Biography
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Years Active
2001 – present (23 years)
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 fighting with monsters, outrageous 1980s-style retro-futuristic outfits, and their signature Commodore 64-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, controlled by his keytar, live on stage, and the Silver Ghost uses a Commodore SX-64 as a bass synthesizer. (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 series.
Mr. Pacman started out as a project by a film school student in 2001 who rapped over Commodore 64 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 newsletters . 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 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 track "The New One" 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-winning PBS show featuring indie films. Mr. Pacman currently hosts Extreme Karaoke Challenge Monday nights at 9 PM at the hi-dive, 7 South Broadway in Denver
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