User:Patmos777/Panchiko

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Panchiko is a British indie rock band originating from Nottingham, England. Formed sometime between 1997 and 1998, it originally consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Owain Davies, guitarist and keyboardist Andrew "Andy" Wright, bassist Shaun Ferreday, and a drummer named John. In 2020, one year after the revival of Panchiko, the band was joined by two new members—guitarist Robert "Rob" Harris and John Schofield, who replaced the original John on drums.

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. The EP's status as lost media led to a dedicated cult following and a community devoted to tracking down Panchiko. This was unbeknownst to the band until 2020, when a fan found Davies on Facebook and messaged him.

Panchiko has since released two compilation albums remastering their older music—a reissue of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, which combines the titular EP and their second EP Kicking Cars, as well as Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997-2001). In December 2021, the band performed their first show in over twenty years in their hometown of Nottingham, after which they embarked on their first tour in the United States. In November 2021, they amassed over 10 million streams on Spotify. As of March 2023, they have over 700,000 monthly listeners.

The band's debut album Failed at Math(s) is slated for May 5, 2023, followed by their second full tour in the United States.

Formation and early performances
The original line-up consisted of childhood friends from Nottingham—Owain Davies, Andy Wright, Shaun Ferreday, and John. Before Panchiko's formation, its members had performed in other bands. Wright and Ferreday formed the group when they were "around 13," before Davies joined their line-up sometime between 1997 and 1998, when its members were 15-17 years old and nearing the end of secondary school.

Panchiko performed their first show as part of a youth club when guitarist Wright was 15. The band would often spend weekends at John's home in rural Lincolnshire, practicing in his family's converted cellar. Despite being underage, Panchiko initially performed live in local pubs as a cover band, primarily covering Nirvana "because they are easy to play," The Beatles, Green Day, Ash, Suede, Longpigs, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. They also performed in Battle of the Bands competitions, but never won and rarely received positive feedback. Wright recounts the band occasionally played for small groups of friends, whose reactions he described as "bemused."

Background
Using the money they earned from live performances, Panchiko paid to record demos at a studio, believing that writing original music would help to elevate the band. After an unsuccessful visit to a studio, Panchiko eventually began to produce music in their basements and bedrooms using "cheap equipment." While recording D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, 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 during this time. Davies estimates that the band members were aged 16 and 17 at the time of the EP's recording. He has also stated that D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L was recorded between 1999 and 2000.

Wright served as the group's producer, and much of their music was recorded in Wright's bedroom using a TASCAM digital recorder and Roland Virtual Studio. A DJX keyboard vibraphone was utilized for sampling. Regarding the bass parts, Ferreday said, "I'd meet Owain and Andy in the evenings and discover most of a song had been written and I just had to add in a bassline."

Panchiko created D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L not expecting the music to be listened to by an audience.

Music
Wright acknowledged that Panchiko did not confine themselves to one genre during the recording process. Nevertheless, the music on the EP has been described as shoegaze,  trip hop, emo,   indie rock, post-rock, dream pop, industrial, psychedelia, garage punk, lo-fi, and indietronica. Some have compared D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L to vaporwave. The band has described some of their lyrical content as "nerdy."

The songs on the EP contain a number of samples and references:
 * 1) "D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L," the title track, samples the opening theme for Dr. Strangelove, "Theme From the Planets" by Dexter Wansel, and a Sega Saturn Burning Rangers game disc being played in a CD player—entailing the error message "don't play the track."  The song makes reference of Roy Fokker from the anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Elaborating on the song's title, Davies said, "It seemed a good idea at the time to give it a title that would be the complete opposite of what was going to come out of the speakers."
 * 2) "Stabilisers For Bigs Boys" incorporates elements from "Fame Thing" by Ultrasound and was named after a line from Scrapheap Challenge.
 * 3) "Laputa" is inspired by the Studio Ghibli anime Castle in the Sky.
 * 4) "The Eyes of Ibad," the final track, references the science fiction novel Dune.

Artwork and packaging
The artwork found on the cover of Panchiko's D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L has since become the band's defining iconography. It simply depicts a girl drawn in the style of anime. During the search effort for Panchiko, the girl was eventually identified as Miyu Makimura, a character from Mint na Bokura, a Japanese manga series by Wataru Yoshizumi spanning from 1997 to 1999. The panel used for the album cover can be found in the 13th volume of the manga on page 28. In the context of the manga, Miyu is depicted telling another character, Ryuuji Sasa, to "be careful" after he accidentally steps on her foot. When asked about the cover art, Wright elaborated that he "found a nice picture on the internet and then stuck some words on it."

