and more!
MUSIC THEN & NOW
Growing up in Tokyo,Japan (in a very musical family), Rayko was immersed in Rock, Pop, Orchestral, Jazz, and Classical music from across the world.
Early on, Rayko realized music was her calling and moved to the U.S.A. to pursue her dream. While working as a model and actress, Rayko formed and fronted 3 separate bands, where she composed and produced most songs (with some collaborated with her band members), assembled the orchestra, and released 9 albums, and performed across the U.S.A. and Japan.
During her music career, she met her husband—bassist/guitarist/engineer, Rain Balen. The couple met 14 years ago and worked for years together as best friends before tying the knot. Together, they have begun a business venture, designed by Rain, to expand their musical ventures by offering better solutions for audio and video recording to fellow musicians.
Although she is primarily a vocalist and songwriter, Rayko also plays piano, guitar, drums, and is currently learning Koto and electric violin, to further grow and expand herself as a musician.
SUICIDE PREVENTION
Recently, Rayko became a strong advocate for suicide prevention. Rayko, together with Frank Kilpatrick of FrankiK Music, teamed up with a Suicide Specialist Dr. Mark Goulston from UCLA, and the Golden Gate Bridge suicide survivor Kevin Hines, to produce the multi award winning documentary video Stay Alive (now available on Amazon Prime Video).
Rayko is working hard to reach out to her beloved community of Anime and Gaming, to help save one troubled soul at a time.
Lolita Dark: Website (under construction) | Facebook | SoundCloud