Draft Article

Punk music has been with us for a very long time, having its most success in the 1970’s and 80’s. Many thought this genre would come to an end when the likes of hugely inspirational bands such as The Clash decided to call it a day in 1986, or The Sex Pistols decided to end their reign in 1978 after vocalist Johnny Rotten decided to depart from the band. However in contrast to these beliefs, I’d like to introduce you to a brand new band set for big things in 2011 and are aiming to revive the punk revolution; please welcome highly opinionated and career set youngsters Emily, Harvey, Sam and Jack forming The Pan!c…

First things first let me know your roots- when, where and why did you form?
Emily: Well we all grew up together in the same area in London but never knew each other properly until our final year of A Levels. We were introduced to each other because we were all studying music at our local college and instantly clicked.
Jack: We originally began just messing around in music lessons trying to create a good sound and eventually decided to form a band. Since then we’ve gone on playing music together, whether that being just to families and friends or in small venues.
Sam: And now we’ve got our big break!

How did your big break come together then Sam?Sam: Well due to Harvey having some relations in Camden we managed to get a slot at 2010’s Camden Crawl. By some miracle Radio 1 DJ Mike Davies who has his own punk show on the station was there watching us, and he really enjoyed our performance. He gave us a fair amount of air play which then progressed to our debut single ‘Art is a Collaboration’ being played on more regular shows. So that’s what got us noticed really. We owe so much to Mike!

So are you into the music that’s played at Camden Crawl, or do you prefer other?Jack: We’re very open to new or old music and are willing to try out any genre but obviously our favourite is the classic punk sound.
Emily: That’s very true, I mean it’s where our sound originates from.

You’re obviously huge punk fans then! Where did this passion emerge from?Emily: Both my mum and dad were punks during the Joe Strummer days and kept all the records till this day, now I have them (laughs).
Harvey: We are all hugely influenced by the genre; that includes the clothing, way of life and music. I’d have to say The Clash are my all time favourite band, with White Riot being one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Some of the s**t around today just doesn’t compare!

On that note, would you compare yourself to any other bands in the industry today?Sam: I want to say no and that we’re unique but I don’t want to lower myself to those on the scene now that brag about being “individual and alternative”. That’s no proper way to describe your sound. We pride ourselves on trying to revive punk, not making our bands sound just like everyone else!
Emily: The industry is very diverse at the moment, with all sorts of genres striving for success in the charts. However, I believe The Pan!c consists of a different sound to the majority that is available to listen to now. We were recently introduced to new band The Vaccines who are destined to do well this year. They claimed that their influences included The Cure and The Clash so we immediately clicked! From what I’ve heard of their stuff they’re really good, so I hope we can have as much success as they do.

From that I’m very excited to listen to more of your stuff. What have you got planned for this year?Jack: We have quite a lot coming up this year- 2011 and going to be a busy one for us! First stop is releasing and promoting the album. It’s our debut album and it’s called ‘Part of Being Sane’. It’s taken a pretty long time to write but definitely worth the wait because we are so very proud of it! After that’s been released we’ve got quite a few tour dates lined up; we’ll be performing up and down the UK. This will be the perfect opportunity for our new fans to see exactly what we’re like. Then after that we’ll hopefully be making an appearance at several festivals here and one across the pond which I cannot contain my excitement for! (Fellow members look away in embarrassment)

A debut album? Tell me more!Harvey: Well as Jack just said, it’s called ‘Part of Being Sane’. Seeing as though it’s our first album the name should probably have some sentimental feeling… but it doesn’t (laughs). We had a huge brainstorming session to try and come up with a name because we’d gained maybe ‘writers block’. Eventually Emily came up with this name and we fell in love instantly. The making process however was a lot more difficult. We all write the songs collectively but I guess it took longer than most bands because we wanted to get our songs perfect and to sound exactly how we want. It’s taken about a year to write the twelve songs on the album, one of them being our debut single ‘Art is a Collaboration’ and we are so very proud of it- we can’t wait for everyone to hear it!

It’s been a pleasure interviewing The Pan!c as they’re not afraid to give their opinion and from what I have gathered, there are really passionate and dedicated about their music. I wish them all the best for 2011!

The Pan!cs debut album ’Part of Being Sane’ is out on 24^th May.