A different character drawn in the style of anime can be found on the back of the EP, however, Davies and Wright are unsure of the image's origin.

Wright used a basic version of Photoshop to create the cover, as well as Microsoft default fonts. He used italicized Haettenschweiler to print the band name and Arial for the name of the EP. In February 2020, an alternate version of the cover art was discovered featuring four differently colored squares arranged diagonally in the upper left corner, or in the words of Wright, "more terrible Photoshop work."

Notably, the EP's liner notes only credit the band members by their first names: Owain, Andy, Shaun, and John.

Wright used a "cheap" Neato CD labelling kit to print labels with his father's printer and adhered them to the discs.

Release
The EP was released in June 2000. Roughly 30 self-produced copies were burned on CD-R and shared among friends and family, with a few copies being sent to journalists, reviewers, and labels. In return, Panchiko received some "not very positive" reviews, with one suggesting that Davies—the lead singer—be fired. Panchiko only received one response from a label they had sent their EP to, London-based record label Fierce Panda. On November 14, 2000, label owner Simon Williams made the following note in his demo logs documenting his impressions of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L:

Despite Fierce Panda Records 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."

Background
Between 2000 and 2001, Panchiko recorded three more songs for an EP called Kicking Cars, which would go unreleased.

Davies revealed that John helped him write some of the lyrics on Kicking Cars. Davies also recalls that acquiring a Yamaha SU200 sampler and Korg MS2000 allowed for the band to remix drums and experiment with analog synths.

While there is no known artwork associated with Kicking Cars, Wright says that CDs were self-produced for the EP.

Music
Their second EP has been described as "art rock". The song "CUT" samples strings and flutes from "Song of the Seashell (Sakuragai No Uta)" by Sir James Galway, and the song "Sodium Chloride" references Blade Runner.

The final performances and disbandment
In March 2020, Panchiko participated in a Battle of the Bands competition at the Little Civic venue in Wolverhampton on April 13, 2001. They competed against Sonic Lord and Available in Braille, with Fuse—a guest act—also present.

Wright remembers performing at a small festival in Sutton-in-Ashfield in mid-2001, "playing to people milling about, buying a hotdog, and staring at you weirdly." Panchiko disbanded shortly after this festival. Wright recalls that this decision was not entirely conscious because he, Wright, and Ferreday were already enrolled in college, while John was enlisted into the British military. After his enlistment, the other three band members lost touch with John; Davies and Ferreday reconnected with Wright on occasion but not with each other.

2016-2017: D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L is shared on 4chan and gains a cult following
Sometime in 2016,  a copy of Panchiko's EP D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L was discovered by an anonymous user of the online message board 4chan. This would mark the first mention of the band on the internet. On July 21, 2016, the user shared three images of the CD to the music board /mu/  and requested assistance in uncovering more information about the band. Unfortunately, the liner notes contained only the band members' first names  and the EP's year of release, making further investigation difficult. While the original poster did not specify where they purchased the CD, it could be gauged that the band was from the United Kingdom due to a sticker revealing that the copy had been purchased from an Oxfam charity shop   for £0.49.

The same anonymous poster was eventually pressured into ripping and sharing the EP's audio so that other users could listen, which they did online via download links on Mega, but due to the age and deterioration of the CD-R, disc rot had corrupted and heavily distorted the audio, causing effects of bitcrushing and panning. Many users debated whether the distortion was intentional or not,   but the effects of the disc rot nonetheless became a staple of the music. The 4chan thread only received moderate attention, and reception of the music was both positive and negative. The original anonymous 4chan poster subsequently disappeared and deleted the photographs they had uploaded; the thread became inactive and expired, but D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L continued to circulate via file sharing websites.

In 2017, D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L gained more popularity when a full rip of the EP was uploaded to YouTube by a user called "Sticki," a 19-year-old from the San Francisco Bay area who had 10,000 subscribers at the time. He was the first person to share the EP to an audience outside of 4chan.

Despite generating considerable interest, no information was uncovered regarding the band and D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L was deemed "lost media." Some believed the EP to be a hoax, speculating that the initial 4chan post was a marketing ploy or publicity stunt, but the band would nonetheless gain a significant cult following without their knowledge.

