Saeko - Biography
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Biography
Saeko was born in 1974 in Osaka, Japan. At age 14, at a time when she was suffering a lot of emotional turmoil in her life, she happened to hear "heavy metal/hard rock" for the first time, such as Helloween, Europe, Pretty Maids, Queensrÿche etc. She felt messages through this powerful music which was an amazing, pivotal experience for her. She felt something in her heart told her that she was born to do this music, and she vowed to herself 'I'll go on tour overseas with my own heavy metal band someday'. This determination stayed with her. She formed several bands at schools, but couldn't be satisfied with any of them. Playing overseas was a too big dream for a small Japanese girl, and she gave up her dream in 1992.
However, after sleepless nights from the feeling of getting lost, she began the pursuit of her vow again in 1994?putting up notices in music shops all over Osaka and nearby cities, looking for members who were serious about music. The following year, 1995, she formed the band called Insania.
In the summer of 1999, the band changed it's name to Fairy Mirror, and expanded their scope of activities. In the winter of 1999 and spring of 2000, they independently released several compositions. It was a time when young Japanese heavy metal bands were getting noticed in the Japanese scene. For Fairy Mirror, the chance for their big break was coming ever closer, and Saeko herself was also receiving offers to record a solo album by Japanese labels, but this was the start of her suffering. The people around her expected her to make a success and to be famous, but what Saeko wanted to achieve was neither success nor fame. Music had always given her strength in her darkest time, especially the strength to believe in herself. She just wanted to do the same now to others in despair. This was all the reason of her singing, or rather all the reason of her life. These gaps between others' expectation and her reason to sing came to effect on her mind and body.
Her pure and idealistic principles in life, which didn't fit in the society, caused lots of opposition from her family and many others. Besides that, stress as a leader of [band]Fairy Mirror[/b], strain of only 3 hours sleep everyday from too much work to keep her life going. They had been accumulating for a long time, and finally took it's toll on Saeko's body and mind. Finally, she suffered a severe breakdown, which forced her to enter hospital. For her love of music, she continued playing shows, going from her hospital bed to perform and returning there afterwards, exhausted. After the final show in Tokyo in Spring 2001, the state of her body and mind had reached it's limit. She reluctantly realized she must listen to the doctors who had been against her continuing to perform, for it was the ultimate cause of her fatigue. To concentrate on medical treatment, she was forced to quit [band]Fairy Mirror[/b]. She asked the band to continue activities with a new singer, following the dream they had shared together. For Saeko, things were spiralling out of control. Now she had to give up music itself, for she knew she had to recover before she could sing again.
The after effects of her illness were so devastating that she sometimes doubted she would ever make a full recovery. It was hell for her to remain in Japan, always seeing Fairy Mirror and her friends in the scene. Seeing her cry every day, her family and doctor were afraid she might lose all will to live. Therefore they supported her decision to leave Japan for a while, in order to escape, and find a new life. So she left for Switzerland in 2001 with a suitcase full of medicine.
Once in Switzerland, surrounded by the country's natural beauty, she was able to contemplate her life and began to accept what had happened to her.
During her two-and-a-half month stay, she attended Wacken Open Air in Germany. The bands with their energetic music and the metallic atmosphere were exactly as she had imagined in her dreams. She began to believe in the possibility of a new life. She called her family from Wacken, "Now I can see a future! When I recover I will come back here again to sing!" It was the moment of her rebirth. Believing in her new start, she resolved to return to Europe to take on this next challenge. However, once back in Japan, she had to continue medical treatment, so she decided to go to Canada, staying there 2 months to study English in preparation for her next challenge.
Time had been passing achingly slowly when in June 2002, Saeko received what she had been eagerly waiting for, the doctor's acknowledgement that she was finally recovered enough, she was now 28. When she had first dreamed about touring overseas she had been just 14. She was ready.
