In 1997, three teenagers in England recorded a handful of songs, never imagining that those demos would return decades later as the foundation of a cult phenomenon. Owen Davies, Andy Wright and Shaun Ferreday released the EP, “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L,” under the band name “Panchiko.” With their fall tour in full swing, Davies, Wright and Ferreday reflect on Panchiko’s past, present and future.
As young friends, the three shared the desire to create music. With many bands to inspire them,like Radiohead, Super Furry Animals, Nirvana and Air, Panchiko was born.
“I used to play sports and stuff, but then had a choice. [I] just felt like there’s always music coming out in the U.K. and America, and I really identify with that. I like that. I want to make that music,” Davies, the main vocalist, said.
In their early years, Panchiko played covers in local pubs and in a “Battle of the Bands” before recording their first demo. Eventually, they created thirty CDs of their first demo, titled “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L,” and passed them out to friends, family and a few record labels. With no luck forming a record deal, the band disbanded and the members went on with their lives.
According to The Stony Brook Press, it was not until July 21, 2016, when a 4chan user posted that they had found “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” in a thrift shop and wanted to track down who made it. However, the only information that the CD contained was the members’ first names.
The next four years garnered over 200,000 views of the EP on Youtube and other sites, all unbeknownst to the band members, according to a previous interview done with Wayback Machine. Eventually, in 2020, Davies was found and contacted through Facebook, and Panchiko was reunited.
When asked about their unique origin story, Wright, the band’s guitarist, said, “I suppose it could only happen like this, in this quite a small window, really, because we made those CDs, and there was no internet to upload. So, it’s really like the last bit of lost media.”
Still new to fame, Panchiko navigates the difference between their early recordings and their current music. For some, creating new music could seem daunting, considering the discourse about their original EP, especially since the members have lived separately since their original disbandment.
Ferreday clarified that while “D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L” remains their most popular release, the band does not feel confined by their past. “It’s inevitable that ‘D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L’ is going to be the thing that people gravitate towards initially,” he said. “But then I think, yeah, people get into the new stuff if they want to… We write songs we like.”
Davies added that their approach involves honoring the spirit of their early music while incorporating new influences. “There’s an element of trying to hook into the feeling of what we were making, but then bringing our influences now, because there’s so many other things we like now. You can’t just go, oh, let’s try and sound like all those bands before this day. It can’t happen like that,” he said.
With over fifteen stops on their United States fall tour to promote their new album “Ginkgo,” Panchiko revamps their unique noise while incorporating themes of change.“It wasn’t like we’ll make this album about the changes, but I think there was something hard to happen that needs to be addressed. Yeah, something needs to be addressed, and we’re the people to do it,” Davies said. Ginkgo trees are known to be a symbol of change, vitality and growth, which are themes highlighted in the album.
For old fans, the band hinted that new music is in the works. For new fans, Panchiko has a lengthy discography to discover and enjoy. And for young adults who are trying to hit it big, the one piece of advice given by the band members was to “just give it 25 years.”
