, better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Masonna, is a Japanese

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical sound. Noise music include ...

ian. He was born on November 16, 1966, in

Miyazu, Kyoto is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 16,988 in 8348 households and a population density of 98 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Miyazu is located in th ...

, Japan. was started in 1987 in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

as Maso Yamazaki's noise project. The name is a combination of the Japanese words and . It is also a pun on the name of the pop singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. The name is sometimes rendered as an acronym for or Mystic Another Selection Of Nurses Naked Anthology. Maso also performs as Space Machine using vintage

analog synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses Analogue electronics, analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a var ...

s. He has performed with the

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

group Christine 23 Onna (with Fusao Toda of Angel'in Heavy Syrup), which then became Acid Eater with the addition of two members, as well as the noise supergroup Bustmonster and the noise trio Flying Testicle. In 2018, Maso began performing and releasing under the name Controlled Death and in 2025 Maso started releasing under the name Ja a ku yamiizu lu

History

Maso has said that he became interested in making noise music when he heard the sounds of destruction on television as a child, but that his first exposure to the Japanese noise genre was Hanatarash's debut LP, which at the time did not impress Maso. It was however later, upon happening on an LP entitled ''LSD'' by a Tokyo noise band named Nord, and mistakenly thinking it was an album by the band LSD, that these experiences had possibly kindled his future interest. A year thereafter Maso sought many different types of noise releases in the underground music stores in and around Osaka Japan. Two years would pass until Maso would start to develop his own style of noise and begin producing, at which time he quit listening to the noise albums of others and focused in on his own unique style. Previous to his interest in noise Maso played guitar in several bands, one of which he states in interviews was a

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

cover band, playing the occasional

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

song. All of Maso's projects draw heavily from the

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

scene in outward style, but sonically most of them resemble very few of the traits of late 1960s and 1970s psychedelic music. Maso has an interest in avant-garde films, having stated in interviews that his two favorite movies are the Alexandro Jodorowsky films '' The Holy Mountain'' and '' El Topo''. He also claims to admire and had the wish to have worked with American musician

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

. The Masonna project has been the opening act for several well-known artists on their Japanese concert dates, including

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

and Slipknot. Masonna also caught the attention of

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

and was featured on his program, having even done a limited Masonna ''John Peel Sessions'' CD. Masonna is most known for Yamazaki's wild live performances which usually consist of damaging his equipment, jumping around madly, and at times getting injured. He has given entire concerts which last only a few seconds. In 1996 Masonna toured the United States on the "American Mystique Tour" named after his album '' Inner Mind Mystique''. Maso was also the manager of Jojo Hiroshige's

Alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

Music Store until its closure.

Discography

As Masonna

* ''Shinsen Na Clitoris'' (1990), Vanilla Records * ''Mademoiselle Anne Sanglante Ou Notre Nymphomanie Aureole'' (1993),

* ''Noskl in Ana'' (1994), Alchemy * ''Super Compact Disc'' (1995), Alchemy * ''Noisextra'' (1995), RRR * ''Ejaculation Generater'' (1996), Alchemy * ''Inner Mind Mystique'' (1996), Relapse * ''Hyper Chaotic'' (1996), V * ''Freak-Out Electrolyze'' (1997), Nanophonica * ''Spectrum Ripper'' (1998), Cold Spring * ''Frequency L.S.D.'' (1998), Alien8 * ''Vestal Spacy Ritual'' (1999), Alchemy * ''Beauty Beast'' (1999), Blast First * ''Shock Rock'' (2002), MIDI Creative

As Flying Testicle

with

Merzbow is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by Masami Akita, best known for a style of harsh noise music. Since 1980, Akita has released over 500 recordings and collaborated with numerous artists. The name Merzbow comes from the German dada a ...

and Zev Asher. * ''Lamerican Sextom'' (1992), ZSF Produkt, Japan, 7" * ''Space Desia'' (1993), Charnel Music, USA, CD

As Space Machine

* ''Cosmos From Diode Ladder Filter '' (2001), Alchemy * ''2 '' (2002), Midi Creative / Noble * ''3 '' (2003), Tiliqua (LP), (2004),

Important Importance is a property of entities that matter or make a difference. For example, World War II was an important event and Albert Einstein was an important person because of how they affected the world. There are disagreements in the academic li ...

(CD)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yamazaki, Maso 1966 births Living people Japanese experimental musicians Noise musicians Alien8 Recordings artists Musicians from Kyoto Musicians from Kyoto Prefecture