Mr. Pacman is a bitpop/gamewave (or as the band calls themselves, "8-bit hero gangsta rock") band from Denver, Colorado. Described as a performance art project as well as a band, Mr. Pacman's live shows include

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

fighting with

monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

s, outrageous 1980s-style

retro-futuristic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...

outfits, and their signature

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

-inspired electronic music with a rock attitude. Although most musicians who use the MOS Technology SID chip do so only in the studio, Mr. Pacman uses a

SidStation The Elektron SidStation is a musical synthesizer sound module, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and ...

, controlled by his keytar, live on stage, and the Silver Ghost uses a Commodore SX-64 as a bass

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. (Daniel Eriksson, who helped design the SidStation, was the first to use a Sidstation live on stage, at mekke 2000; Goto80 was the first to use a SID chip live onstage at the ECC in 1993.) Many Mr. Pacman songs are based on songs from classic video games, such as the ''

Mega Man ''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...

'' series.

Biography

Mr. Pacman started out as a project by film school student Avery Rains in 2001 who rapped over

video game music. After one such performance, some Japanese exchange students remarked, "Mr. Pacman is awesome!". The name stuck, and Mr. Pacman now says he's from "Denver, Japan". A running gag based on this is the intentional use of Engrish in the band's e-mail newsletter

Since 2001, the band has expanded to 4 members, adding first the Silver Ghost, then White Tiger, and finally Cockroach 3030 (now known as Anarchy Dragon). Denver alternative newspaper ''

Westword ''Westword'' is a free digital and print media publication based in Denver, Colorado. ''Westword'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue cir ...

'' named Mr. Pacman "Best Bizarro Fashion/Rock Act" in 2002 as part of its "Best of Denver" awards; Mr. Pacman has not won a Best of Denver since. '' The Denver Post'' has put Mr. Pacman on its Top 10 Underground Bands of Colorado list every year since 2002, placing 7th that year, 5th in 2003 & 2004, 8th in 2005 & 14th in 2006. Mr. Pacman played keytar on the

Hot IQs Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot District ...

track "The New On

in 2004. In May 2005, the short film "Half Hour of Power" (called a "violent children's show" by the band) was included with the music video "No Ghosts!" and an interview with Mr. Pacman, among other band-related videos, on Dropframe, a local

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning PBS show featuring

indie film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

s. Mr. Pacman currently hosts Extreme Karaoke Challenge Monday nights at 9 PM at the hi-dive, 7 South Broadway in Denver.

Discography

''Turbotron EP'' (2002)

#Intro #Turbotron #Pacman Rap (Shout-out by Wesley Willis) #Neurotica #Be the Zero #O.P.A (Original Party Animal) #Welcome to the Future (Sucks) #The End #Girls That Go Boom (featuring Ozzy Osmond) *''Trivia: The cover photo was taken on a karaoke night at Armida's Mexican Restaurant in Denver "just prior to getting kicked out". O.P.A. is a mix of 6 different performances of the song at the Scott Baio Army Fourth of July party; during the instrumental for each, Mr. Pacman chugged a 40-oz.

malt liquor Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common usage, it ...

.''

7" vinyl split with Magicyclops

#Mr. Pacman: Baby's on Fire (Originally by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

) #Magic Cyclops: Abracadabra (Originally by Steve Miller Band)

''Star Hustler'' (2003)

#Gangsta Pac (Contains a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

from the movie '' Colors'') #(rock) Star Hustler (with Magicyclops) #Pacman Densu (feat. Monotrona) #Lifeless #Pacman Power #Be the Hero (feat. Sara Thorpe; a Fischerspooner-like reinterpretation of "Be the Zero" from ''Turbotron'') #Turbo Attack! #Mr. Pacman International #No Ghosts! #Luxury Car #Pacman Birthday (feat. Monotrona) #The Ninja #Paxcercise (feat. Bebe & Serge; based on "Deflektor" by

Ben Daglish Ben Daglish (31 July 1966 – 1 October 2018) was an English composer and musician. Born in London, his parents moved to Sheffield when he was one year old. He was known for creating many soundtracks for home computer games during the 1980s, inc ...

) #(porn) Star Hustler (feat. Sara Thorpe & Claudine; an alternate version of "(rock) Star Hustler") #Let's Go! (various video game samples) #Songjacked *''This is an

enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the "enhanced CD" ca ...

. Included on the disc are the videos for Be the Hero, No Ghosts!, Luxury Car, and Paxcercise. The album was named 2003's Best Local CD of the Year by the ''Denver Post''. The "limo tank" on the cover was a toy designed & built by Greg Hignight. It is said to shoot diamonds and run on Hennessy Private Reserve.''

Future projects

Mr. Pacman plans to make 4 total episodes of ''Half Hour of Power'', the first of which premiered at the Denver Visual Music Festival in 2004; each episode will star a different band member. Three new albums are in the works: the heavy metal ''Crotch Rocket'', the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

-flavored ''Mr. Pacman Goes to Jamaica'', & ''Mr. Pacman's Christmas in Japan''. No release dates have been announced yet for any of these.

PacFashion

Since 2002, Mr. Pacman has presented both original

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

s, pieces from local designers, and (one year) his collection of Power Rangers monster costumes in the annual PacFashion show. The shows' fashions are inspired by science fiction, anime, and video games, and include musical performances by Mr. Pacman as well as other indie bands.

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Rock music groups from Colorado Musical groups from Denver American performance artists Musical groups established in 2001 2001 establishments in Colorado