P-Model (also typeset as P-MODEL and P. Model) was a Japanese
electronic rock band started in 1979 by members of the defunct
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
band
Mandrake. The band has experienced many lineup revisions over the years but frontman
Susumu Hirasawa
is a Japanese musician and composer. He is well known for his work for the films of director Satoshi Kon and the animated adaptations of the Berserk (manga), ''Berserk'' manga series, alongside his work as a solo artist and as a member of P-Mode ...
was always at the helm of operations. P-Model officially disbanded in 2000, although many of its members continue to release solo albums and collaborate with each other on different projects.
Hirasawa has since released work under the name , effectively a solo revival of the band.
Members
* –
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
,
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
,
Miburi,
Heavenizer,
Graviton
In theories of quantum gravity, the graviton is the hypothetical elementary particle that mediates the force of gravitational interaction. There is no complete quantum field theory of gravitons due to an outstanding mathematical problem with re ...
,
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...
,
programming (1 January 1979 – 20 December 2000; 2004–2005, 2013–2014, 2018 )
Former members
* –
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
,
combo organ, synthesizer,
keyboard (1 January 1979 – 20 March 1983; 2013 )
* –
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sou ...
s,
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
,
electronic drums,
drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...
(1 January 1979 – 22 December 1984; 14 March 1987 – 28 December 1988 )
* – bass, vocals, keyboard, synthesizer, Tubular Hertz (1 January 1979 – 3 November 1980; 23 September 1991 – 11 October 1993)
* – bass, synthesizer (21 November 1980 – 5 August 1984)
* – keyboard, guitar, vocals (27 March 1983 – 27 December 1985)
* – bass,
electric violin,
double bass
The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
,
ocarinas (bass, tenor and soprano), synthesizer,
MSX
MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...
, vocals (28 August 1984 – 27 December 1985)
* – drums, cymbals, percussion, electronic drums (22 December 1984 – 14 March 1987)
* – bass (
fretted and fretless), keyboard, vocals (23 January 1986 – 28 December 1988)
* – Systems (23 January 1986 – 27 September 1987)
* – keyboard, synthesizer, vocals,
Compact Macintosh, programming (1 November 1987 – 28 December 1988; 23 September 1991 – 11 October 1993)
* – electronic drums, cymbals (23 September 1991 – 11 October 1993)
* – System-1 (1 December 1994 – 20 December 2000; 11 – 14 January 2014 )
* – System-2, bass (1 December 1994 – 20 December 2000)
* – AlgoRhythm (1 December 1994 – 15 May 1997)
*Tainaco – Virtual drums (21 October 1997 – 20 December 2000)
**
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...
program operated through
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
signals; three types, 1, 2 and E (enhanced) were created. CG model based on drummer Sadatoshi Tainaka, later replaced with photos of Tainaka. Never reappeared after 2000.
Timeline
ImageSize = width:999 height:444
PlotArea = left:108 bottom:120 top:0 right:16
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1979 till:20/12/2000
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1979
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1980
Colors =
id:Vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals
id:Backing value:pink legend:Backing_vocals
id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:Violin value:drabgreen legend:Violin,_ocarina
id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards,_synthesizers
id:Systems value:skyblue legend:Systems,_assorted_electronics
id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion
id:EleDr value:claret legend:Electronic_percussion,_drum_machine
id:VirDr value:gray(0.6) legend:Virtual_drums
id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_releases
id:bars value:gray(0.93)
LineData =
at:25/08/1979 color:black layer:back
at:24/04/1980 color:black layer:back
at:25/04/1981 color:black layer:back
at:01/03/1982 color:black layer:back
at:25/02/1984 color:black layer:back
at:10/12/1984 color:black layer:back
at:25/10/1985 color:black layer:back
at:26/06/1986 color:black layer:back
at:26/02/1992 color:black layer:back
at:25/03/1993 color:black layer:back
at:09/12/1995 color:black layer:back
at:29/11/1997 color:black layer:back
