Hekiru originally debuted as a voice actress (seiyuu) for Japanese anime (animation) before expanding her career as a solo singer artist and radio personality in Japan. She actually did a little bit of regular acting before her known vocal roles with a few commercials and also had a lead role in a dramatic laser karaoke in 1992 (Artist Collection volume 11 which contained the music of the popular 80's Japanese rock group, BOOWY). Honestly, her acting was nothing remarkable (probably attributed to lack of formal training) and I am glad that she decided to focus on vocal work instead.

How she built her career is an interesting story and requires backing up a bit. Hekiru got where she is today by doing many things on her own terms and "holding true to herself". She established goals and went out (at times, haphazardly) to accomplish them. Much of this information represents a consolidation of discussions with other fans (special thanks especially to No Make Girl who runs hekiru.com; she lived in Japan, has attended well over 100 of her concerts since 1998 and was close to where all the action was), interviews, and my own personal interpretation of events.

During high school, she innocently applied for training at Arts Vision, auditioned, and was actually selected (to her surprise) in 1990. Within 2 years (probably right after graduating high school), she became a seiyuu. What was striking is that during this time, she voluntarily supported herself and did not rely on her parents. She took on harsh/labor-intensive jobs for stamina/self-discipline as well as those which required her to use her voice (since that would be her trade) and sometimes between school and training at Arts Vision, could barely manage to feed herself for lack of money. I mention this because it toughened her skin considerably and explains much about her unorthodox (by geino standards) ways. It also gave her a perspective of how difficult things can be and allowed her to relate to many peoples hardships. This foundation would define her DNA and help explain her staying power in an industry where too many would fall off into oblivion.

Her first major role as a seiyuu was in 1993's Idol Defense Force Hummingbird (a comedy/satire sort of anime) playing the role of Mina Toreishi. The seiyuu idol group Hummingbird was quite popular and paved the way for others to follow once the group itself parted ways in 1995. Her most known role was in 1994 as Hikaru Shidou in Magic Knight Rayearth. Some other well known voices she has played were Elisiss in EDEN's BOwY and Alpha in YOKOHAMA KAIDASHI KIKOU.

Besides the above mentioned anime titles, Hekiru hasn't done much voice acting but she still has the label seiyuu tattooed across her forehead (picture "proof").

Seriously, this is probably because it is the easiest label for people to continue to associate her with whenever her name is uttered when in reality, she set her goals on a completely different path back in 1995 after Hummingbird concluded. She hasn't broken ties from the industry either since it serves as a way of expressing respect and remembering her roots. Lot of people tend to automatically assume that seiyuu singers are 2nd rate compared to JPOP ones when in reality, many tend to be as good or much better (not just singing but from an overall entertainment perspective). For someone like Hekiru, this label association has had a detrimental effect because many tend to write her off and therefore, don't even bother to give her a listen. Yet, she doesn't cleanly fit the typical JPOP/JROCK mold either. Today, she has her own style/sound which blends a mix of pop and hard rock along with light rock/ballads but without the overall visual gimmicks. This is why even to this day, she remains an enigma to many. Even the stage name she created (Hekiru) is different and always garners questions as to its origins. She continues to stick around like flypaper without much promotion and leaves people wondering what makes her tick. Part of that tenacity is her above mentioned background while the other is because she is not a product of the idol/talent machine. Without the assistance of the usual powers that be, hard work, persistence, and sheer determination (i.e. with a will) were used to build her career. This is in direct contrast to idols that are churned out often and heavily promoted but where only a fraction continue on for any length of time. Things were not always easy for her in the early years because she was learning the music industry but initially had a very naive view of the business (and soon learned how ruthless it was).

Her first "solo" album release "Shiena" occurred in 1994 (while still with Hummingbird) and clearly had an idol emphasis as dictated by SMEJ and some of the people initially "looking out for her best interests". She was made to look and sing like your typical idol by being plastered with make up and having to sing in a high pitched voice; something that she despised and something that bursts my eardrums and sandblasts my eyes out today. Most Hekiru fans best consider this album forgotten because it was not her. I can honestly say that her singing back then was very bad as she could barely hold a note. It was cute (because of the idol emphasis) but could get rather irritating after awhile. Once Hummingbird concluded in 1995 and she really became a solo performer, the first thing she did was ditch the overtly "cute idol" image for one that was still idol but more pop for her 2nd album. She made her case with SMEJ, management, and anyone else who was involved. She didn't want a facade to be the main selling point as opposed to the music. Literally, this would have been considered professional suicide by many in an industry where superficial things like looks and labels do matter. This is what her 3rd albums title "No Make Girl" stood for (no makeup girl). Yet she proved the naysayers wrong.