2019-2020: Panchikord launches a search effort
On August 5, 2019, Sticki re-uploaded D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L to his new YouTube channel, called "dismiss yourself," which served to catalog obscure music. Their re-upload sparked renewed interest in Panchiko and catalyzed the formation of a dedicated search effort on Reddit and Discord.

In August 2019, a moderator of the subreddit r/LostWave—known as "Toad"—discovered and shared Sticki's video. On September 15, 2019, a designated Discord server —officially called "Panchikord" —was established by an Argentinian user known as "Zod." He then posted a link to the Discord server on r/LostWave, capturing the attention of Toad; from there, the two spearheaded a designated search effort for Panchiko using Zod's server. Going forward, Panchikord served as the de facto platform and central hub for the community to gather, compile, and discuss their research into the mysteries surrounding Panchiko. It was originally a small-scale effort, with members initially spending hours searching for indie musicians from the United Kingdom who bore the same names as the credited band members. They were spurred on by negative conspiracy theories regarding the EP's authenticity.

On September 16, 2023, members of the search took note of a message within the 4chan thread that read, "I feel like I’ve seen this album before... It didn’t happen to be located in the Southampton Oxfam Music store did it?" On September 20, 2023, Panchikord user Apollo emailed the shop manager of Oxfam Music Southampton; the manager replied two days later, claiming the store had no record of the CD being in their stock.

Of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, the members of Panchikord attempted to identify the lyrics, to transcribe the songs into musical notation, and to isolate the vocals from the instrumentals, but the distorted audio stunted their efforts. Much of these efforts were cataloged within a Google Doc. In spite of some setbacks, they successfully traced the EP's cover artwork to the 13th volume of Mint na Bokura, a Japanese manga series by Wataru Yoshizumi spanning from 1997 to 1999.

Participants of the server then took note of a blurry but legible barcode on the CD —a "gift aid" number —"not an ID for the item, but for the person who gifted it." The numbers read, "20 11800429 1510." However, even if it was to be found in a shop’s stock history, it would be impossible to follow up with the person who donated the CD due to the United Kingdom's privacy laws. This was reconfirmed on November 13, 2023, after Panchikord member Mandapoe messaged the Facebook page of the same Southampton Oxfam Music shop. The manager reasserted that it was not possible to disclose information on donors, but they added that the sticker found on the CD did not have their "shop code" on it. This not only ruled out the Oxfam in Southampton, but it confirmed that the numbers—or "shop code"—found on the sticker in the 4chan image contained valuable information about where it was purchased.

On January 19, 2020, Zod Googled "Oxfam 1510," a search query containing the last four digits of the barcode, yielding the search result "Oxfam Shop — Sherwood, Nottingham, UK," a district of only 15,000 people. Rather than contact the store, the area was instead scoured for musicians named "Owain" —a common name in Wales but not England.

On January 20, 2020, a Panchikord member who previously aided in lyrical transcriptions—known as "Granlar"—posted a link to a Facebook profile belonging to a musician named "Owain." He then promptly left the server without explanation. Toad sent the profile a message which read, "Hello, you’ll probably never read this, but are you the lead singer of Panchiko?" to which the owner of the account replied on the following morning, "Yeah."

On January 21, 2020, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Toad had successfully made contact with Panchiko's lead singer, Owain Davies. Davies, now 38 years old, had been completely unaware of the circulation of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L> on the internet. At first, he was apprehensive about replying to the message, finding it "random" and "weird," as the band had never released their music to the internet. He then 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.

Overall, the search effort spanned from July 21, 2016 to January 21, 2020, lasting a total of 1,279 days. The original members were 30-40 years old when they were made aware of their growing success. At this point, Ferreday had not spoken to Davies in over ten years. The original drummer, John, is no longer in contact with the band, and his whereabouts are currently unknown. It is also unclear if he is aware of Panchiko's current status or success. The Facebook profile located by Toad is no longer accessible.

Restoring D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L
The Panchikord moderators, Zod and Toad, continued to speak with Davies thereafter, inquiring about a potentially clean copy of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, the version online being heavily distorted by disc rot. None of Panchiko's band members possessed a copy of the EP; however, Davies did provide correct song lyrics and divulge previously unknown information to the moderators. (I.e., Panchiko had recorded a second project called Kicking Cars and the sample used in "D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L"—"don't play the track"–was lifted from a Sega Saturn game disc being played in a CD player. He also revealed that the distortion heard in the songs was not deliberate.  Wright subsequently created an email and took over correspondence with the moderators.

