Pan Sonic

Pan Sonic, known as Panasonic from 1993 until 1998, are an internationally renowned Finnish electronic music project which began when Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen first met within the art and techno scene of Turku.

In 1994 (with the 3rd member Sami Salo who left the band in 1996) they started to release on Sähkö, the experimental techno label of their friend Tommi Grönlund. On their first tour outside of Finland, leading to London, they got a record deal with Blast First, the Mute sub-label where in 1995 they gained international respect with their album "Vakio", originally released as a set of four 10"es.

Pan Sonic stand for minimal rhythmic music with extremely reduced structures and pure tones, sinewaves, pulses, electronic squelches and ultrasonic waveforms. The physicalnes of their sounds is an essential component of their live music and a clear manifest of their industrial influences (Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten, SPK) as well as of the NYC band Suicide, of Acid Techno, of Jamaican Dub, Ska, and Musique concrète composer Pierre Henry.