PANTHER MODERN: CHAOS AT CAPACITY
Photography by Sarah Pardini
Panther Modern is a thriving presence at the intersection of techno and goth culture worldwide. He pushes boundaries not just within his music but also with his collaboration with the talented Melissa Scaduto in Sextile. Their high-energy performances and stellar tracklists have created eager anticipation among fans in San Diego, who are eagerly waiting to embrace the relentless electronic chaos that Panther Modern brings.
Modern Wav is excitedly anticipating Panther Modern's pivotal presence on April 6 at Music Box alongside powerhouse acts Health, Pixel Grip, and Street Fever. So, if you're a fan, don't miss out on the call to witness Panther Modern's full-capacity performance!
1) How do you feel about Panther Modern's widespread appeal among diverse fan bases worldwide, including admiration from goth, techno, and EBM enthusiasts in the United States?
I'm super grateful to have a fan base, period. Honestly, I have no clue what I am doing, and I am just kind of winging it. I know how to conjure moods with sound, but I have to discover them before I can connect with them and then disperse that energy into a room. Either way, I feel a sense of success knowing that my music doesn't fit into a particular niche genre. I'm a fan of each, but I want to push the boundaries of what they are. Some chaos
2) When dealing with two exceptional acts, how do you determine which elements are suitable for inclusion in Panther's projects and which are more fitting for Sextile's endeavors?
It's actually been increasingly more difficult than I had anticipated. At the moment, they kind of bleed into each other. I think my answer a year ago would have been, well, SEXTILE uses guitars. But I have been so over guitars that I don't pick it up when it comes to writing, and now SEXTILE is becoming more focused on synths. I mean, let's get real: the guitar was invented in the 15th century. The synthesizer and subwoofer were invented 50 years ago. I want to do shit that millennia of humans were never ever able to do. I get excited when I think 1000 years ago, I would have been burned at the stake for shaking a whole room with subfrequencies using a small black device; they would have thought I was a witch. Thats cool.
So, to really answer your question, Panther Modern has been getting my more experimental, harder electro tracks. SEXTILE is Melissa and I writing, working in a way that kind of feeds our need to create more melodic music.
3) You have recently released a new work called "Deluxe" that gives off a completely different vibe and mood than your previous works. I couldn't help but notice that the influence of breakbeats, Detroit, and Berlin techno is heavy, yet you have managed to maintain the unique sound of Panther Modern. Can you tell us what inspired you to move in this direction and what tools/gear you used to achieve this distinctive sound?"
Yes, the breakbeats!
It all started with entering into a deep depression during the pandemic. At that time, I was messing around with crypto and NFTs, which I wouldn't recommend anyone ever do. I bought the tech smoke and mirrors of royalties in perpetuity and a new paradigm for artists. As all of us know now, it was bullshit. I entered into the depression because I watched as hundreds of thousands of dollars were being thrown at the most useless projects instead of going to real art. I started to believe that art was dead, music was dead, and the world, when presented with the opportunity to back real art and real artists, turned a blind eye and threw it at shit that is worth absolutely nothing now. They would rather gamble, and they still do.
I struggled to get out of the depression, I struggled to make music, I was gaining weight, I wasnt connecting to myself - it all sucked. Maybe I heard it in a movie, or someone once said this to me, but the phrase “You got to get back to your roots, where it all started, where you first fell in love with music.” was just repeating in my head and it made a lot of sense. So I started listening to the music I used to when I was growing up. It was mostly East Coast 90s hip-hop like Smiff n Wesson, Mobb Deep, Gang Starr, and then 90s Trance like ATB, Alice Deejay, Paul Oakenfold, The Matrix soundtrack, and then getting back into Drum n Bass, or Prodigy and Slipknot as well. I mean I remember this profound moment of hearing Drum and Bass for the first time and just being SHOOK. It was at a festival in DC, I walked into this dark tent with black lights, neon everywhere and this producer Diesel Boy was spinning - I had never heard bass like that. I had never FELT bass like that before. It changed my life and it is the reason I wanted SEXTILE to tour Florida this upcoming tour. Diesel Boy is from Florida, and there was a huge DnB scene there. I feel I need to go pay my respects.
So, back to the depression. I'm depressed. I'm starting to listen to all the music I grew up listening to, and now I want to start making music the way I used to when I first started. That was sampling and getting creative with found sound because I couldn't afford a synth at the time, let alone any instrument. I was also super into Brian Eno, who I related to because he described himself as a non-musician and used the studio to create his treatments. I related to this because I have never been a technically skilled instrument player. I can't play piano with two hands, I don't know the scales on the guitar, and I couldn't solo to save my life, but I can record a bunch of sounds, arrange them in Ableton, and make something sound like a song. So my first sampler was the Roland SP-555, I got it cause I heard Panda Bear was using it. At the time, he had just released a track where the beat was a looped recording of someone riding a skateboard, and my mind was blown. I was also super into the Art of Noise manifesto at that time, so it was kind of like a perfect synergy for the type of sound art I was trying to explore.
Flash forward to today and I'm back to sampling breaks, trying to incorporate some of my favorite things about the music I loved when I was growing up and it has helped me immensely in reconnecting with myself and why I make art in the first place.
In terms of tools/gear I used, of course my Korg MS20 and MS10, a beatstep pro, a keystep pro, an emu polysynth, Ableton and a custom drumrack I built using samples of 808s and 909s I recorded myself.
4) In 2019, I stumbled upon a video titled "Ask Yourself" that immediately caught my attention with its unique branding and aesthetic. The visuals were a perfect blend of sinister, sexy, and chaotic, leaving me intrigued about the process behind its creation. I would love to learn more about the creative process involved in crafting the stunning 3D visuals and branding of your videos.
Ah that particular video I do cherish very much, but making those 3D scenes and editing that video was hell on earth. I had little knowledge of what I was doing at the time. That was my first time ever comping green screen footage and adding 3D scenes behind it. It took hours of motion tracking the footage and even more hours to render the 3D scenes, which I did on a single computer.
The worst part was that during that summer, while it was rendering, I had the touch choice between rendering the video or air conditioning. The power was so bad at my apartment that I couldnt run both at the same time, otherwise it would trip the circuit for the whole unit. To top off, while the computer is rendering, all it's doing is blowing oven-hot air into the room. I slept sweating with no sheets for 4 weeks. This is probably why I haven’t attempted to make another video quite like it.
Making music is much more gratifying and immediate. In terms of tools used for 3D, I used Cinema 4D and Octane Renderer. If you are just getting started with 3D, I would suggest using Unreal Engine and a new platform my friends and I created called HEAT. HEAT allows anyone to use their phone to capture a move or dance and bring it onto a 3d character without having to know how to code. Something I desperately needed 5-6 years ago.
Photography by Sarah Pardini
Don't miss out on Panther Modern's captivating journey back to his roots with his latest artistry, "Deluxe"! Experience it live at the Music Box on April 6th, where the three floors will buzz with excitement, thanks to Modern Wav at the helm. Health, Panther Modern, Pixel Grip, Street Fever, Baby Magick DJing, and a kink performance by Domina Death will make it an immersive and high-caliber experience.
This event promises to be another memorable addition to Modern, and you do not want to miss it! Don't wait; secure your tickets now to ensure you're a part of this special event. I always say, "Regrets are forever; presale is not."