The band members initially preferred the disc rotted version of their EP. They also had reservations about restoring and rereleasing D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L.

Wright, after being contacted by Davies, tasked himself with recovering and remastering Panchiko's past works. He initially struggled to restore the audio because the original masters had since become lost, but he was hopeful that friends or family might be in possession of an original copy. On February 3, 2020, Wright was contacted by a friend in possession of an original copy of the EP, their copy in significantly better condition and without the disc rot. Notably, the copy owned by Wright's friend featured a slightly different design than the cover artwork that had circulated the internet. This version of the cover art featured four differently colored squares arranged in a diagonal pattern in the upper left corner.

Using this copy, Wright managed to remaster the original EP's four tracks by mid-February, along with Kicking Cars. To commemorate clean audio being found, Davies, Wright, and Ferreday joined the Panchikord server to conduct Q&A sessions.

2020: D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L is reissued along with other previously unreleased material
On February 16, 2020, Wright created a Facebook profile and Instagram page for Panchiko. Later that day, D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L was officially reissued through Bandcamp; it had been expanded into a full-length and remastered compilation album. The reissue includes tracks from their previously unreleased EP Kicking Cars from 2001, as well as the original "rotted" versions of songs from their first EP. Coinciding with the release, six key contributors of the Panchiko search effort were credited: Apollo, Granlar, Helena, Sticki, Toad, and Zod; a thanks was also extended to Panchiko's "Discord friends"—a reference to the Panchikord server.

The reissue became one of the best-selling albums on Bandcamp on the day of its release, holding the number-two position on the alternative music chart; and in hours, the band had sold out of CDs. Additionally, Wright permitted the owner of "dismiss yourself" to distribute the release on his YouTube channel, expanding the band's reach even further. As of April 2023, Sticki's upload of the reissue has over 400,000 views. The compilation album was released to Spotify two months later, accumulating millions of streams.

After rereleasing D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, Davies, Wright, and Ferreday worked together to revamp their band, albeit without their original drummer John, who could not be tracked down. 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 vinyls and cassettes.

In May 2020, Panchiko released "R＞O＞B＞O＞T＞S＞R＞E＞P＞R＞I＞S＞E," a rerecording of their song "Laputa" featuring Davies, Wright, and trumpeter Hugh Pascall. In June 2020, they released "Machine Gun Drum," their first original song since disbanding. Alongside the original trio, the listed contributors for this song include drummer and future band member John Schofield, as well as an individual named Rudy. In July 2020, Panchiko released Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997-2001), which contains 18 previously unreleased demo tracks. The release of a single from this collection, "Untitled Demo - 1997," was accompanied by a rare photograph of the band's original drummer, John. In August 2020, Davies, Wright, and Ferreday reconvened and began collaborating in Nottingham. On September 25, 2020, they released a live studio version of “D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L” to their YouTube channel, with many uploads following suit.

In the fall of 2020, Panchiko held a remix contest centered around their song "D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L." The winning remix was submitted by Columbus-based artist Identity Clinic; honorable mentions included artists CritARC, Cameron Simm', Griffin Ashburn, and Skullboy. In November 2020, Panchiko released a collection of remixes of their song "D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L," one of which is a version credited to Identity Clinic. For this project, Panchiko also collaborated with artists CJ Mirra, Hugh Pascall, and 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).

2021-2022: More members recruited, new live performances, and first tour
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. 100 vinyls of The Death Of were produced, each one accompanied by a zine called "Panchiko's Play in a Day - Guide to Modern Guitar Playing." The zine features the lyrics and chords to Panchiko's discography, as well as artwork by Andy Wright. In June 2021, Panchiko released a compilation of live renditions and studio sessions in the form of an EP; L＞I＞V＞E＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L was released to Bandcamp on June 2, 2021, while Live was released to Spotify on June 18, 2021.

In late 2021, Panchiko recruited Tongg members Harris and Schofield as guitarist and drummer, respectively. On August 31, 2021, the band held their first practice session in 20 years.

Up until this point, no images of the band members had been publicized on the internet. The band chose to keep their identities and appearances anonymous, fearing their ages did not fit the image of their past music. This changed on December 5, 2021, when they performed their first live show since disbanding at the Metronome venue in their hometown of Nottingham, playing in front of a crowd of a couple hundred attendees. Fans travelled great distances to see the band in person, including from Briston, London, Ireland, and Belgium. On May 13, 2022, they performed another concert in Hackney, London alongside alt-indie act Lindsay Munroe.

