Susumu Hirasawa

Susumu Hirasawa (平沢 進) (born April 1, 1954) is a Japanese music artist and composer.

In the fifth year of elementary school, Hirasawa took up the electric guitar, inspired by the surf and instrumental rock bands he heard on the radio and on TV, later joining his junior high school's band. In 1973 he formed Mandrake, a progressive rock band that incorporated elements from heavy metal and krautrock. Being one of the few Japanese progressive rock bands of its time, Mandrake achieved little success and released no albums during its lifetime. After discovering punk rock and working on synthesizer-heavy projects, Hirasawa felt that progressive rock became just for entertainment and decided to reform the band as the new wave/electronic rock band P-Model in 1979. Originally met with success, they turned to decidedly uncommercial post-punk and experimental rock after Hirasawa went through an averse reaction to his fame. With Hirasawa at the forefront, the band went through various lineups and achieved some popularity in the Japanese independent music scene.

In 1989, Hirasawa launched his solo career. Unbound by the restraints of a band, his albums were marked by a refusal to stick to any particular genre. He continued to evolve his sound while concurrently working with P-Model until the group was disbanded in 2000. He has actively been releasing new music since.

While Hirasawa is mostly remembered in Japan for the first two P-Model albums, he has achieved international recognition for his soundtrack work, particularly for the adaptations of the Kentaro Miura manga Berserk and the work of anime director Satoshi Kon.

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