One of her many (lofty) goals once she went solo was to break down walls for other performers by paving a path that others could hopefully follow without going through the idol machine. Successfully crossing over from seiyuu to doing "JPOP" songs was a feat in itself. She learned how cruel the entertainment/music business really is (i.e. backstabbing, people using you, etc) because earlier, she had a naive sense about it. Like everything else Hekiru, she learned from that and used it to her advantage. Like her earlier harsh working experiences, it toughened her resolve (this would help a little later during the Face to Face period). In 1995, she vowed that she would do a performance within 2 years at Budokan. She therefore worked relentlessly to better her vocals and found that going a few octaves lower was a better range; anyone who listens to 1995 and earlier material and then 1996-1997 will hear the changes immediately (a significant improvement in such a short time).

During these early days, she took control of the creative aspects of her career such as her image and searched for a certain singing and music style (which has continually undergone changes and refinements over the years). The earlier albums before ~with a will~ were clearly more pop-idol but still exhibited certain attributes which would become hallmark Hekiru Shiina. 1997 was an interesting year for her. In February, she attained her dream and fulfilled the promise that she had made 2 years earlier of performing at Budokan for two consecutive sold out shows. Later in the year, an interesting duet was formed when Shinya (Yamada), the drummer of the popular group LUNA SEA and Hekiru released a single called Hyoryusya.

Musically, she enjoys hard rock and finally found something to latch on to which culminated with Baby blue eyes in 1998. It had a much harder sound but not necessarily all out rock as several songs had a bit of pop in them. Unfortunately, she had to make the heartbreaking decision to disband her "HEKI-BAND's" (the group that had been with her from the start of her solo career) because they were great at generating a lighter pop sound rather than something that also had a bit more of a bite to it for this new direction. They were a close knit group but she knew that she needed to do it in order to move forward. A new band needed to be formed and she eventually got together some really excellent musicians especially in the guitar area since she had DAITA (SIAM SHADE) fill in for guitar work during the transition period for Graduater; a track from Baby blue eyes. Everything began coming together band wise, sound wise (her vocal range continued to improve dramatically), and even visually where she was now sporting a very simple nondescript tomboyish look normally consisting of leather pants and a long sleeve shirt.

Lot of her supporters liked this move towards a more rock-oriented approach and it also began expanding her fan base with an influx of rock/metal listeners. I became a fan in early 1998 upon seeing her Graduater performance on POP JAM. On the flip side though, it also began having a polarizing effect on her earlier fan base which consisted of the anime fans (from Hummingbird and Rayearth) and those that preferred the more idollish Hekiru. This would prove to be a painful growing process as she would eventually learn that you cannot please everyone nor can one single person change the way the entertainment industry works.

1999's Face to Face was the follow up which would cement that hard rock sound and probably be the next phase in her career by taking her popularity to an even higher level. DAITA collaborated for a 2nd time by composing "Dakishimete" (while she contributed the lyrics). The album did come across much better in terms of being rock-oriented with much emphasis on a guitar driven sound and topped out at #6 on Oricon but for one reason or another, things weren't working out as well on the fan base front. Lot of her fans were expecting a full on assault with a harder sound and set list for the concerts. Behind the scenes though, things were not progressing as smoothly and conspiring to work against everything she had achieved to that point.

Back then, it was probably corporate pressure (no one but Hekiru knows the true reason) since Sony was going to invest heavily in the support tour for the album with the VAIO promotion. Instead of a set list which was all out rock from Bbe and FtF, it was going to still contain a mix of more of the older idol and genki type tunes (probably in order to continue appeasing that portion of the fan base). Because a large number of fans were supporting her not only for her music but also for some of her ideals (and because the Japanese sometime take a real samurai attitude towards certain things), some were upset by what seemed to be a major compromise to the goals she had been writing about in her fan club newsletters or discussing on radio shows (which was essentially to be taken seriously as a real artist). This frustrated her immensely and honestly, while I admire/respect her ideals, certain things are really out of ones control and a bit too much for just one person to pull off alone. She had nothing to be ashamed of either because she met some lofty achievements via unorthodox means.

