History & Biography Rie a.k.a. Suzaku is the band of the namesake multi-instrumentalist who is primarily a guitarist. She is prolific and pushes a lot of musical and web content. First, however, she learned to play the organ at the age of four and began composing music. She followed it with the classical guitar in her first year of junior high school and subsequently the electric guitar in the second year. Thus, Rie enrolled in the Muse Music Academy to major in guitar. She next founded a band called Synapse. Rie would go on to other bands and back up idol groups or pop groups like Perfume.
The mostly instrumental pop/hard rock/power metal/shred act first came to the fore in 2008. Some of the material is too mainstream for metal fans and caution is warranted. Following up her latest band Ran, she signed with Poppin Records in 2010 and released her first solo record, a mini-album entitled Messiah, on September 1. It contained an instrumental called Suzaku. She has played live across Japan, appeared in magazines and on television and issued multiple DVDs since. Mother Earth was a 2011 EP. Dreaming Eyes was a 2012 EP. The act appeared at Metal Matsuri in London, England in 2019. She had previously been booked for the same city in 2018. World Journey and World Journey 2 were stacked with instrumentals invoking different countries.
Guest backing musicians have included Tamaru Isamu of Anthem. Rie joined the all-girl jazz act Muses in 2022 as well. Muses’ members had backed her solo effort previously including at the aforementioned Metal Matsuri. Rie has been in a Jeff Beck covers’ band and GG3 (Girls Guitar Three) more recently as well. Rie continued to organize special shows called Fusion Session or Instrumental Summit, which featured different guest musicians.
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