Area51

Biography
Yoichiro Ishino began playing guitar in high school, which he claims that the Beatles were his biggest influence at the time. Later on, he witnesses heavy metal, by which Yoichiro claims that Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force "did it for me". Yoichiro's biggest influences are Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius, Revolution Renaissance), Chris Impellitteri (Impellitteri) and Michael Romeo (Symphony X). Yoichiro considered female vocals prior to the start of the band because he felt that the female expression would be a perfect match for his music. Yoichiro attempted to get a band for a few years after high school. After many failures, he decided to quit for 2 years and eventually he continued and formed Area51. The band mainly formed when Kensuke Imai joined as the drummer. Area51 would spend 2 years looking for a vocalist.

At the time, Kate was an unsigned pop singer, who listened to visual kei as well, but had no interest in metal (though later on, she did become a fan of Stratovarius). Kate was willing to try a new style of music and had many demos sent to her, of which Yoichiro's style she liked the most and decided to join as the vocalist. Yoichiro states in an interview about Kate "this may sound strange, but it’s actually very important not to have the same metal background, for the chemistry. If everyone was only into metal, our sound philosophy would be quite limited, don’t you think? For all of us to always be open to new possibilities, her background and inputs are essential for us as a band."

Area51 relies heavily on J-Music Ignited for foreign promotion. While their albums are sold in stores in Japan, other countries mainly buy their albums through iTunes Store. iTunes Store allows for people in 22 countries to buy their albums.

In 2005, Area51 released their debut album Ankh. Ankh slowly earned Area51 popularity in Japan and eventually in Brazil as well (eventually, the official website had to put up a Portuguese version of the site for Brazilian fans). Area51's MySpace states that they are signed to a record label called "aprights". The band did many gigs in Japan and planned a Brazil tour which was eventually canceled.

In 2007, their first single "Close To... -You and Me-" would be released as a taste of what to expect for the next album. The album, Daemonicus, was released in Japan on March 5, 2008 and March 26 on iTunes Store. The music on Daemonicus is slightly more progressive in sound than their debut album.

In 2009, Zin Kawai was discharged from the band due to connection issues and Takeshi Ochi left the band due to an illness. Also, You Yamauchi is no longer an official member of the band but will continue to work as a studio/live drummer. Yamauchi wishes to play for many bands and not be solely committed to Area51. Thus, leaving Kate Cain and Yoichiro Ishino as the only members. · close