In October 2022, Panchiko embarked on their first tour, playing a total of 20 shows set in the United States, including a performance at the South by Southwest festival in Texas. This was the first time any of the members had visited the United States. Supporting acts for this tour included They Are Gutting a Body of Water (TAGABOW), Julie, and Computerwife. 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 October 20, 2022.

While on tour, the band sold out Antone's Nightclub in Austin, Texas—for this feat, they received a baseball signed by the venue's staff. On October 30, 2022—the final day of their tour—Panchiko filmed two videos with Digital Tour Bus at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, Illinois; the band appeared in episode 1,702 of the web series Bus Invaders, and Davies featured in episode 430 of the web series Gear Masters. These episodes were uploaded to YouTube in January 2023.

In Bus Invaders, it was revealed that their tour van is driven by their tour manager during the day and by bassist Ferreday at night; in the middle section of the van sits Wright and Schofield; in the back of the van sits Davies and Harris. They also exhibited merchandise from their supporting acts, including a T-shirt for They Are Gutting a Body of Water and stickers for Julie.

2023-present: Failed at Math(s)
On February 2, 2023, popular YouTube content creator Justin Whang uploaded a video covering Panchiko's story. As of April 2023, the video sits at over 245,000 views.

On February 13, 2023, the band announced the release of their debut album Failed at Math(s), slated for May 5 of the same year. On March 7, 2023, Panchiko released "Failed at Math(s)," the titular track from their upcoming album. It is the second original song to be recorded and released after their reformation. On March 30, 3023, they released the album's second single, "Until I Know," which is a rerecording of a track that initially appeared on the compilation release Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997-2001). Alongside this single debuted the band's first music video, directed by Simon Ellis.

In February and March 2023, Panchiko performed a series of shows in the United Kingdom: on February 26 in Nottingham, on March 4 at Club Academy in Manchester, on March 5 at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, and on March 26 at The Garage in London. These shows were supported by associated acts CJ's Mirra Maze and Tongg.

Failed at Math(s) will be released on May 5, 2023. It was produced, mixed, and mastered entirely by Wright. Davies cites Wright's experience as a sound engineer as the reason for the album's high production value, calling it "hi-fi, lo-fi" as it still retains some elements of lo-fi music. Davies calls the release a "transitionary album" because "it's got a few new numbers on it and a lot of old numbers that have been fully expanded"; specifically, four new and original songs, four old but reimagined songs. Some of the songs are remakes or finished versions of previously unfinished songs; some songs on Failed at Math(s) retain lyrics written between 1997 and 2001.” Wright explains that Panchiko wanted their new album to feel "familiar" despite the higher fidelity. The artwork for Failed at Math(s) was created by Japanese painter Shunsaku Hayashi.

In May 2023, Panchiko will embark on their second full tour, consisting of 19 shows around the United States, including performances at the "Sick New World" festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds and at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City. Supporting acts for the Failed at Math(s) Tour include Horse Jumper of Love and LSD and the Search for God.

Skepticism toward the band and hoax theories
Even after the identities of Panchiko's band members were uncovered, many skeptics remained doubtful that D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L was recorded in the year 2000 and questioned the band's validity. Some theorize the original 4chan post to have been a viral marketing campaign or publicity stunt.

Many have compared D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L to vaporwave, an internet phenomenon and subculture prominent in the early and mid-2010s, the period during which Panchiko's CD was discovered. It has been noted that the characteristics often found in vaporwave media—including lo-fi music and anime references—are similar to the musical qualities and visual aesthetics associated with D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L. The synchronicity of the band's reemergence and the growing popularity of vaporwave has left some critics doubtful, reasoning that Panchiko created their EP in an attempt to cater to a mid-2010s audience.

The band has made attempts to counter these accusations with evidence of their existence decades prior. Wright has spoken of losing interest in combatting hoax claims.

Proof of Panchiko
Panchikord member Profundemonium contacted Fierce Panda Records owner Simon Williams and received a reply confirming that Panchiko had sent the label a demo EP in the year 2000. They have also located a poster promoting a Battle of the Bands competition at the Berlins in Hockley, Nottingham, among other posters featuring Panchiko's name; the band performed on July 5, 2000 against 17 other bands.

Band name
Panchiko's band name is derived from a misspelling of "Pachinko," a mechanical slot machine arcade game originating in Japan. Allegedly, Davies coined the name, but Wright is the one who misspelled it.