at:01/09/1999 color:black layer:back
BarData =
bar:hirasawa text:"Susumu Hirasawa"
bar:tanaka text:"Yasumi Tanaka"
bar:miura text:"Shunichi Miura"
bar:takahashi text:"Yoshikazu Takahashi"
bar:kotobuki text:"Hikaru Kotobuki"
bar:fukuma text:"Hajime Fukuma"
bar:konishi text:"Kenji Konishi"
bar:akiyama text:"Katsuhiko Akiyama"
bar:kikuchi text:"Tatsuya Kikuchi"
bar:yokogawa text:"Tadahiko Yokogawa"
bar:nakano text:"Teruo Nakano"
bar:tainaka text:"Sadatoshi Tainaka"
bar:araki text:"Yasuhiro Araki"
bar:fujii text:"Yasuchika Fujii"
bar:kamiryo text:"Wataru Kamiryo"
bar:tainaco text:"TAINACO"
PlotData=
width:13 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:hirasawa from:01/01/1979 till:28/12/1988 color:Guitar
bar:hirasawa from:01/01/1979 till:28/12/1988 color:Vocals width:3
bar:hirasawa from:01/01/1979 till:28/12/1988 color:Keys width:7
bar:hirasawa from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Keys
bar:hirasawa from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Vocals width:3
bar:hirasawa from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Guitar width:7
bar:hirasawa from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Guitar
bar:hirasawa from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Vocals width:3
bar:hirasawa from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Keys width:7
bar:tanaka from:01/01/1979 till:20/03/1983 color:Keys
bar:tanaka from:01/01/1979 till:20/03/1983 color:Backing width:3
bar:tanaka from:01/02/1979 till:28/02/1979 color:Bass width:7
bar:tanaka from:01/12/1980 till:30/12/1980 color:Bass width:7
bar:miura from:20/03/1983 till:27/12/1985 color:Keys
bar:miura from:20/03/1983 till:27/12/1985 color:Backing width:3
bar:miura from:02/10/1983 till:02/10/1983 color:Guitar width:7
bar:miura from:05/02/1984 till:10/03/1984 color:Guitar width:7
bar:miura from:28/08/1984 till:27/12/1985 color:Guitar width:7
bar:takahashi from:23/01/1986 till:27/09/1987 color:Systems
bar:takahashi from:23/01/1986 till:27/09/1987 color:Backing width:3
bar:kotobuki from:01/11/1987 till:28/12/1988 color:Keys
bar:kotobuki from:01/11/1987 till:28/12/1988 color:Backing width:3
bar:kotobuki from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Systems
bar:kotobuki from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Vocals width:3
bar:fukuma from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Systems
bar:fukuma from:30/11/1994 till:21/10/1997 color:Backing width:3
bar:fukuma from:21/10/1997 till:20/12/2000 color:Vocals width:3
bar:akiyama from:01/01/1979 till:03/11/1980 color:Bass
bar:akiyama from:01/01/1979 till:03/11/1980 color:Vocals width:3
bar:akiyama from:01/01/1979 till:03/11/1980 color:Keys width:7
bar:akiyama from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Bass width:7
bar:akiyama from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Vocals width:3
bar:akiyama from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:Keys
bar:kikuchi from:21/11/1980 till:05/08/1984 color:Bass
bar:kikuchi from:21/11/1980 till:05/08/1984 color:Backing width:3
bar:yokogawa from:28/08/1984 till:27/12/1985 color:Violin
bar:yokogawa from:28/08/1984 till:27/12/1985 color:Bass width:7
bar:yokogawa from:28/08/1984 till:27/12/1985 color:Vocals width:3
bar:nakano from:15/09/1984 till:15/09/1984 color:Bass
bar:nakano from:15/09/1984 till:15/09/1984 color:Backing width:3
bar:nakano from:23/01/1986 till:28/12/1988 color:Bass
bar:nakano from:23/01/1986 till:28/12/1988 color:Vocals width:3
bar:nakano from:23/01/1986 till:28/12/1988 color:Keys width:7
bar:konishi from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Systems
bar:konishi from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Vocals width:3
bar:konishi from:30/11/1994 till:20/12/2000 color:Bass width:7
bar:tainaka from:01/01/1979 till:22/12/1984 color:Drums
bar:tainaka from:20/03/1983 till:22/12/1984 color:EleDr width:3
bar:tainaka from:14/03/1987 till:28/12/1988 color:Drums
bar:tainaka from:14/03/1987 till:28/12/1988 color:EleDr width:3
bar:araki from:19/04/1985 till:14/03/1987 color:Drums
bar:araki from:19/04/1985 till:14/03/1987 color:EleDr width:3
bar:fujii from:23/09/1991 till:11/10/1993 color:EleDr
bar:kamiryo from:30/11/1994 till:15/05/1997 color:Drums
bar:tainaco from:21/10/1997 till:06/11/1999 color:VirDr
Discography
Studio albums
Live and Remix-Remake albums
Compilations
*''
P-Plant CD Vol. 1'', 2000
*', 2002
*''Golden☆Best'', 2004
*''P-Model Warner Years Singles Box'', 2012
Singles
*"
Art Mania", 1979
*"
Kameari Pop", 1979
*"
Missile
A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor.
Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...
", 1980
*"
junglebed II", 1981
*"
Index P-0", 1983
*"
Soldi Air Dance Version
"Soldi" (; ) is a song recorded by Italian singer Mahmood (singer), Mahmood. It was released on 6 February 2019, as the fifth single from his debut studio album, ''Gioventù bruciata'' (2019). Mahmood co-wrote the song with Dario Faini, Dario " ...
", 1983
*"
Ikari", 1984
*"
Re;", 1985
*"
P-Model Another Act 6", 1985
*"
Another Day", 1986
*"
Opening SE 1992", 1992
*"
demo", 1994
*"
SAKSIT North Passage MIX, 1996
*">>>Unfix One>>> *
Rocket Shoot*", 1996
*">>>Unfix Eight>>> *
Ashura Clock*", 1997
*">>>Unfix Nine>>> *
Layer-Green*", 1997
Other releases
*''Model House Works'', 1985
*"
Leak
A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a Water tank, tank or a Ship, ship's Hull (watercraft), hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can e ...
"/"Birds", 1986
*"Pre Drums", 1986
*', 1986
*''Christmas Song'', 1986
*"
SSS-Star Eyes", 1987
*"entro Pack", 1987
*"Legend of Sadatoshi Tainaka", 1987
*''Cassette's Bravo!'', 1988
*''Shut Up'N'Hit Your Stage, 1988
*''Music Industrial Wastes〜P-Model or Die Samples'', 1999
*''Virtual Live Samples'', 1999
*''Dekikake'', 1999
*"Moon Plant-I (full)", 1999
*"Astro-Ho (narration Version)", 1999
*"Falling Rain (P-Model version)", 1999
*, 1999
*''Global Tribute Battle'', 2000
*"Phase-7", 2000
Videography
*''
Moire Vision'', 1988
*', 1988
*''Bitmap 1979–1992'', 1992
*''
Ending Error'', 1996
*', 1997
*''Live Video "Music Industrial Wastes〜P-Model or Die"'', 2000
Music Videos
All videos from the Great Brain to Harm Harmonizer were directed by Yuichi "You1" Hirasawa (Susumu's brother). "Fu-Ru-He-He-He", "2D or Not 2D" and "Grid" were included in "Bitmap 1979–1992"; "Monotone Grid" was included in "Phton-3"; "http" was included in "Rocket Shoot"; "Logic Airforce" was included in "Live Video Music Industrial Wastes〜P-Model or Die".
*"The Great Brain", 1979
*"I Am Your Only Model", 1980
*"different≠another", 1981
*"potpourri", 1981
*"natural", 1981
*"disgusting telephone", 1981
*"Heaven", 1982
*"Perspective", 1982
*"Be in a Fix", 1982
*"Hoka No Keikaku", 1983
*"Echoes", 1983
*"Fu-Ru-He-He-He", 1983
*"Atom-Siberia", 1984
*"Harm Harmonize"r, 1984
*"Karkador", 1986
*"Another Day", 1986
*"2D or Not 2D", 1992
*"Grid", 1992
*Monotone Grid", 1994
*Power to Dream", 1995
*"http", 1996
*"Ashura Clock (Discommunicator)", 1997
*"Logic Airforce", 1999
Legacy
P-Model, as well Susumu Hirasawa through his solo career, have been influential both on musicians, as well as on artists that work on other mediums, with a reputation for having many fans in the manga and anime industries. Their creative collaborators (and even 6 of the band's members) often started out as big fans of and directly influenced by their work: ''
Berserk''
mangaka
A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga.
Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a pr ...
Kentaro Miura has found that listening to Hirasawa's songs has helped him regain focus on the themes of his writing multiple times, mangaka/anime director
Satoshi Kon wrote that Hirasawa's work was "a source of imagination and creativity for me" over the last 20 years of his life, film director
Daihachi Yoshida considers Hirasawa as the creator of "about half of my way of thinking".
Beyond associates, P-Model and/or Hirasawa have been cited as influences by musicians such as of
Metronome,
Hiroyuki Hayashi of
Polysics,
Daoko (whose song "Welcome to the Parade", from 2012's ''HyperGirl: Mukōgawa no Onna no Ko'', was directly influenced by Hirasawa's worldview),
Toby Driver of
Kayo Dot (who claims the album ''
Plastic House on Base of Sky'' was an attempt to "make
isversion of
irasawa'smusic") and
Kenshi Yonezu (who has said that a Hirasawa song "changed
islife").
Other artists that have expressed adoration for their work include
Klaha of
Malice Mizer, ''
Shiroi Heya no Futari''
mangaka
A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga.
Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a pr ...
Ryoko Yamagishi,
Arika Takarano of
Ali Project
Ali Project (typeset as ALI PROJECT) is a Japanese rock band with a strong Japanese aristocrat-style image, consisting of and .
The band's work is divided into two styles, which lead singer/lyricist Arika Takarano has termed for the band's ...
, ''
Roujin Z''/''
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' director
Hiroyuki Kitakubo,
voice actress/singer
Sumire Uesaka
is a Japanese voice actress and singer associated with Voice Kit. She won the Best Rookie Actress at the 10th Seiyu Awards. She made her singing debut in April 2013 under King Records.
Career
Uesaka became a regular on the web radio program ' ...
, musician/actor
Gen Hoshino, ''
Hellsing
''Hellsing'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's Seinen manga, manga magazine ''Young King OURs'' from April 1997 to September 2008, with its ...
'' mangaka
Kouta Hirano
is a Japanese manga artist born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for his manga ''Hellsing'' and ''Drifters''.
Career
Hirano said he learned how to be a manga artist from reading Akira Toriyama and Akira Sakuma's '' Hetappi Manga Kenkyūj ...
, ''
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'' mangaka
Koyoharu Gotouge, ''
Fullmetal Alchemist''/''
Concrete Revolutio'' director
Seiji Mizushima
is a Japanese anime director who is known for such series as ''Shaman King'', ''Fullmetal Alchemist (TV series), Fullmetal Alchemist'', ''Mobile Suit Gundam 00'', ''Un-Go'', ''Concrete Revolutio'', and ''Beatless''. His first directorial film pr ...
, ''
Fate/stay night
''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese visual novel game developed by Type-Moon. It was first released for Microsoft Windows, Windows on January 30, 2004. The story takes place over three distinct routes: ''Fate'', ''Unlimited Blade Works'' ...
éalta Nua'/''
Taiko no Tatsujin'' composer Satoshi "hil" Ishikawa and actress/singer
Ko Shibasaki.
The five main characters of the ''
K-On!'' franchise (Yui Hirasawa, Mio Akiyama, Ritsu Tainaka, Tsumugi Kotobuki and Azusa Nakano) are in a band, share the surnames of late '80s P-Model members and play their respective primary instrument (save for Nakano). All referenced members who are still active have acknowledged the connection. Besides that, P-Model references can also be found on the manga ''
The Sorrow of a Perfectly Healthy Girl'' and ''
Opus''; as well the anime ''
Sailor Moon
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...
'', ''
Perfect Blue'',
''
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad'' and ''
Space Dandy''. In the world of theatre, musician/playwright named 2 of his stage plays (' and ''Blue Cross'') after P-Model songs and 1 (''Haldyn Hotel'') after a Hirasawa solo song.
References
;Citations
External links
P-MODEL's Site (English and Japanese)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:P-Model
Musical groups established in 1979
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Japanese new wave musical groups
Japanese electronic rock musical groups
Tokuma Japan Communications artists
Japanese techno music groups