Formed in 1992, PENICILLIN originally consisted of Gisho on vocals, CHISATO on guitar, and O-Jiro on drums. Later, HAKUEI joined the band and took over the vocal position, while Gisho switched to playing bass. They also briefly had a second guitarist named Shaisuke, who would later join Baiser, but by 1993 PENICILLIN's line up once again had four members.
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In 1994, the band released their first mini-album, Penicillin Shock, although Missing Link, released the same year, was much more successful. They continued working hard well into 1995, releasing two more mini-albums as well as God of grind, which was essentially a reissue of Penicillin Shock with the addition of a bonus track. In 1996, they released an instrumental album called Indwell. A VHS of the same name was also released, containing PVs for every song on the album.
1998 was a big year for PENICILLIN as they released the albums Limelight and Ultimate Velocity, and parted with some of their visual image. They also performed Hamlet~PENICILLIN IN ROCK OPERA~, which was based on William Shakespeare's famous play. It was later released on VHS along with a soundtrack. The next year, they released their first best-of album, THIS IS PENICILLIN 1994~1999.
The new millennium brought more new releases, including the album Union Jap and a number of singles. Unsurprisingly perhaps, their next album was the aptly titled compilation, Singles, which contained all of the singles the band had released up till that point in their career. A DVD of the same title was released simultaneously, featuring PVs for all of the tracks. They ended 2001 with another album release, Nuclear Banana, and the Fukai no Suna single.
Although the band members found time to explore a wide variety of solo projects, PENICILLIN remained unified and continued to release at least an album a year. 2004 brought fans FLOWER CIRCUS, while 2005 saw two different versions of hell bound heart released, one with a DVD containing PVs and one without.
PENICILLIN started 2007 with the release of a single called Grind Candy and the album Blue Heaven. Unfortunately, that year also saw Gisho announce his departure from the band on March 9th.
The band continued to tour and release new music as a three-piece during the years that followed. WARP, released in 2009, went on to be their highest ranking single since 2001, reaching number 24 on the Oricon Charts and showing that the band’s popularity has remained strong, despite their many years in the industry.
While PENICILLIN has yet to perform in North America, on August 9, 2009, HAKUEI signed autographs in San Francisco as a model for the clothing brand Black Peace Now, promoting the grand opening of their new store.
In early 2011, PENICILLIN's influence on younger visual kei bands was also evident when And covered their hit Romance for the Crush! 90's V-Pop Best Hit Cover Songs compilation, which sought to pay tribute to bands that helped shape the visual kei scene during the 90s. That year saw the release of the album WILL, and the band contributing a cover of Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride to an omnibus album of Disney songs performed by J-rock artists.
PENICILLIN celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2012 with the release of a best-of compilation called 20th Anniversary Fan Selection Best Album DRAGON HEARTS, the tracklist of which was, as its title suggests, chosen through fan votes.
2013 was yet another successful year for the band. They performed in Taiwan for the first time in March, and released a new single called Gensou Catharsis in October.
PENICILLIN are true veterans of the Japanese rock scene. They have maintained both an incredible work ethic and a loyal following throughout their long career — and they don’t seem about to let go of either anytime soon.