Panchiko is a British indie band originating from Nottingham. Formed in 1997, it originally comprised Owain Davies (vocals, guitar), Andy Wright (guitar, sampling), Shaun (bass), and John (drums). The band have since been joined by new members John (replacing the original John on drums) and Rob (guitar).[3]

Panchiko
E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L. The artwork is taken from a panel in the manga Mint na Bokura"> Cover of Panchiko's first EP, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L. The artwork is taken from a panel in the manga Mint na Bokura[2]
Background information
Origin	Nottingham, England
Genres	Emo lo-fi indie rock noise pop shoegaze
Years active	1997–2001, 2020–current
Members	Owain Davies Andy Wright Shaun John Rob

The band first came to public attention in 2016, when their first demo EP, D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, was discovered by a 4chan user in a charity store in Sherwood, Nottingham, subsequently gaining popularity on the internet. This was unbeknownst to the band until 2020, when Owain was found and contacted by a fan through Facebook.[4] The band has since reformed, playing their first show in over twenty years in Nottingham in December 2021.[5]

D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L (1998–2001)

Panchiko's members were childhood friends with cheap equipment, who founded the band in 1998 as teenagers.[6] Influenced by bands such as Super Furry Animals and Radiohead, the group went on to record D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L in their room. The EP was first published in 2000 with roughly 30 self-produced copies on CD-R. These were shared among friends with a few copies being sent out to reviewers and labels. The band performed live in local pubs and entered Battle of the Bands competitions.[3] Despite receiving some interest from Fierce Panda, the band remained unsigned and disbanded shortly after.[7] D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L has been compared to emo music, industrial music, dream pop, and psychedelic music.[8]

In between the time of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L and the bands resurgence, the original trio have all started careers. Andy continued to work in music by mixing and mastering for other bands as well as other side music projects. He was in the band Swimming as well as his own project, We Show Up on Radar. Owain has worked on unknown music projects as well and now works in education. Shaun now works as a tree surgeon. Their original drummer, John, went on to the military shortly after the band had disbanded.[4]

Resurgence (2016–current)

On 21 July 2016, a 4chan user reported that they had found a copy of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L in an Oxfam charity store in Sherwood, Nottingham. The songs, affected with disc rot, were shared via Mega and Zippyshare download links.

The record became a cult classic through circulation on the Internet such as through the YouTube channel dismiss yourself,[9] until Owain and the other members of Panchiko were contacted by their fans through Facebook.[7] In 2020, the band reissued D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L through Bandcamp (now expanded into a full-length album with the inclusion of their 2001 Kicking Cars EP), as well as published 18 previously unreleased demo tracks with the compilation Ferric Oxide.[10] In 2021, the band released The Death Of, which contains the final track the band recorded before disbanding in 2001.[11]

The band performed their first live gig in over 20 years at Metronome in their hometown on 5 December 2021.[5] Their next major gig was at Hackney, London in 2022. The band has a planned tour around the US for 2022,[4] including at South by Southwest.[12]

Discography

Albums

• 2020: Ferric Oxide - Demos 1997-2001
• 2020: R>E>M>I>X>E>D
• 2021: L>I>V>E>M>E>T>A>L
• 2022: Live In Nottingham

Extended plays

• 2000: D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L
• 2001: Kicking Cars EP

Singles

• 2020: R>O>B>O>T>S>R>E>P>R>I>S>E
• 2020: Machine Gun Drum
• 2021: The Death Of

References

External links

• Panchiko on Bandcamp