In an act of personal anger, she cut her long hair off to signify and break ties even with the image that had been built up for Baby blue eyes (the long haired girl wearing the black leather look) in order to start off fresh and shed that prior "baggage". Some "fans" were deplorable, shallow, and hypocritical in their reaction (many liked her for her non-image approach but had somehow gotten into liking this tomboyish leather clad long haired style) and she ended up losing a bit of fans during this period (to this day, some of these have been relentless in bad mouthing her). The irony of course is that FtF came across much harder during lives and it did look kind of odd when she headbanged and didn't have that long hair flying. But again, its about the music, not the length of the hair or visual looks. Regardless, the tours were still selling out but it was also clear that some fans were left scratching their heads while others began looking to move on to "greener" pastures.

She went through a bit of personal depression at this time but came out swinging harder than ever. Thus the lyrics she wrote for both Everlasting Train and Akai hana personifies her feelings at that time (you can sometimes feel this anger when she sings them live). Her personal outlook also clearly changed after this. She became more relaxed and began feeling more comfortable with herself. Hekiru had always been self-conscious and was usually never comfortable in front of a camera due to her camera shyness (especially if there was a studio audience; she by choice chooses not to make many television appearances so they are very rare occasions). Her appearance on Waratte Iitomo in January 1999 showed a much more animated side of her. She began wearing dresses often and a little bit of makeup which clearly can be seen in photos from the 2000-2001 timeframe. Previously, she had tried to live up to and please too many peoples expectations earlier without looking out for her own self and personally, I'm glad she quickly realized you can't please everyone but yourself.

There was a point back then when she was going to call it quits (singing) but she stuck it out. She could make significantly more money just doing seiyuu work but her actions have exhibited that money clearly isn't what is important or a motivational factor to her. She says in almost all her recent interviews that her goal nowadays is just to get better at singing and to perform in front an audience because that is what she is most happiest doing. This is why her live performances are fun and entertaining as she has an infectious energy level (the energy output at her 2+ hour long concerts at times feels like an atomic bomb going off) and something which belies the usual stoic facade that people see of her in photographs (which is probably her warped way of saying don't judge a book by its cover as looks can be deceiving). In reality, she has a great sense of humor (the LOVE TOMORROW PV is an excellent example of this) and is normally in her element off camera or in offshots laughing/smiling and being "herself" (^_^).

Like many other artists, Hekiru had her heyday and that existed in earnest from the 1996-1999 (it was common to see her face on Oricon/The Ichiban magazine and inside rock oriented mags like Arena37c). I personally felt that lot of momentum was lost in 2000 as she was really hitting her stride coming off what was a rather successful 1999 tour despite the turmoil that brewed in the fan camp. Her own personal distraction and sorting out those issues may have contributed greatly to a lack of focus as far as "RIGHT BESIDE YOU" goes. It should've been a knockout followup to Face to Face but it fell far short by pulling back on the guitar driven sound. Her popularity and overall name recognition (not helped by the seiyuu label) began taking a hit around this time especially as the industry began favoring some of the more R&B flavored acts.

2001's "PRECIOUS GARDEN" was the album that should have been the followup to Face to Face. Content wise, it fulfilled even more of Hekiru's dreams such as contributing the lyrics, composition, and arrangement on some tracks. If 2000 had gone over better, this album would have likely pushed her into a much more loftier position and things might be different today. The album itself still sold well (#11 on the Oricon) and many of the songs were very good but unfortunately, the studio release felt a bit lacking. Some blamed this on her vocals being altered in the studio (which I agree given that this is her strength) and in fact, many of those songs are significantly superior performed live. During 2001, Hekiru began working with a new producer, Naoto Kine (guitarist of TM Network which was also comprised of Tetsuya Komuro and Takashi Utsunomiya; who are also all partners in ROJAM) for her next album. This also entailed a change in her support/tour band line up during the second half of the PRECIOUS GARDEN tour (specifically for the PRECIOUS GARDEN SUMMER tour). The only returning member was guitarist Jake (Shingo Saito; formerly of T.M. Revolution) who himself was fairly new after having taken Yousuke Shirato's place after he had left. This new band happens to be comprised of seasoned veterans that have played for some of the best in the industry. As session musicians, their names may not be immediately recognizable but they have backed other performers such as TM Network, Globe, T.M. Revolution, Tohko (to name just a few). Several of them had already been playing together for years so they were able to jell together as a group relatively quickly. Their live sound today is absolutely incredible (part of it is the result of the Yamaha PM1-D control console) and adds a new dimension to many of her older songs. Hekiru made her 2nd return to Budokan on New Years Day 2002. The announcement made earlier during the fall of 2001 left fans bewildered as to why. This show turned out to be the first one which broke tradition with all her previous tour names that began with the name, STARTING LEGEND (this phrase by the way has its roots in these sort of profile/backgrounds telling the story of Hekiru which some affectionately refer to as the Legend of Hekiru and was used as part of the name of her concert tours from the beginning, a starting point to continue growing this "legend"). Instead, it was simply called NEW STEP. My interpretation is that it was just that, a new step by breaking further with the past in putting the STARTING LEGEND prefix to rest.

