A disciple of Japanese über-producer Tetsuya Komuro and a successful musician in his own right, Daisuke Asakura came a long way from being the heir to a family plumbing business. After graduating from high school, Asakura got a job at Yamaha; by 1987 he was spotted by Komuro and began working with his band TMN (aka TM Network). His band Access (or AXS), which Asakura formed in 1992 with vocalist Hiroyuki Takami, hit it big, although it only lasted until 1995, leaving behind four studio albums. Still, Asakura was on a roll, releasing three solo singles and the album Electromancer in 1995, and then with his next successful group, Iceman, which released five albums until 2000, when tensions between Asakura and singer Michihiro Kuroda did the band in. ~ Alexey Eremenko