Pan Sonic was a Finnish
electronic music group founded in
Turku in 1993. The group consisted of
Mika Vainio,
Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In December 2009, it was announced that Pan Sonic would disband after their concerts that month.
Their final album, ''Gravitoni'', was released by Blast First Petite in May 2010.
''Oksastus'', a live album recorded in 2009, was released in 2014.
Music
Pan Sonic cite their main influences from the early 1980s, with
industrial acts like
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...
,
Einstürzende Neubauten and
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
to
reggae,
hip-hop and
dub. Vainio often remarks that their music is a merger of these two schools of music, taking the harsh and pure sounds typical of industrial techno and spacing them out into longer, subdued
soundscapes familiar to instrumental reggae and dub. The late outsider
rockabilly artist
Hasil Adkins is also cited, as well as
country music star
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
.
Some of their equipment is made by third "extra" member Jari Lehtinen. These and other custom made instruments are responsible for creating the sounds typical to Pan Sonic's music. They also use
samplers and an MPC2000
sequencer. Pan Sonic are great fans of experimentation and art performances and have done exhibitions and sound installations in museums. They have also made music for
Rei Kawakubo's fashion shows. The group was known for recording everything live, straight to
DAT using home-made and modified
synthesizers
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
and effect units.
In the late 1980s, as part of a "sound performance", the duo spent 10 hours in a garage, exposed to low-frequency (13
Hz) noise at 125
decibels
The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose ...
. They performed a gig in London's East End from an
armoured car using a 5000
watt sound system allegedly "similar" to the type used by the police to disorient
riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
ers.
History
Pan Sonic formed in 1993 as a
techno group with member Sami Salo (who later left the group). They moved to operate from a base in
Barcelona to escape the long Finnish winters. Mika Vainio later moved to
Berlin, while Ilpo Väisänen returned to Kuopio. Their first 12" was released on Finland's
Sähkö Recordings.
Originally, the band was called
Panasonic, but the
corporation of the same name threatened legal action unless it was changed. The conflict was resolved, and the duo removed the "a" from their name to become "Pan Sonic", which was used as the title of their 1999 album ''A''.
In December 2009 news of the duo splitting was announced on PhinnWeb – with Mika and Ilpo continuing with their own solo projects.
[ In October 2013 a new Pan Sonic album titled ''Oksastus'' was announced.][
Pan Sonic created a soundtrack for the 2015 documentary called ''Return of the Atom'' directed by Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola. The film examines the construction of the Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant in Finland. ''Return of the Atom'' premiered in Toronto International Film Festival in 2015.
Mika Vainio died on April 13, 2017 at the age of 53.]
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
EPs
Video albums
References
External links
Pan Sonic
on pHinnWeb
pHinn (a.k.a. Erkki Rautio) of Tampere, Finland is the founder and Webmaster of pHinnWeb, a WWW site dedicated to Finnish electronic music, techno music, avantgarde, experimental music, rave culture and underground culture. pHinn also works ...
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{{Authority control
1993 establishments in Finland
Blast First artists
Finnish electronic music groups
Musical groups established in 1993
Sub Rosa Records artists