Penicillin (band)

Penicillin (stylized as PENICILLIN) is a Japanese visual kei alternative rock band, formed in Tokyo in 1992.

Penicillin
OriginTokyo, Japan
GenresAlternative rock, hard rock, industrial rock, gothic rock
Years active1992–present
LabelsPioneer LDC, East West Japan, Omega A.T. Music, Avex Trax/HiBOOM, Crown, That Records/Blowgrow
Websitepenicillin.jp
MembersHakuei
Chisato
O-Jiro
Past membersYuuji
Shaisuke
Gisho

History

Formed by friends at Tokai University in Tokyo, Japan on February 14, 1992.[1] Penicillin began with Chisato on vocals, Gisho on bass, O-Jiro on drums and both Yuuji and Shaisuke on guitar.[2] Before anything was recorded however the band's line-up changed to Hakuei on vocals, Gisho on bass, O-Jiro on drums and both Shaisuke and Chisato on guitar. Their name was taken from the punk rock group "Penicillin Shock" in the manga series To-y and they titled their first album, which was released in 1994 and produced by Kiyoshi of Media Youth,[3] after the fictional band.[4] Hakuei later stated that when the band started, he wanted to play hardcore punk in a violent and flashy style like Gastunk.[1] After their first album, Shaisuke left Penicillin to join Deshabillz.

The band made their major label debut in March 1996 with "Blue Moon" on Pioneer LDC.[1] On July 25 and 26, Penicillin performed at the Nippon Budokan while still a new band.[1] In 1997 they released Limelight, which was named one of the top albums from 1989-1998 in a 2004 issue of the music magazine Band Yarouze.[5] They stayed on Pioneer until 1998 when they changed to East West Japan. Their sixth single "Romance" was released on January 15, 1998 and ranked within the top 10 on the Oricon chart for six consecutive weeks, selling over 900,000 copies.[6] It was the opening theme of the Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san anime adaptation. After they were dropped by East West Japan they changed to Omega A.T. Music (an indie label) in 2001. Omega happens to be under Omega Project Holdings which Yoshiaki Kondou (Gisho) is the CEO of.[7] However they were only on Omega for a year before being picked up by Hiboom, which was an indie subsidiary of Avex Trax. In 2005 when Hiboom was closed, they were picked up directly by Avex Trax and were once again on a major label.

On December 12, 2005 Penicillin celebrated its 15th anniversary as a band. On March 9, 2007 Gisho announced that he would leave the band.[8] His last live was his birthday on May 20, 2007 at Shibuya O-East. Since then the band has continued on as a three piece unit. During the February 11, 2008 live, it was announced the Penicillin would once again change labels, this time to Nippon Crown.[9]

In 2010, Penicillin established the independent record label That Records. The first release by the new label was their single "Rosetta" on August 4.[10]

Penicillin's song "Romance" was covered by And on the compilation Crush! -90's V-Rock Best Hit Cover Songs-. The album was released on January 26, 2011 and features current visual kei bands covering songs from bands that were important to the '90s visual kei movement.[11] It was also covered by Jui for the similar album Counteraction - V-Rock covered Visual Anime songs Compilation-, which was released on May 23, 2012 and features covers of songs by visual kei bands that were used in anime.[12]

They covered "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride", from Lilo & Stitch, for the cover album V-Rock Disney, which was released on September 7, 2011 and features visual kei artists covering Disney songs.[13]

Penicillin released their first cover album, Memories ~Japanese Masterpieces~ which is composed of songs by female singers, on March 18, 2015. The artwork for the album was drawn by Atsushi Kamijo, author of the manga from which the group took their name.[14]

Member information
Vocalist Hakuei in 2008.
  • Hakuei: (vocals) Born December 16, 1970 in Miyazaki Prefecture, Kushima City. However, when his parents divorced in 2nd grade of elementary school he moved with his mother to Aomori prefecture Hirosaki City.[15] At Tokai University he got his degree from the general education department. In 1996 he made his solo debut with the single "Zeus". In 1997 he worked as an actor in the movie -Thirty 30- and in 1998 he played Hamlet in Penicillin's Rock Opera Hamlet (written by Kiyoshi, ex-hide with Spread Beaver). In 1999 he joined up with Kiyoshi once more for the duo Machine, which is currently active.[16] Hakuei currently is a model for Black Peace Now, and draws a comic strip featured monthly in Fool's Mate called Susume! Tonosama. He's a member of a secret band called Kaizoku which only does secret lives. When Penicillin performs live on his birthday it's known as "Super Heart Core"
  • Chisato (千聖): (guitar) Born October 4, 1971 in Tokyo, Japan. He attended Tokai University and received a degree in pre-law. In September 1996 he made his solo debut with "Dance with the wild things". During his solo career he's played notable places such as Nippon Budokan. In the late 1990s he wrote music for and produced the band Lucifer. In the past he's worked on R with the likes of Kiyoshi & O-jiro, Crack-Z with friend Satoro from ZZ, and Nano with Hakuei. Currently he's doing a solo project under the alias MSTR with the band Crack6, as well as under Chisato doing live guitar support for Acid Black Cherry. When Penicillin performs for his birthday it's known as "Rock x Rock"
  • O-Jiro: (drums) Born September 14, 1972 in Chiba, Japan. He attended Tokai University as well, but did not graduate from it. He has done side projects such as R, with Chisato and Kiyoshi, 808, with Yasumichan of Sleep My Dear, and Starman, with Gisho as well as Yasumichan and Ken from Sleep My Dear. When Penicillin performs on his birthday it's known as "Tono!Gig"
Former
  • Gisho: (bass) Born May 20, 1971 in Hyogo Prefecture. Gisho attended Tokai University and got a degree in Economics. He used the name Ootaki Jun for his solo career. He starred in the movie Shonan Bakuzo Zuku Arakure Knight.[17] In 2001 he joined Omega Project Holdings and later became their CEO. He's a fan of Keanu Reeves and The Matrix and because of that his birthday lives were titled "Gishorix Revolution" his last live with the band was on May 20, 2007 at Shibuya O-East and it was known was "Gishorix Revolution -Never Ending Story-".
  • Yuuji: (guitar)
  • Shaisuke: (guitar)

