Panchiko (/pænˈtʃiːkoʊ/pan-CHEE-koh) are a British indie rock band originating from Nottingham, England. Formed between 1997 and 1998,[1] the band originally consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Owain Davies, guitarist/keyboardist Andrew "Andy" Wright, bassist Shaun Ferreday, and a drummer named John. A year after the revival of Panchiko in 2020, they were joined by guitarist Robert "Rob" Harris and John Schofield, who replaced their original drummer.[2]
The band first received public attention in 2016 when their 2000 demo EP D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was discovered by a 4chan user in a charity shop in Sherwood, Nottingham and shared online through the music discussion section of the messageboard; the disc was notably distorted due to disc rot, lending further mystery to the EP, leading to a dedicated cult following and a community devoted to tracking down the band.[3] This was unbeknownst to the band until 2020, when Davies was found and contacted by a fan through Facebook.[4]
Panchiko have since released two compilation albums remastering their older music: a reissue of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L combining their first two EPs and Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997-2001). In December 2021, the band performed their first show in over twenty years in their hometown of Nottingham,[5] after which they embarked on their first tour in the United States.[6] In November 2021, they amassed over ten million streams on Spotify. As of October 2024, they have over 1.2 million monthly listeners.[4][7]
The band's debut album Failed at Math(s) was released on 5 May 2023, followed by their second full tour in the United States.[8]
History
1997–2001: Formation, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, and disbanding
The band initially performed live covers in local pubs despite being underage.[11] They also performed in Battle of the Bands competitions, but never won and rarely received positive feedback.[2][11] After an unsuccessful visit to a studio, Panchiko eventually began to produce music in their basements and bedrooms using cheap equipment.[3] Davies has stated that their first extended play, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, was recorded between 1999 and 2000, with Wright serving as the group's producer.[11] The EP was completed in June 2000.[11]
Roughly 30 self-produced copies were burned on CD-Rs and shared among friends, with a few copies being sent to reviewers and labels.[6][3] Aside from some "not very positive" reviews, Panchiko only received one response from a label they had sent their EP to, London-based record label Fierce Panda.[7] Label owner Simon Williams made the following note in his demo logs documenting his impressions of the EP:
'Death Metal', of course, is anything butdeath metal. Hahaha!! Lovely sweet vocals, then some wiggy wiggy stuff. Needs a bit of va-va-va-voom on the vocals front. I really like this. It would make my ears stand on end if I heard it on the radio. 'Stabilizers For Big Boys' = great. Swearing + ranting in a very familiar stylee. 'Laputa' is lovely and slow. Bugger knows what they remind me of.
— Simon Williams (November 2000)
Despite Fierce Panda showing some interest, the band ultimately remained unsigned. Davies stated that they did not have the means to perform in London at the time, and speculated that "no A&R would travel to Nottingham to see one band."[13]
Between 2000 and 2001,[11] Panchiko recorded three more songs for an EP called Kicking Cars, which would go unreleased. In 2001, the band members were in sixth form and college. Ferreday said that he was balancing college, studying classical guitar, and working different part-time jobs. Their second EP has been described as "art rock".[12]
Wright remembers performing at a small festival in Sutton-in-Ashfield in mid-2001[14] after which Panchiko disbanded.[3] Davies recalls that this decision was not entirely conscious because he, Wright, and Ferreday were already enrolled in college, while John was enlisted into the military.[2]
In between the time of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L and the band's resurgence, Wright was the only original member to remain involved in music. After college, he performed with the Nottingham-based art rock band Swimming. Afterward, he began his own musical project called We Show Up on RadaR. Wright has mixed, mastered, and produced for the aforementioned groups and other bands as a professional sound engineer.
Davies briefly produced electronic music and served as a video jockey at live events in the gaming industry,[4] but he eventually pursued a career in the field of education. Ferreday sold his guitars and had not played music until Panchiko's future reunion. He now works as a tree surgeon.[15][2] The original drummer John was enlisted into the military soon after Panchiko disbanded. Afterward, the other three members lost contact with him completely.[4][11]
2016–2020: Resurgence and search effort
hey hey
I picked this up because it looked interesting
I wasn't able to find any references to it, online, whatsoever. even with super obscure bands, you might expect to find some an old myspace page or mention in some forum.
does anybody recognise the album?
