BIOS ATHENS - Pan Sonic/ Rob Hall/ Parallel Worlds

Bios celebrates the opening of the brand new book/record BIOSHOP, inviting the Finish Pan Sonic in their last live concert before their upcoming break up. Rob Hall (UK) will follow with a  DJ set, while Parallel Worlds (GR) will warm up Pan Sonic with a live concert.

Panasonic
The most famous act to originate from Sähkö Recordings, Panasonic (now called Pan sonic), first came into being in the summer of 1993 through the meeting of two creative minds, Mika Vainio (born 1963) and Ilpo Väisänen (born 1963 in Kuopio, Finland). Vainio had worked as a DJ in the 80's and created his own music with Pertti Grönholm, as Corporate 09. Väisänen was originally from Kuopio, Finland and ended up in Turku because of his studies, where he joined the members of the Hyperdelic Housers group organising rave parties; Vainio and Tommi Grönlund -- who was to found the Sähkö label -- among them. Ilpo Väisänen had been responsible for the official Down By The Laituri 1990 festival poster, and was during that time also a member of Ultra 3, an artistic group of wide-ranging interests which, after Mika Vainio joined, was renamed to Sin Ø. (Väisänen was also involved with Guerilla Jazz Rules group.)

The one-time third member of Panasonic, Sami Salo, finally joined in 1994 after having come to contact with Vainio and Väisänen through Sähkö (for which Salo had recorded a 12" as Hertsi), and their first EP was also released that year. Paul Smith, the main man of Mute's sublabel Blast First, saw Panasonic's gig in England at a club called Vox in autumn 1994, and eventually signed the act to his label. Pan sonic's performance at New York's Disobey club of Knitting Factory in early 1995 also increased duo's popularity Stateside.

So far there has been three Pan sonic albums from Blast First, Vakio in September 1995, Kulma in January 1997 and A in February 1999; with also one EP, Osasto out in July 1996. Furthermore, they broadcast a live session with John Peel for BBC in autumn 1995.

Panasonic performed at the end of 1995 in a car park in London's East End with a notorious Audio Weapons Armoured Car System -- or 'Advanced Acoustic Armaments' sound system rigged up on an armoured car -- featuring a 5K turbo sound PA which was built and developed by Jimmy Cauty of The KLF fame. According the rumours the device was similar to those the police's riot forces were using, causing low frequency sounds to accelerate the rioters' bowel movements, thus incapacitating them by making them mess their pants... (As Jimmy Cauty is known as the master of disinformation, these rumours should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.) At a recent Ars Electronica festival of Linz, Austria, Pan sonic played in a train which circulated around an industrial area.

Other memorable Pan sonic prank was, of course, the group's original name nicked from the famous electronics manufacturer, which must have caused many frustrations to their record label. As Toshiba, the Panasonic Electronics' biggest competitor in Japan had plans to licence the group's music from Blast First, the change of name seemed to become more probable all the time. The latest news tell that after having been contacted by the lawyers of Panasonic USA, who threatened the act and their record label with legal actions, from spring 1998 onwards the duo is officially to be called Pan Sonic. Thus were also crushed Ilpo's hopes that the band would have been sponsored by their electronics giant namesake...

Pan sonic cite as their influences, first of all, Alan Vega's and Martin Rev's legendary proto-techno duo Suicide (with which they were gigging in March 1998; not to mention the recorded collaboration with Alan Vega), industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten, the French "musique concrète" composer Pierre Henry and the eccentric cult rockabilly musician Hasil Adkins -- Mika Vainio has sometimes jokingly called Pan sonic's music "horsemeat rockabilly". Their sound is, according to Mika, increasingly moving away from the regular 4-4 techno, and is now, for example, inspired by old Jamaican dub reggae and ska. And of course rockabilly, which Mika likes with a late-70's Eno-ish twist. Unsurprisingly, Japanese noise artists, such as Pain Jerk, have lately inspired Pan sonic. Mika considers their Japanese gigs with Yamatsuka Eye of The Boredoms some of the most important during their career; especially the Tokyo night was received very well among the press and the audience. Furthermore, Mika and Ilpo are into Hurriganes [sic], the "legendary" Finnish power trio of rock'n'roll Neandernthals back in the 70's (the band's drummer-singer Remu couldn't speak English, so the lyrics were written phonetically for him, and so on).

Mika isn't really into today's "electronica" and its computer-driven sound, though Pan sonic have increasingly delved into modern sampler technology as of late. The group also has an "extra member" called Jari Lehtinen who's responsible for building Pan sonic's instruments with which their extraordinary humming sounds have been created. Mika describes their custom equipment: "We have a synthesizer which is one big box that has twelve oscillators on it; you can connect them to each other and modulate them together. We also have this small synthesizer which is built to an old typewriter -- we call it 'Typewriter'. We have several drum modules to make rhythmic sounds which we are using with an 808. Jari Lehtinen is also building us this large synthesizer that will have eight oscillators and a cross connection board, like the early 70s, late 60s synthesizers." Alongside Typewriter, also known as "Complex Sound Generator" there is also a self-built, approximately six metre-long infrasonic tube, called "John Holmes".

Pan sonic now use also samplers and a computer based sequencer, MPC2000. So they can leave the "fishing box" back home since it doesn't travel well. Mika says he doesn't really know anything about computers or MIDI-based music nor does he want to. He is very much into sounds felt by the body and the effect of frequencies on the brain.

As to Pan sonic's live presentation, they opt to stay true to their harsh, minimalist nature. On stage the band is illuminated by blue light and stand behind their equipment, intently tweaking knobs and levels. Another creation from their engineer friend provides the one changing visual. "We have this oscilloscope which is connected to a video projector. It's just a simple white line on a black background behind us which reacts to our frequencies and the sounds that we are making. That's the only visual thing but I think it works really well."

Pan sonic thinks they usually have their best gigs in Germany, because of the electronic music tradition there from the 1950's onwards. They also mention France for the same reasons. Americans in their turn, Väisänen laughs a bit ironically, consider everything coming from Europe being automatically of very high quality, since this continent is regarded there as a kind of "cradle of culture".

ROB HALL WARP RECORDS (MANCHESTER/UK)
Rob Hall’s style is unique and stems from almost 20 years of uncompromising passion for all things electronic; music and otherwise. The distinct and refreshing sound that is characteristic of Rob’s performances can be attributed to the breadth of his taste and his confidence as a selector. There is a strong element of curatorial judgment evident when you hear one of his seamless sets, yet this is seemingly at odds with the diverse and atavistic nature of the music he chooses to expound. It is nigh on impossible to pigeon hole Rob, as his taste is defined not by genre, but by a highly personal capacity to edit, based on experience and his broad knowledge of production and programming. This clear but complicated stance is a product of a very specific context and
associations.

Rob began his career at techno night Megatripolis held weekly at the legendary London venue ’Heaven’. His first of many appearances there was with Autechre in the summer of 1992. Since then Rob has played
both ends of the spectrum in the UK, from small crowds in intimate venues to huge numbers at clubs and festivals including The Orbit, Phoenix, Glastonbury, Glade, Bestival, Bloc Weekender and All Tomorrow’s
Parties. Concurrently there was a steady increase in Rob’s air miles collection as he garnered an international reputation for his particular brand of technical entertainment. He has played at a host of international venues
and festivals, usually at seminal moments in their respective histories; Sonar and Coachella in 1999 stand out as notable examples.

In 2001 another of Rob’s long term friends and supporters, Andrew Price of respected New York electro / techno imprint ‘Satamile’ gave him the opportunity to play a monthly residency at his weekly ‘Static’ night in New York. This was the impetus that drove forward solo US tours, eventually
hitting Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Detroit and Chicago with his shifting, pulsing styles.
Since 1995 Rob has also actively promoted and been resident DJ at numerous club events in Manchester; contributing to the collective spirit that drove the scene forward in his home city. A desire to promote the
music he admires and respects lead to invitations for artists like Aphex Twin, Plaid, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher, and Berlin's Pole, to play in Manchester, often for the first time.

Rob has also contributed to numerous productions, remixes and live sets as part of the Gescom project; a collective that includes a diverse range of producers, from the aforementioned Autechre and Mego artist Russell Haswell to Skam Records’ Andy Maddocks, Darrell Fitton (Bola), and Mike Williamson (Made). This grouping is also the backbone to the highly revered and respected Skam Recordings, (www.skam.co.uk) the label where Rob has worked as part of a small but dedicated team, consistently releasing electronic music that is both interesting and innovative.

Robs’ style, though specific, encompasses a broad spectrum of what would be elsewhere classified as genres. As such, despite being incredibly selective, he is open and receptive to new patterns and sounds in music. Similarly, new technologies are consumed; digital DJ interfaces have allowed Rob to diversify and expand upon the range of audio and technique he employs to deliver the well calibrated sets for which he has become acclaimed. In 2007 Rob embarked on an ambitious project, to record and release, via free download, a year long collection of 12 very personal DJ mixes, each one only available for that month. A series that was highly acclaimed by the thousands of people who eagerly downloaded them each month before
they dissappeared into the ether.

Most recently Rob has become a regular fixture at Berghain in Berlin, currently regarded as one of the best techno clubs in the world. It is a testament to his belief, passion and uncompromising stance that he is
now established here and his peers, including Mark Broom, Surgeon, Regis, Ellen Allien and Marco Passarani, would probably suggest “it’s about time”.

Bakis Sirros / PARALLEL WORLDS
Parallel Worlds’ music (www.parallel-worlds-music.com) is a combination of dreamy/atmospheric textures with pure analogue electronic rhythms and sequences, combining the feel of 70s electronic music with modern electronica and ambient music. For Parallel Worlds, melody is essential, but most important is emotional context. Bakis' tracks try to reach to the listener's heart and mind. Influences all these years have been the music of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Steve Roach, Pete Namlook, J-M Jarre, Biosphere, Autechre, Plaid, Plone, Seefeel, Kraftwerk, Robert Rich and other experimental artists.

Parallel Worlds use huge Analogue Modulars and Analogue Step Sequencers of the past and present combined with digital FM and virtual analogue synths and sampling.

Parallel Worlds are the main project of Bakis Sirros with John Sirros (and some ocassional collaborators). They were originaly born in 1994, but only after 1998 they started to be a part of the active greek electronic music scene.

In parallel, Bakis Sirros is the moderator of the Doepfer A100 modular users group helping, in an important way, the progress of the tools for experimental electronic music in the 21st century.

Bakis Sirros has currently completed an extensive project for the well-known UK analogue modulars synthesizer company “ANALOGUE SYSTEMS” regarding the sound design for their new module RS370 polyphonic harmonic generator and the complete sound design for their new RS- Integrator Sample CD.

During these last 8 years, Parallel Worlds have played live also, participating in the E-PHOS electronic music festival in summer of 2001, Mad club, Club22 (2^nd Summer in the city Festival), Music Day Festival 2006, Small Music Theatre, Underworld Club, Synch Festival 2008, Earthdance 2008, Reworks 2009 and in other greek venues.

Bakis Sirros also participates on some collaboration projects, the new IDM project “Interconnected” with the german IDM musician Ingo Zobel (of DRON, Signalform, Self Oscillate, Datasette, etc.), the ambient / experimental project “Memory Geist” with the australian electronica musician Steve Law (of Zen Paradox, Starseed Transmission, Guild Of Fire, etc.), and on a collaboration with established italian ambient composer Alio Die.

Bakis Sirros is also teaching Synthesizer Programming at an (after-high-school) public learning institution and also instructed a Workshop on Analogue Modular Synthesis in Synch Festival 2008.