Saeko arrived in Germany in July 2002. She had to be courageous, for she didn't have anyone to turn to in Germany, yet. After spending 2 months in the southern German countryside, she moved to Hamburg, armed with resolve, her computer filled with musical ideas and a suitcase full of fliers to find other musicians to form a band. Most nights she handed out fliers on the streets, live halls, rock bars, metal concerts ... just anywhere she could. Saeko knew this was her one chance and only reason she left her country behind, and she must be strong and do her best, despite feeling terribly alone. Her will and passion were truly beyond boundaries.
At the end of 2002, Saeko received the unexpected phone call from Lars Ratz (producer and mastermind of Metalium). Lars had heard about her by a friend in the Hamburg metal scene, a female heavy metal vocalist who had arrived from Japan all alone to follow her dream. Meanwhile, Saeko had rejected several offers from German and Japanese labels and producers in the past, feeling they did not understand her ideals. She wasn't willing to compromise for her convictions.
Expecting a similar outcome, she met Lars. However, as they talked, they realized they shared similar beliefs about music. She decided to accept Lars' offer to record a test song in January 2003. She poured all her passion into a song, which later would appear as "Sinners for False Light" on her debut album. The song spoke directly to Lars' mind, beyond both cultural and language borders. With the production contract signed with Lars Ratz, Saeko continued her dream encouraged by him and started professional vocal training with Metalium ocalist Henning Basse.
In the fall of 2003, the recording of her first album began. The album's core theme was the light that burns within all of us, the ever-present light, that is, life itself. The album was released by Armageddon Music, the label Lars started in 2003.
In October 2004, Saeko performed as the opening act on tour with Doro. Saeko gave the stage everything she got. As a result, CDs the label brought on tour sold out before the tour was over. Following that, in July 2005, she played at Metal Bash, and in August 2005, Saeko fulfilled her promise to herself by performing at Wacken Open Air. With very good feedback, her CD sold out soon after the show and had to be pressed again.
Early in the summer of 2005, she started the recording of her 2nd album Life, again produced by Lars Ratz. The album features all guitar solos by Osaka-based guitarist Satoko Yanagase, who played the live shows with her in summer of 2005.
During the recording of Life, a philosophical and artistic gap developed between Saeko and the label Armageddon Music. Unable to compromise her beliefs without affecting her music and the message she wished to express, Saeko made the decision to leave the label. She felt this was the only way she could remain true to herself. In October, she formed her own production company Shinpuh in Japan to create her ideal album.
Almost at the same time, Lars Ratz decided to leave Armageddon Music, the label he created 2 years before, due to visionary differences with his partners there. He also felt being honest to his vision and himself was most important. This way Lars continued to support Saeko's dreams, arranging distribution, promotion and marketing with his new Hamburg-based label Armageddon Products, formed with other ex-Armageddon Music employees in November 2005.
While mixing her 2nd album, Saeko concluded that she should stop her music activity. The break with Armageddon Music meant she had to finance her music activity all by herself. Such independent managing was possible when she was only active in Japan. However, now that she was active internationally, financing her wide-ranging activity was beyond her means. For example, Saeko tried to go on a European tour with old bandmates from Fairy Mirror. However, bringing them all the way from Japan to Europe required money which Saeko did not have.
Also, the financial situation of her life itself was quite bad. Being a novice at "business & legal stuff" in the industry, she had not earned money from music since she had started her music career in 1994. So, she concluded that she should establish a more proper financial basis besides music. However, as a non-EU citizen, it was very difficult for her to obtain a work visa in Europe. The procedure for renewing her artist visa also took very long. Seeing all things went out of hands, she conceded she'd go back to Japan until she put her finances in order. Later, she studied 'legal aspects' at Berklee US and understood how her money was taken away.
Feeling this album might become the last one for now, Saeko drained all her remaining strength to finish it. While doing so, she came to feel that her task in reality - to dive into the unknown - might actually finish when she finished the album. Back in 2002, when she came to Germany, her goal was not to be famous whatsoever. She just wanted to demonstrate that our deepest heart was connected to something celestial and a call from the innermost heart would guide us through the unknown. It was the reason of her flying to Germany. She just wished to demonstrate its power, following the inner call in her life.
