Old School: Yellow #5 was one of a slew of bands which played Okinawa, Japan's local club circuit in the early '90's. The band's roots can be traced all the way back to high school days. That's when Ray Pineda (guitars, vocals) and Adam Simoncic (bass, vocals) began playing in Broom Hilda, a band formed by Ray and Adam and one good drummer named Aaron Wimberly. After internal problems, that band broke up. Anxious to return to the spotlight, however, "Sugar Ray" as he had come to be known and Adam (Guava) called on the guitar expertise of John "BB" Kuehn and the dynomite drumming of Dustin Fisk. Influences ranged from John's love of Jane's Addiction to Dustin's love of Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee. Dustin often tried to duplicate Lee's famous MTV Music Awards thing where his sticks flew real high in the air...but to no avail.

Initially, one song was written just in the nick of time for Yellow #5 to perform their first gig. Since the band did not have a singer, they recruited friend Mike Crow. Unfortunately, "Crow Man" got stage fright right before the show. Someone had to step up and sing, but who would it be?...It was Adam! Since this was literally minutes before the show and there were no lyrics written, Adam just sang a nursery rhyme: Little Miss Muffet. To everyone's surprise, the show was a succes! They got much props that night from both friends and local concert-goers. Thus began the saga of Y5.

The band continued to play many, many shows, winning over a HUGE fan base, including (in no particular order): Matt Martin, Aaron Fisk, Jon Kerwin, Eileen Kinsley, Glen Johnson, Kristy Giles, Lisa Goya, Bobby Miley, Chiaki Shephard, Junior Choe (who gave the band their name), Jimmy Pliska, Wes and Tricia Verbick, Sandra Miranda, JP Fitzpatrick, Anthony Wood, Daniel Golson, and their #1 Fan, Gene Lee. Unfortunately, John and Dustin had to return to the United States to attend college. While they were gone, longtime friend and Y5 guitar tech, Aaron Fisk, began to jam with Ray and Adam (Aaron had already had a guest appearance at one of the original USO shows with Noise Farm). Dustin later returned and thus began the New Era of Yellow #5...

New School: Aaron's influences ranged from Paula Abdoul to Pearl Jam, thus the band knew he was the right man for the job. Previously, "Double A" had yearned to be in the band. However, both guitar positions were filled, leaving Aaron with the option of being the permanent lead singer. However, Aaron quietly declined. The new lineup made its debut at Apple House around the summer of 1993. The song list contained some previously released material and some newly written songs.

That fall, Dustin went back to school in the U.S. and Y5 took a break from performing and concentrated solely on writing. The band played a couple of shows with Aaron sitting in on drums, but it was not until the return of the elder Fisk that the real power of Y5 was unleashed! The band played a total of five rockin' shows! However, the highlight of that tour was the recording of Yellow #5's self-titled first album at Studio Kids recording studios. Total production costs exceeded $100! Somehow the band managed to pool together their earnings and pay for this enormous bill. The Fisks and Adam again departed to the U.S. to attend college while Ray remained on island to attend college.

Soon 1995 rolled around and to everyone's surprise, Y5 reunited with renewed enthusiasm, kicking off Goatman Tour '95. This tour rocked! Between shows, the band somehow found time to record and release their second album, also self-titled. This one was recorded on Aaron's 4-track in the Fisk household. This soon became the fastest selling and most profitable Y5 album of all time. After that summer, however, everyone (including Ray) went back to the States for college, leaving the future of Yellow #5 up in the air...