Discography

Singles
Title Release Oricon
Ranking[18]
"In the Kingdom of the Moonlight" September 30, 1995
"Melody/Mother Goose" (Melody/マザー・グース) January 25, 1996
"Blue Moon/Tenshi yo Mezame te" (Blue Moon / 天使よ目覚めて) March 15, 1996 17
"Imitation Love/Never Ending Story" May 15, 1996 19
"99banme no yoru" (99番目の夜) March 19, 1997 9
"Dead or Alive" May 28, 1997 12
"Yoru wo Buttobase" (夜をぶっとばせ) June 25, 1997 18
"Romance" (ロマンス) January 15, 1998 4
"Make Love" May 30, 1998 8
"Crash" September 9, 1998 4
"Butterfly" November 26, 1998 24
"Nice in Lip+L" September 1, 1999 9
"Risou no shita" (理想の舌) February 23, 2000 20
"Ultrider" (ウルトライダー) May 17, 2000 23
"Japanese Industrial Students" May 17, 2000 25
"Inazuma" (イナズマ) January 24, 2001 47
"Limit Complex" (リミットコンプレックス) May 30, 2001 66
"Fukai no Suna/St. Marian Hurricane" (腐海の砂 / 聖・MARIAN HURRICANE) November 28, 2001 24
"New Future" June 26, 2002 42
"Hanazono Kinema" (花園キネマ) September 19, 2002 27
"Yojigen Diver/Shonen Diver" (四次元ダイバー・少年ダイバー) May 28, 2003 46
"Byakuro no Mai " (白髏の舞) November 27, 2003 60
"Samurai Boy/Love Dragoon" May 26, 2004 67
"Freesia" (フリージア) February 2, 2005 50
"Jump#1/Hakana" (JUMP#1 / ハカナ) June 28, 2005 30
"Tsuki Senko Teru/Zero" (月千古輝/零) March 15, 2006 42
"Hyper Chord/Hyper Kids ~Tokai Daigaku Monogatari~" (hyper chord / hyper kids～東海大学物語～) September 27, 2006 35
"Grind Candy/Eden" (Grind Candy / エデン) January 31, 2007 33
"Sun" (太陽, Taiyo) April 23, 2008 45
"Rainbow/Scream" August 20, 2008 37
"Blackhole" May 8, 2009 26
"Warp" September 2, 2009 24
"Rosetta" August 4, 2010 28

Albums
Title Release Oricon
ranking[19]
Penicillin Shock May 30, 1994
Missing Link December 24, 1994
God of Grind- Real Penicillin Shock June 20, 1995
Earth September 30, 1995 42
Into the Valley of the Dolls 45
Missing Link October 25, 1995 46
Indwell July 24, 1996 75
Vibe∞ June 26, 1996 10
Fly Penicillin featuring Chisato (FLY PENICILLIN featuring 千聖) November 27, 1996 37
Limelight July 2, 1997 8
Ultimate Velocity October 21, 1998 2
This is Penicillin 1994-1999 October 6, 1999 6
Union Jap May 24, 2000 19
Singles February 21, 2001 48
Nuclear Banana November 7, 2001 27
No.53 October 30, 2002 48
Kakkaku (赫赫) October 1, 2003 55
Flower Circus October 20, 2004 44
Hell Bound Heart November 23, 2005 72
Blue Heaven February 28, 2007 87
Supernova November 26, 2008 71
Cell November 4, 2009 52
Will March 2, 2011 31
20th Anniversary Fan Selection Best Dragon Hearts November 4, 2009 27
20th Anniversary Member Selection Best Phoenix Star March 2, 2011 75
Kowloon Head November 6, 2019 46

References
  1. Rock and Read 040. Shinko Music Entertainment. 2012. pp. 222–239. ISBN 978-4-401-77110-3.
  2. Quarterdoll: The Report Magazine of Penicillin QD No. 005, Published February 2003
  3. Penicillin Shock: Tears Music: TEC-0013
  4. ""TO-Y" Manga Artist Draws Visual-kei Band PENICILLIN's Latest Album Jacket". Crunchyroll. March 3, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  5. "Top 44 Albums from 1989 - 1998". jame-world.com. May 9, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
  6. Musicjapanplus bio
  7. Omega OHP Archived 2007-11-04 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. Penicillin's Blog Post
  9. "Media news". Archived from the original on March 3, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
  10. "PENICILLIN、自主レーベルTHAT RECORDSを設立" (in Japanese). Barks. July 20, 2010. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  11. "'90s Visual Kei Cover Album". jame-world.com. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  12. "V-Kei Anime Song Cover Compilation "Counteraction!" and MJP TV to Collaborate! Live Talk Program with Asai Hiroaki and the Artists Participating!". musicjapanplus.jp. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  13. "Visual kei bands to take on Disney songs for 'V-ROCK Disney'!". tokyohive.com. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  14. "PENICILLIN's first cover album illustrated by Kamijo of "TO-Y"". barks.jp. March 9, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  15. "Hakuei Personal Interview"ROCK AND READ 007(2006/04), TOKYO FM Publications, Tokyo, Japan
  16. Machine's OHP
  17. Movie Jacket Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "PENICILLINのシングル売り上げランキング". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  19. "PENICILLINのアルバム売り上げランキング". Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved November 13, 2019.
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