Although it was not her plan to go back to Japan when she started recording, this way she eventually came to feel that her task was about to finish. So she left for Japan in April 2006.
In October 2014, Saeko appeared at Female Metal Voices Fest, marking her first performance in Europe for nine years.
(Source: saeko.shinpuh.com)
However, after sleepless nights from the feeling of getting lost, she began the pursuit of her vow again in 1994?putting up notices in music shops all over Osaka and nearby cities, looking for members who were serious about music. The following year, 1995, she formed the band called Insania.
In the summer of 1999, the band changed it's name to Fairy Mirror, and expanded their scope of activities. In the winter of 1999 and spring of 2000, they independently released several compositions. It was a time when young Japanese heavy metal bands were getting noticed in the Japanese scene. For Fairy Mirror, the chance for their big break was coming ever closer, and Saeko herself was also receiving offers to record a solo album by Japanese labels, but this was the start of her suffering. The people around her expected her to make a success and to be famous, but what Saeko wanted to achieve was neither success nor fame. Music had always given her strength in her darkest time, especially the strength to believe in herself. She just wanted to do the same now to others in despair. This was all the reason of her singing, or rather all the reason of her life. These gaps between others' expectation and her reason to sing came to effect on her mind and body.
Her pure and idealistic principles in life, which didn't fit in the society, caused lots of opposition from her family and many others. Besides that, stress as a leader of [band]Fairy Mirror[/b], strain of only 3 hours sleep everyday from too much work to keep her life going. They had been accumulating for a long time, and finally took it's toll on Saeko's body and mind. Finally, she suffered a severe breakdown, which forced her to enter hospital. For her love of music, she continued playing shows, going from her hospital bed to perform and returning there afterwards, exhausted. After the final show in Tokyo in Spring 2001, the state of her body and mind had reached it's limit. She reluctantly realized she must listen to the doctors who had been against her continuing to perform, for it was the ultimate cause of her fatigue. To concentrate on medical treatment, she was forced to quit [band]Fairy Mirror[/b]. She asked the band to continue activities with a new singer, following the dream they had shared together. For Saeko, things were spiralling out of control. Now she had to give up music itself, for she knew she had to recover before she could sing again.
The after effects of her illness were so devastating that she sometimes doubted she would ever make a full recovery. It was hell for her to remain in Japan, always seeing Fairy Mirror and her friends in the scene. Seeing her cry every day, her family and doctor were afraid she might lose all will to live. Therefore they supported her decision to leave Japan for a while, in order to escape, and find a new life. So she left for Switzerland in 2001 with a suitcase full of medicine.
Once in Switzerland, surrounded by the country's natural beauty, she was able to contemplate her life and began to accept what had happened to her.
During her two-and-a-half month stay, she attended Wacken Open Air in Germany. The bands with their energetic music and the metallic atmosphere were exactly as she had imagined in her dreams. She began to believe in the possibility of a new life. She called her family from Wacken, "Now I can see a future! When I recover I will come back here again to sing!" It was the moment of her rebirth. Believing in her new start, she resolved to return to Europe to take on this next challenge. However, once back in Japan, she had to continue medical treatment, so she decided to go to Canada, staying there 2 months to study English in preparation for her next challenge.
Time had been passing achingly slowly when in June 2002, Saeko received what she had been eagerly waiting for, the doctor's acknowledgement that she was finally recovered enough, she was now 28. When she had first dreamed about touring overseas she had been just 14. She was ready.
Saeko arrived in Germany in July 2002. She had to be courageous, for she didn't have anyone to turn to in Germany, yet. After spending 2 months in the southern German countryside, she moved to Hamburg, armed with resolve, her computer filled with musical ideas and a suitcase full of fliers to find other musicians to form a band. Most nights she handed out fliers on the streets, live halls, rock bars, metal concerts ... just anywhere she could. Saeko knew this was her one chance and only reason she left her country behind, and she must be strong and do her best, despite feeling terribly alone. Her will and passion were truly beyond boundaries.