Image and iconography
Private information pertaining to the band members, including their full names and appearances, was not divulged to the public until their first concert.

Davies has stated that otaku culture had an influence on the music Panchiko made in their early years, as well as their image, describing himself to be a fan of anime soundtracks, JRPGs, Final Fantasy, and Studio Ghibli. When asked by IMPCT Journal what other art mediums—besides music—he draws inspiration from, Davies replied, “Film, graphic novels, artwork, video games, anime. I watched a lot of documentaries on the BBC whilst sitting writing songs.”

The artwork found on the cover of Panchiko's D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L EP features a manga panel depicting Miyu Makimura, a character who is often incorrectly described as an "anime girl." The EP's cover art has since become the band's defining iconography, as well as a de facto mascot of sorts. The image is often used in the band's profile pictures, merchandise, and concert posters.

Regarding Panchiko's contemporary success, Davies has guessed that it is in part due to "retro anemoia," or their audience feeling nostalgic for something they have no experienced.

Influences and musical style
The music Panchiko made was primarily influenced by Radiohead, Super Furry Animals, and Ultrasound, as well as Massive Attack, Air, and Suede, among many other bands.

Panchiko often refers to themselves as a "pop" or "indie pop" band. The band has nonetheless been labelled by others as shoegaze,     emo,   and indie rock. Their music has also been characterized as dreampop or as generally "dreamy."

Justin Rioux of Corduroy Threads describes the music of Panchiko as embodying a "90s inspired sound" and "harnessing that great era for alternative rock music." In regards to Kicking Cars, he notes that "as the rest of the industry was shifting towards post-grunge, Panchiko could have been leading the way for the alternative rock genre along side Radiohead, Oasis, and The Flaming Lips."

Davies—particularly fond of the disc rot found on original copies of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L—has stated his intentions to recreate the degradation of the original CDs by experimenting with granular sampling, creating the "atmosphere [Panchiko] never intended in the original recordings."

Overview
On many of their releases, the band members are credited with "Panchiko" as a surname, i.e. "Andy Panchiko."

Current members
 * Owain Davies – vocals, guitar, sampling, production, lyrics (1997-2001, 2020-present), piano, artwork (2020-present)
 * Andrew "Andy" Wright – guitar, keyboard, sampling, sequencing, engineering, production, lyrics (1997-2001, 2020-present), artwork (2020-present)
 * Shaun Ferreday – bass, bass programming, effects (1997-2001, 2020-present)
 * Robert "Rob" Harris – guitar (2021–present)
 * John Schofield – drums, percussion (2021–present)

Past members
 * John – drums, sequencing (1997-2001)

Owain Davies
The fantasy anime Castle in the Sky, commonly known as "Laputa," had a profound effect on Owain Davies when he was a child. He recalls finding the film's soundtrack in a comic shop years later and attempting to sample it. After failing to do so, he opted to write an original song inspired by Laputa instead.

Other Studio Ghibli films he has commended include Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke. He has named Cowboy Bebop, Akira, Last Exile, and Gainax's Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise as some of his favorite anime titles. He praised Ryuichi Sakamoto's musical direction in the latter film. On Discord, Davies alluded to an interest in Code Geass and Excel Saga.

As Davies' interest in anime grew, he also developed a passion for video games, science fiction, and space operas like Macross and Robotech—which he alludes to in his song "D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L." He has also called himself a "massive Frank Herbert fan," of who is responsible for the science-fiction franchise Dune. Davies' song "The Eyes of Ibad" is inspired by Dune. Additionally, Davies developed an interest in music at a young age. He recalls listening to the records his older brother brought home from college.

Davies did not meet Wright and Ferreday until secondary school, when he was about 11 or 12. According to Wright, Davies had participated in other bands before the formation of Panchiko. Davies confirmed this in a later interview, revealing that he was in a cover band with his brother while Wright and Ferreday were in a band of their own; Davies' band primarily covered Oasis, Radiohead, Green Day, and on rare occasions, The Lemonheads.