I half expected it to be noise pop or some vapourwave wankery. listening to it, now, track 1 is like hella lo fishoegaze with noise panning back and forth.
this isn't some viral marketing bullshit. I'm just curious if anyone can shed some light on it and I'm slightly excited by the prospect of owning a rare album
peace
— Original post on 4chan, 21 July 2016
On 21 July 2016, a copy of Panchiko's EP D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was discovered in an Oxfamcharity shop by an anonymous user of the online message board 4chan. The user shared an image of the CD on the music board /mu/ and requested assistance in uncovering more information about the band.[6][16] The liner notes contained only the band members' first names and the EP's year of release,[4] making further investigation difficult. Shortly after the initial post, multiple requests were made by other board members for the user to upload a ripped copy of the CD. Subsequently, the user complied, eventually sharing the tracks from the EP.[16] However, due to the CD-R's age and deterioration, disc rot had corrupted and heavily distorted the audio.[4][11] Many maintained the EP to be a hoax, speculating that the initial 4chan post was a publicity stunt,[6] but the band had nonetheless gained a significant cult following without their knowledge.[4] Despite generating considerable interest, no information was uncovered regarding the band.
In 2017, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L was further popularized when the rip was uploaded to YouTube,[17][4] garnering around two hundred thousand views and sparking renewed interest in the band, ultimately leading to the formation of a dedicated search effort by fans to gather, compile, and discuss new findings.[6][11] On 19 January 2020, researchers took note of a bar code on the EP's cover which directed them to an Oxfam shop in Sherwood, Nottingham, leading users to search for musicians in the area named "Owain".
On 21 January 2020, a member of the search team successfully located a Facebook profile belonging to Panchiko's lead singer and messaged them, "Hello, you'll probably never read this, but are you the lead singer of Panchiko?" To which Davies replied, "Yeah."[6][3] Davies, now in his late 30s,[14] had been completely unaware of the EP's circulation online.[4][3] He immediately contacted Wright, who was in South Korea; Wright then contacted Ferreday, who was in Cambridge. Neither of them were aware of the band's newfound popularity either.[11]
The original drummer John was no longer in contact with the band, and his whereabouts are currently unknown.[11] It is also unclear if he is aware of Panchiko's current status or success.[4]
2020–present: Reformation, reissues, and touring
Wright, after being contacted by Davies, tasked himself with recovering and remastering Panchiko's past works. During Wright's restoration efforts, Davies was quoted saying the following:
What I find interesting is after listening to many videos on YouTube about the EP, I feel that the degradation of the CD is part of the music now. It is a part of why people enjoy the music. And whilst I try to look for an original copy, I feel like it may take something away from what people found in the music. Maybe it's best left how people found it, as this interesting half-destroyed piece of music from a far-gone era... I think it's what makes it charming today, and that's what people should hold onto and enjoy about the CD.
— Owain Davies (25 January 2020)
Wright initially struggled to restore the audio because he did not have access to the original masters.[13] However, a friend of Wright's in possession of the original EP reached out, their copy in significantly better condition and without the disc rot.[6] Using this copy, Wright managed to remaster the four tracks found on the D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L CD. They were subsequently released two weeks later, offering listeners clearer versions for the first time.
On 16 February 2020, Panchiko reissued D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L through Bandcamp, expanding it into a full-length compilation album. The reissue also includes tracks from their unreleased EP Kicking Cars from 2001, as well as the original "rotted" versions of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L's four tracks. It became one of the best-selling albums on Bandcamp on the day it was released.[17] The compilation album was released on Spotify two months later.[4]
From there, Davies, Wright, and Ferreday worked together to revamp their band. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Panchiko issued more unreleased music recorded between 1997 and 2001, as well as new original music. This music was released to streaming services and sold in a variety of physical formats through Bandcamp, including vinyl and cassettes. In July 2020, Panchiko released Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997–2001), which contains 18 previously unreleased demo tracks.[18] In May 2020, they released "R>O>B>O>T>S>R>E>P>R>I>S>E," a rerecording of their song "Laputa". In June 2020, they released "Machine Gun Drum," their first original song since disbanding. In February 2021, the band released The Death Of, which contains "Infinite Pieces," a track they had stumbled upon by accident after discovering a CD with no label. This was the final track the band recorded before disbanding in 2001.[7]
In November 2020, Panchiko released a collection of remixes of their song "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L." One of the artists Panchiko collaborated with was Tongg. In the past, Wright had regularly contributed keys and produced for Tongg under the name We Show Up on RadaR. Among other members, Tongg consists of members Rob Harris (who performs vocals, guitar, and keys) and John Schofield (who performs drums and percussion).