Hekiru's 2002 "SADISTIC PINK" was also quite a departure from her previous releases with many slower songs and a bit more pop arrangements as opposed to rock. Hekiru's own contributions also were very limited compared to the previous release probably as a result from the change in producer. Still, many of those tunes were easily rearranged to have a harder rock sound during concerts. During 2002, she took on the lead role in a small independently produced movie called "Tsuki no Akari". In several interviews, Hekiru mentioned that she realized that this role would not amount to much but took on the part primarily as a learning experience. The director approached her but she originally turned it down because she felt that she lacked the experience. He eventually convinced her to give it a shot. Hekiru noted voice acting as a seiyuu differs from dramatic roles since it is normally structured and laid out in advance whereas acting in front of a camera has many different variables (including improvising) that need to be taken into consideration. She does seem to have taken away much from this experience as she is now more noticeably relaxed (not cardboard stiff) and comes across as less camera shy.

Work for her March 2003 release of 10 Carat began with the release of MOTTO Sweets during spring 2002. Relatively heavy promotion was done for this pop-rock song and it did manage to draw in some new fans (surprisingly, she has gained more new female fans whereas her fan base has always been primarily male). Her next single though had a bit more of an ambitious goal which was something I had been personally wanting for awhile; namely to try and capture her live essence in a studio release. LOVE TOMORROW managed to do this to some extent but it really wasn't until the release of believe on New Years Day 2003 that this objective was more fully realized as the goal was for a guitar driven sound (reminiscent of the Bbe and FtF days). Hekiru also made her 3rd Budokan appearance that same day and was a show that I was fortunately able to attend. This allowed me to confirm what I had been only able to experience via videos to that point and I was not disappointed. This short winter tour was entitled ~believe~ and what I took away from that (especially when tied to the lyrics of the song) was sort of a thank you message to everyone who continued to believe in her by sticking with her through thick and thin. I was glad to have been able to spend my New Years day with several thousand other fans and rock out to Hekiru and the band. While the 2002 Budokan live seemed to have less of a purpose (besides the naming), this one clearly did (to me) and was a perfect way to kick off 2003. 10 Carat itself indeed turned out to be an album that goes back to what Hekiru does best, ROCK but more importantly, does capture some of that live essence where Hekiru's magic comes out. DAITA (ex-SIAM SHADE) re-collaborated for a 3rd time by composing/arranging and playing the guitar on RESET and Shinya (ex-LUNA SEA) re-collaborated for a 2nd time by playing the drums on SNOW fall. Her Birthday Live and fan club event shows during March went over well in preparation for the upcoming summer tour. The level of activity for this year has been fairly relentless and is definitely welcomed by fans. She has also to some extent, come nearly full circle but with a few key differences. While she has trimmed down a bit, she has grown her hair long just like before she cut it off (even sporting bangs). However, todays Hekiru is much wiser and confident. While naturally older, she still remains young at heart.

2004 (August 21) represented her 10th year anniversary as a solo performing artist. It started off as a busy year with her 4th Budokan appearance on New Years Day, a mini FC event during March, the release of her 11th full album Wings of Time and several handshaking meetings in April. The summer live house tour and special 10th anniversary event at Omiya Sonic City (she has close to 275 full production concerts under her belt to date) closed out the major activities for the year.

2005 has unfortunately seen a slowing of activities with a scaled down winter and summer tour schedule. Her 12th album "Clear Sky" will be released at the end of June (as of this writing) and includes contributions by DAITA, former Princess Princess guitarist Kanako Nakayama, and her tour guitarist, Ken Kimura. It is supposed to be a guitar-oriented release (which seems to fit the collaborators involved in this release).