Davies joined Wright and Ferreday's band around the age of 16, also being the one to coin their band name, "Panchiko." He states that, around the time of Panchiko, "DJ Shadow was a massive influence on me. I loved breakbeasts as much as guitars. Kid Loco’s first album A Grand Love Story was a big influence... Maybe in 2000, I was just starting to get into Grandaddy, I loved how they mixed electronics and guitars. I also really liked The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division, and Air; and, maybe a little bit too much Radiohead—they were one of the bands of my generation, along with Blur. On Discord, Davies revealed "CUTS" to be his favorite Panchiko song, but called "The Eyes of Ibad" the "most timeless of the bunch" on D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L. In the photograph used for their video "Panchiko - Ferric Oxide", Davies is pictured wearing a T-shirt depicting Lum, a character from the Japanese anime and manga franchise Urusei Yatsura.

After Panchiko disbanded, Davies attended college and worked at a comic shop. He also produced electronic music under the name TheMIDSR and served as a video jockey at bars and live events in the gaming industry. Davies eventually pursued a career as a teacher in the field of education. As of June 2021, Davies is still working full-time.

When asked by IMPCT Journal what other art mediums—besides music—he draws inspiration from, Davies replied, “Film, graphic novels, artwork, video games, anime. I watched a lot of documentaries on the BBC whilst sitting writing songs.” Davies also pursues drawing and illustration, and he regularly posts his sketches to his personal Instagram account under the alias ORD6. An example of his artwork can be found on the cover of Panchiko's single, "Machine Gun Drum." He also contributed designs and produced visuals for Panchiko's single "R＞O＞B＞O＞T＞S＞R＞E＞P＞R＞I＞S＞E" using Dreams, a game creation system for the PlayStation 4. During Panchiko's first tour in the United States, Davies often passed time in the tour van by reading graphic novels or by creating digital artwork on his iPad. Through adulthood, he also continues to harbor an interest in video games, mentioning Dreams on Discord in 2020. In 2023, he named Horizon as a game of interest.

Andy Wright
Andy Wright met Ferreday when the two were five years old. They did not meet Davis until secondary school, when they were about 11. Wright recalls wanting to become a sound engineer as early as 11 years old.

Wright recounts he and Davies listening to "a lot of Super Furry Animals, Suede, Sparklehorse, Ultrasound, Simian, Soulwax, and of course The Beatles and Nirvana." He also recalls watching comedy shows on television with Davies in their adolescence—shows like Father Ted, as well as History Today by Newman and Baddiel—and attempting to sample the audio.

Prior to the formation of Panchiko, Wright had been a member of other bands. Ferreday stated that he and Wright formed a cover band together when they were "about 13," before they eventually "poached" Davies. }} Ferreday and Davies also reminisced during an interview over their shared interest in Kula Shaker. Wright was about 16 when Davies joined his and Ferreday's group, at which point they started to call themselves "Panchiko."

After Panchiko, Wright attended a university where he studied audio engineering. 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. Wright has recorded and performed with a number of groups. He has also mixed, mastered, and produced as a professional sound engineer.
 * After college, he performed with the Nottingham-based art rock band Swimming, appearing on their EP Pacifictitle (2006) and their album The Fireflow Trade (2009).
 * In 2011, he released Doom Wop EP as a member of Nottingham indie studio project Alana.
 * In 2006, he began his own folk-pop musical project called We Show Up on RadaR. The following three full-length albums have been released so far: Sadness Defeated (2012), WSUOR (2016), and Zanzibar Whip Coral (2019). His third album features future Panchiko collaborators John Schofield and Hugh Pascall. On occasion, he worked alongside Swimming guitarist Joff Spittlehouse as a co-producer.
 * In 2019, he grew involved with the band Tongg, assisting in production of their EP Brains Out (2020) and their album Karate in the Dark (2021).

As of June 2021, Wright is still working full-time.

Shaun Ferreday
Shaun Ferreday met Wright when the two were five years old. They did not meet Davis until secondary school, when they were about 11.

Ferreday has stated that his biggest musical influences during Panchiko's early years were Massive Attack, Portishead, Pulp, Terrorvision, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. On the other hand, Wright joked that Ferreday primarily "listened to the sound of the squeaky wheels of a penny-farthing and twin cylinder motorbikes."

Before Davies joined the group, Ferreday recalls forming a cover band with Wright when he was "about 13." Ferreday and Davies also reminisced during an interview over their shared interest in Kula Shaker.

During the making of D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, Ferreday said that he was balancing college and working different part-time jobs during this time. He also studied classical guitar —or, "[was] in college training to be a guitar maker." Regarding his contributions to Panchiko, Ferreday said, "I'd meet Owain and Andy in the evenings and discover most of a song had been written, and I just had to add in a bassline."