In late 2021, Panchiko recruited Harris and Schofield as guitarist and drummer, respectively. On 31 August 2021, the band reconvened for their first practice session in 20 years. On 6 December 2021, they performed their first live show since disbanding at the Metronome venue in their hometown of Nottingham, playing in front of a crowd of around 400 attendees.[15]
On 13 May 2022, they performed their next major gig in Hackney, London. Later that year, the band embarked on their first tour, set in the United States[4] and including a performance at the South by Southwest festival in Texas.[19] During their tour, they released a deluxe pressing called D>E>L>U>X>E>M>E>T>A>L, which rose to the number two spot on Bandcamp's alternative chart on 20 October 2022.
On 13 February 2023, the band announced the release of their debut album Failed at Math(s), which was released on 5 May of the same year.[8] On 7 March 2023, Panchiko released "Failed at Math(s)," the titular track from their upcoming album. It is the second original song to be released that was recorded after their reformation.[20] In May 2023, Panchiko embarked on their second full tour in the United States.[8] In December 2023, Panchiko announced their third tour across North America.[21]
On 22 November 2024, the band released a music video for the new track "Ginkgo".[22] This music video coincided with an announcement for their second album, also titled Ginkgo. The album is planned for release on 4 April 2025.[23]
Band members
On many of their releases, the band members are credited with "Panchiko" as a surname, i.e. "Andy Panchiko."
Set in the United States, the tour spans 21 tour dates.
Notes
^ abcDue to the band's tendency to omit their full names from the liner notes, John's surname has never been made public.
^This release of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L includes the four tracks from their 2000 EP of the same name, the three tracks from the following 2001 EP Kicking Cars, as well as the disc rot versions of tracks 1-4. The cover artwork used for the original EP was repurposed for the 2020 release, but slight alterations were made to the design. This full-length release was remastered by band member Andy Wright.
^D>E>L>U>X>E>M>E>T>A>L is a vinyl remaster of the content found on the 11-track D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L reissue; however, it also features three demo (or "alternative") versions of the Kicking Cars songs. This release totals in 14 tracks.
^D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L>S was released to Bandcamp on 20 November 2020, while R>E>M>I>X>E>D was released to Spotify on 22 November 2020. The two projects share four remixes of the song "D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L"; however, the former Bandcamp release contains an exclusive fifth remix by an artist called Identity Clinic, as well as a live performance of the song; the latter Spotify release contains demo versions of the three Kicking Cars songs.
^In 2021, Panchiko released a collection of live performances in the form of an EP. L>I>V>E>M>E>T>A>L was released on Bandcamp on 2 June 2021; Live was released on Spotify on 18 June 2021.
Despite differing in name, the Bandcamp and Spotify releases both share a track list consisting of an alternate "90's anime version" of "Stabilisers for Big Boys," as well as three live performances; however, the Bandcamp release features an additional instrumental version of "Stabilisers for Big Boys."
^Kicking Cars is a collection of three tracks recorded in 2001. These songs would remain unreleased until 2020, when they were remastered and reissued alongside the songs of the prior EP, on a compilation album named after D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L.
^The track is a higher quality version of the previously released "Untitled Demo – 1997".
References
^ abRioux, Julian. "The Surprising Story of Panchiko". Corduroy Threads Podcast. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020. Panchiko formed around 1998(ish). We started playing covers in local pubs that were lenient with licensing laws in regards to allowing underage secondary school kids to get drunk and play in their pubs... I remember we entered a Battle of The Bands at a place called 'Berlins' in Nottingham and when they found out that we were underage we got disqualified... (well, I'm assuming that's the reason we didn't win anyway).
^Carr, Fiona (8 December 2021). "Gig Review: Panchiko at Metronome". LeftLion - Nottingham Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
