composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
, rock and EBM musician. He also releases work under the moniker Agraph.
He is a member of Japanese rock band
Lama
Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...
. Together with Lama, he released two full-length studio records: ''New!'' in 2011 and ''Modanica'' a year later. Both albums charted on the
Oricon Albums Chart
The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...
.
As an EBM musician, he released three albums, all of which peaked in the Japanese Albums Chart. He wrote and composed
soundtrack
A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
s for several
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series and
movies
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
. He studied
arts
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...
and
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
at
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
. At the same time, he learned the usage of the audio editor software
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
. At the age of 20, Ushio got his first contact with electronic music, such as
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
. He started his solo career in 2007 under the moniker ''Agraph'' and began creating electronic music. His debut album ''A Day, Phases'', which was produced by Takkyu Ishino, was released in December 2008. Two years later, his second album ''Equal'' was released, which ranked in the Japanese Albums Charts. In 2011, Ushio and some former musicians of bands like
Supercar
A supercar, also known as an exotic car, is a street-legal sports car with race track-like power, speed, and handling, plus a certain subjective ''cachet'' linked to pedigree and/or exclusivity. The term 'supercar' is frequently used for th ...
Lama
Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...
. The band released two albums, which both ranked on the official Albums Charts of Japan.
Due to his involvement in Lama, Ushio's third album named ''The Shader'' was released in 2016, six years after his second album. Ushio works as composer of film music as well, with a particular focus on animated projects. Among his film and television credits are music composition for '' Space Dandy'' (2014), '' A Silent Voice'' (2016), '' Liz and the Blue Bird'' (2018), and '' Boogiepop and Others'' (2019). He is a frequent collaborator of directors Masaaki Yuasa and Naoko Yamada, as well as the animation studio Science Saru, for which he has composed the scores of '' Ping Pong the Animation'' (2014), '' Devilman Crybaby'' (2018), '' Japan Sinks: 2020'' (2020), and '' The Heike Story'' (2021). For ''The Heike Story'', Ushio combined ambient with traditional Japanese instruments that aren't featured in the western musical scale, with an emphasis on the
biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime durin ...
per the director's request. In December 2021, Ushio was confirmed as the composer for
MAPPA
is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Nakano, Tokyo (formerly in Suginami, Tokyo). Founded in 2011 by Madhouse co-founder and producer Masao Maruyama, it has produced anime works including '' Terror in Resonance'', '' Yuri!!! on I ...
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Live a Live'' remake, originally composed by Yoko Shimomura, marking his first work on a video game. The game released on July 22, 2022.
Internet Movie Database
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
Discogs
Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...