After Panchiko disbanded, Ferreday sold his guitars. He did not play music again, nor did he listen to the music he made with Panchiko, until the band's future reunion. He had also lost contact with Davies for over a decade. Ferreday has since married and has children; he now works as a tree surgeon. As of June 2021, Ferreday is still working full-time.

Ferreday plays a Squier bass.

John Schofield
John Schofield is also a member of the Nottingham band Tongg, of which he serves as the drummer and percussionist. Prior to joining Panchiko, his band frequently collaborated with Wright, who is also known as We Show Up on RadaR. In June 2020, Panchiko released a song called "Machine Gun Drum" featuring Schofield on the drums. In late 2021, Schofield was formally recruited as Panchiko's new drummer.

Schofield is also a drum tutor.

Rob Harris
Rob Harris is also a member of the Nottingham band Tongg, of which he serves as a vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist. Prior to Panchiko, his band frequently collaborated with Wright, who is also known as We Show Up on RadaR. In late 2021, Harris was formally recruited as a guitarist for Panchiko. In 2022, he assisted Wright with post-production and the mixing of Panchiko's live album Live in Nottingham.

John
Davies recalls of John attempting to persuade him into listening to New Orleans blues artist Dr. John. Wright, on the other hand joked, "I don’t know if he even listened to music, or just the sound of artillery fire."

Panchiko would often spend weekends at John's home in rural Lincolnshire, practicing in his family's converted cellar. Davies recalls John putting chewing gum in the former's hair, leading to a minor altercation. Davies revealed that John helped him write some of the lyrics on Kicking Cars. John appears on the first five tracks of Ferric Oxide (Demos 1997-2001).

Following the disbandment of Panchiko, John was enlisted into the British military. Afterward, the other three members lost touch with him completely.

In 2020, a photograph featuring John's likeness was used for the cover art of a single—"Untitled Demo - 1997"—released to Panchiko's Bandcamp.

Gear
On October 30, 2022, at the tail-end of Panchiko's first tour, Davies showcased his live rig to Digital Tour Bus. On tour, Davies played a Japanese limited edition Fender Telecaster with a custom design—a "satin matte finish"—preferring its color over the guitar itself. He also duct taped the selector switch to prevent the accidental flipping up and changing of pickups. Davies adheres to standard tuning, or "classic E, A, D, G, B, E," because Panchiko "just does kind of simple pop songs really."

Davies also showcased his pedalboards. He sends his guitar's sound through a compressor pedal and then through a "clean channel." The A/B channel is on a pedal built and gifted to Davies for his birthday by a "good friend," who is of JSA Effects in Derby, England. He only uses the "boost" and "gain" effects on his dual pedal to blend clean sounds with boosted sounds. After compression, boosting, and granular effects, the sound is fed into an ACS1 amplifier simulator.

Davies also has a pink Poly Beebo, a multi-modulation pedal manufactured in Australia, thinking of it as a "one-stop solution to all pedal needs when playing lives," because it does its own routing, it can produce convolution reverb and digital sound effects, and because "it is all 'nodal based,' similar to a 3D modeling program'"—hailing from the "modular synthesis world." Despite enjoying its granular effects, he ultimately only uses two presets for his tour sets. One of these presets is the "parallel processing" effect, which entails two to three different sounds or effects layered on top of one another.

Subsequently, Davies evinced his other equipment, including his Elektron Octatrack MKII 8-track performance mixer and sampler. Used on D＞E＞A＞T＞H＞M＞E＞T＞A＞L, it is capable of a crossfading effect. He regularly uses the tool to create beats and store samples, as well as "stuff in Panchiko, where it's like more indie pop and stuff." He also presented his Elektron SYNTAKT, a drum machine he utilizes for "synth parts" and sound effects; he enjoys its mixture of analog and FM synthesis.

For his singing, Davies will sparingly incorporate his Hologram Microcosm granular effects pedal. "When you put anything through it," he explained, "it tends to sound really beautiful. It adds randomness and glitchiness to it. I use it predominantly for vocal effects—just kind of spooky stuff. Like in sound check, they were saying 'you sound like a ghost.' It chops your vocals, and it re-pitches them and layers them over." Davies typically reserves the gear for "big climaxes and heavenly vocals."

Miscellaneous
Miscellaneous information compiled by fans:

Discord messages
Discord messages posted by the band members on Panchikord:

Panchiko sources
Information found on the band's social media: