Panchiko

Panchiko are an alternative rock band from Nottingham, England, formed in 1997 and active from 1997 to the present. The group’s line-up includes Andy, Hugh, John, Owain and Shaun. They begin as a teenage band made up of childhood friends, using inexpensive equipment.

Early releases and rediscovery

The band’s early recorded work includes the EP D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L, recorded in a room and originally issued in 2000, and another EP called Kicking Cars. In 2016, a copy of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L found in an Oxfam shop in Sherwood, Nottingham is reported online, with its damaged audio shared through download links. The record then spreads across the internet, including via YouTube, and this leads to an online effort to identify the band.

Contact with listeners and later albums

Fans eventually contact the band through Facebook. By this point, Owain and the other members are back in touch, although John has lost contact with the rest of the group. Panchiko later reissue D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L online in remastered form, along with three tracks from Kicking Cars. In 2023 they release Failed at Math(s), their debut album, which combines new material with older recordings.

Recent activity

Panchiko sign to Nettwerk Music Group in 2024 and release Ginkgo in 2025. Their sound is associated with alternative rock, indie rock, dream pop, emo, indietronica and neo-psychedelia, and they are also tagged as indie, shoegaze and lo-fi.