is a Japanese guitarist born in Shiojiri, Nagano, Japan. He currently resides in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Early life

Matsuura attended primary school at the

Manila Japanese School The , is a Japanese school located at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Philippines. It caters mainly to Japanese people, Japanese students who are residing in the Metro Manila area. Location Its first location was in Manila. After 10 years, it ...

, an exclusive school for children of Japanese

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s in the Philippines at that time. He went back to his home country for senior high. He transferred to the International School in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

a year after, where he graduated in 1986. He again returned to Japan and attended

Sophia University Sophia University (Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private research university in Japan. Sophia is one of the three ''Sōkeijōchi'' (早慶上智) private universities, a group of the to ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

for college. Music came naturally to Matsuura. His grandfather played

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and his mom, Hiroko Matsuura the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

. He took piano lessons at the age of 7, attending Electone (Yamaha Electric Organ) classes until 11 years of age. Just a lesson away from course completion, he shifted his interest to guitars. At age 12, he would own his very first electric guitar. He stuck to playing the instrument even after taking drum lessons.

Career

In December 1988, Matsuura went back to the Philippines for vacation. Earlier that year, he released a solo album entitled ''Incubus'', which was distributed by Ivory Music. While doing some gigs in connection with the solo album, he was introduced to a band which had lost its founding guitarist

Teddy Diaz Teodoro "Teddy" de Villa Diaz (1 April 1963 – 21 August 1988) was a Filipino people, Filipino musician and composer, best known as the founder and original guitarist of The Dawn (band), The Dawn. As a composer, he co-wrote the band's first ...

, who was murdered. In 1989, Matsuura would officially join The Dawn, one of the most popular local rock bands of that period, having spawned hits such as " Enveloped Ideas" and "I Stand With You". He left the music scene from 1990–1999. During this period, he set up two companies providing business assistance and information technology consultancy mainly to Japanese individuals and companies in Manila. He rejoined The Dawn in late 1999 when the band reunited, playing in key cities in the Philippines, an 8-city concert tour in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and a music festival in Ho Chi Minh City,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Matsuura quit the band in the last quarter of 2004, after three studio albums and a live album. Also in 2004, Matsuura joined the band Mah’tiggahz (which means "''matigas''" or "hard"). Mah’tiggahz is composed of Atsushi Matsuura on guitars, Mon Legaspi (of Wolfgang and The Dawn) on bass
Bennii Obaña
on drums, Jeremy Aguado on lead vocals and Perf de Castro (of

Rivermaya Rivermaya is a Filipino alternative rock band. Formed in 1994, it is one of the several bands who spearheaded the 1990s Philippine alternative rock explosion. Rivermaya is currently composed of original members Mark Escueta and Nathan Azarc ...

and TriAxis) also on guitars.

Influences and musical preferences

He considers Shinichiro Ishihara (guitarist of the Japanese band, Earthshaker), Gary Moore,

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

and

John Norum John Norum (born 23 February 1964) is a Norwegian-Swedish guitarist and one of the founders of the rock band Europe. Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a career as a solo artist. Biography As an infant, Norum moved with his p ...

his musical influences. Rock, however, has not prevented him from liking a variety of genres. He also listens to

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

( M2M),

operatic pop Operatic pop or popera is a subgenre of pop music that is performed in an operatic singing style or a song, theme or motif from classical music stylized as pop. The subgenre is often performed by classical crossover singers and acts, although that ...

( Sarah Brightman),

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

(

Paul Van Dyk Matthias Paul (; born 16 December 1971), known professionally as Paul van Dyk () is a German DJ, record producer and musician. One of the first true renowned DJs, van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy Award nomination in the newly a ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

( Hiromi) and

Japanese pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

singer

Aiko is a female Japanese given name. is a Japanese surname, also romanized as Aikoh or Aiko. Aiko or Ayko is also a traditional male given name in Scandinavia and especially northern Germany. In Germany it is considered one of the old "ge ...

, among many others.

Discography

;As solo artist * ''Incubus'' (1988) ;The Dawn *'' Beyond the Bend'' (1989) *'' Prodigal Sun'' (2000) *''

Harapin ''Harapin'' ( Filipino, "To Face") is the eighth studio album by The Dawn, released in 2004. and the last album to feature guitarist Atsushi Matsuura who left the band a month before the album release. and the only album to feature Bassist Mon ...

'' (2004) *'' Tulad Ng Dati'' (2006)

References

External links