At the end of 2002, Saeko received the unexpected phone call from Lars Ratz (producer and mastermind of Metalium). Lars had heard about her by a friend in the Hamburg metal scene, a female heavy metal vocalist who had arrived from Japan all alone to follow her dream. Meanwhile, Saeko had rejected several offers from German and Japanese labels and producers in the past, feeling they did not understand her ideals. She wasn't willing to compromise for her convictions.
Expecting a similar outcome, she met Lars. However, as they talked, they realized they shared similar beliefs about music. She decided to accept Lars' offer to record a test song in January 2003. She poured all her passion into a song, which later would appear as "Sinners for False Light" on her debut album. The song spoke directly to Lars' mind, beyond both cultural and language borders. With the production contract signed with Lars Ratz, Saeko continued her dream encouraged by him and started professional vocal training with Metalium ocalist Henning Basse.
In the fall of 2003, the recording of her first album began. The album's core theme was the light that burns within all of us, the ever-present light, that is, life itself. The album was released by Armageddon Music, the label Lars started in 2003.
In October 2004, Saeko performed as the opening act on tour with Doro. Saeko gave the stage everything she got. As a result, CDs the label brought on tour sold out before the tour was over. Following that, in July 2005, she played at Metal Bash, and in August 2005, Saeko fulfilled her promise to herself by performing at Wacken Open Air. With very good feedback, her CD sold out soon after the show and had to be pressed again.
Early in the summer of 2005, she started the recording of her 2nd album Life, again produced by Lars Ratz. The album features all guitar solos by Osaka-based guitarist Satoko Yanagase, who played the live shows with her in summer of 2005.
During the recording of Life, a philosophical and artistic gap developed between Saeko and the label Armageddon Music. Unable to compromise her beliefs without affecting her music and the message she wished to express, Saeko made the decision to leave the label. She felt this was the only way she could remain true to herself. In October, she formed her own production company Shinpuh in Japan to create her ideal album.
Almost at the same time, Lars Ratz decided to leave Armageddon Music, the label he created 2 years before, due to visionary differences with his partners there. He also felt being honest to his vision and himself was most important. This way Lars continued to support Saeko's dreams, arranging distribution, promotion and marketing with his new Hamburg-based label Armageddon Products, formed with other ex-Armageddon Music employees in November 2005.
While mixing her 2nd album, Saeko concluded that she should stop her music activity. The break with Armageddon Music meant she had to finance her music activity all by herself. Such independent managing was possible when she was only active in Japan. However, now that she was active internationally, financing her wide-ranging activity was beyond her means. For example, Saeko tried to go on a European tour with old bandmates from Fairy Mirror. However, bringing them all the way from Japan to Europe required money which Saeko did not have.
Also, the financial situation of her life itself was quite bad. Being a novice at "business & legal stuff" in the industry, she had not earned money from music since she had started her music career in 1994. So, she concluded that she should establish a more proper financial basis besides music. However, as a non-EU citizen, it was very difficult for her to obtain a work visa in Europe. The procedure for renewing her artist visa also took very long. Seeing all things went out of hands, she conceded she'd go back to Japan until she put her finances in order. Later, she studied 'legal aspects' at Berklee US and understood how her money was taken away.
Feeling this album might become the last one for now, Saeko drained all her remaining strength to finish it. While doing so, she came to feel that her task in reality - to dive into the unknown - might actually finish when she finished the album. Back in 2002, when she came to Germany, her goal was not to be famous whatsoever. She just wanted to demonstrate that our deepest heart was connected to something celestial and a call from the innermost heart would guide us through the unknown. It was the reason of her flying to Germany. She just wished to demonstrate its power, following the inner call in her life.
Although it was not her plan to go back to Japan when she started recording, this way she eventually came to feel that her task was about to finish. So she left for Japan in April 2006.
In October 2014, Saeko appeared at Female Metal Voices Fest, marking her first performance in Europe for nine years.
(Source: saeko.shinpuh.com)