Firesign

There is more than one artist with this name: 1) FiRESiGN is an indie metal band fronted by vocalist Aya, hard-rock hellion from Hiroshima and bassist Masaki Yamada, the heavy-metal headbanger from Hokkaido. They are backed by Kim Man Chan, a grit-and-grunge guitarist from Hong Kong and Kota, a devilishly-dynamic drummer from Yokohama. Although, initially begun by Aya in 1997 as a vehicle to promote her music and poetry, FiRESiGN has over the years, been host to a menagerie of musical misfits. The most notable of these is of course FiRESiGN's bassist, Masaki Yamada.

1) FiRESiGN is an indie metal band fronted by vocalist Aya, hard-rock hellion from Hiroshima and bassist Masaki Yamada, the heavy-metal headbanger from Hokkaido. They are backed by Kim Man Chan, a grit-and-grunge guitarist from Hong Kong and Kota, a devilishly-dynamic drummer from Yokohama.

Although, initially begun by Aya in 1997 as a vehicle to promote her music and poetry, FiRESiGN has over the years, been host to a menagerie of musical misfits. The most notable of these is of course FiRESiGN's bassist, Masaki Yamada. His inception in 2001 sparked the flames of resurgence that would begin burning away tethers to the past, lighting a
path to a then unglimpsed of future.

One year later, in 2002, FiRESiGN was ranked among the top 18 competitors by New York's local Japanese newspaper "American Dream," during a contest to discover the best music groups in the New York area. FiRESiGN's member structure has gone through many changes since then; with the positions of guitarist and drummer being filled, out of necessity, by a steady stream of talented transients. Core members, Aya and Masaki alongside an assortment of these musical mercenaries, have played a number of local venues together; such as Acme Underground, Continental, Trash Bar and Mean Fiddler.

Following an extended hiatus during which the band (in one of its previous incarnations) released the 2007 LP "Anger Management," FiRESiGN was invited to attend as special guests, a metal event called "Genki Shock" at the Club Europa in Brooklyn. The 2009 event was an unprecedented success for FiRESiGN as the band was asked up on stage for an impromptu, unscheduled performance; playing to a full house of about 400 enthusiastic revelers.

The following year, guitarist Kim Man Chan was recruited and shortly afterwards (Spring 2011), FiRESiGN was honored to have been selected as one of the top two finalists in J&R's Metal Band Music Contest. Twelve months later... Welcome the band's newest member, drummer Kota, who has arrived just in time to begin rehearsals for FiRESiGN's first Japanese tour. In its current incarnation FiRESiGN has become somewhat of a regular at The Delancey in Manhattan's Lower East Side. The band has also performed at fund-raisers in order to aid victims of natural disaster, and participated in cultural festivals in an effort to encourage musical diversity. Their most recent festival was The Sunrise Fest on March 11th 2012, a benefit in remembrance of those affected by last year's earthquake and tsunami. FiRESiGN is currently preparing a limited CD single to promote their "Japan 2012 Year of the Dragon Tour."

2) FIRESIGN is also a hardrock band from Emmendingen, Germany.
The new album "Persecution Guaranteed" was released on Kickoff Records Sept 15th 2008.