Panic is Perfect

Panic Is Perfect's sound can broadly be described as Indie Pop, a genre description that hardly does justice to their seamless combination of catchy melodies, syncopated African rhythms, and pseudo-spiritual lyric sensibilities. It doesn’t take long to appreciate their sophisticated musical palate, comprised of equal parts well-traveled ear candy and painstakingly-detailed song writing.

Hailing originally from Kansas City, founding member Jeremy Belzer moved to Los Angeles to attend CalArts on a partial scholarship for winning 1st place in a nationwide painting competition (Leroy Neiman Foundation). Soon after arriving Jeremy applied and was accepted into the music composition department where he earned his degree. After college, Jeremy left to live for several years in spiritual communities throughout Asia. Always traveling with his laptop, microphone and western harmony book, he wrote and recorded literally hundreds of songs while living in the jungles of Thailand and India, and in tiny apartments in Korea and China. Upon returning to the States, Jeremy composed original music for film scores and television before dedicating his full attention to Panic is Perfect. Jeremy has written songs continuously for the past 15 years and has collaborated on songs with Niel Schuh of Totally Radd, as well as playing in The Hot Tramps, and The Funnies.

A serious drummer since the age of 10, Mike Hoffman played professionally in local bands throughout his teens in hometown Portland, Oregon. He dropped out after his first year of music school to travel to West Africa and study with a Master tribal drummer in rural Ghana. Mike played heavily in the local African and Afro-pop scene upon returning home, later moving to LA to finish his education at CalArts. It was there that he was turned on to writing and producing by friends and classmates John Maus and Ariel Pink, making his first solo album on an 8-track tape recorder. Mike was a founding member of both Los Abandoned and The Funnies (with David Satori of Beats Antique) and toured extensively with Aphrodesia, a 10 piece afrobeat band. He also had a brief and bizarre stint as the drummer for The Brian JonesTown Massacre. Eventually moving to San Francisco, Mike was hired as the drummer for hit cabaret show Beach Blanket Babylon. He then focused his writing efforts on electronic music, producing 3 solo albums and several scores for films and music for live.

Initially formed when Mike Hoffman went to southern India to visit his long-time friend Jeremy Belzer, Panic is Perfect started out as an acoustic duo, traveling India by train with a broken backpack guitar. Four months later, Jeremy joined Mike in San Francisco to officially pursue the band. Mike and Jeremy write and produce both independently and in collaboration. As multi-instrumentalists, they both play most of the instruments on their recordings. They each sing lead vocals on the songs that they contribute as writers, adding more diversity to the overall sound. The additions of Ty Parker (drums), Joey Hassid (synth) and Jorge Gonzalez Mendez (guitar) completed the 5-piece live band that bring Panic is Perfect to life onstage.

Underneath their syncopated, multi-layered rhythmic arrangements, Panic Is Perfect writes simple songs with meaningful lyrics and melodies that stay with you long after the songs end. Whether they are described as Indie Pop, Afro Pop-Influenced Rock, or Electronic Indie Rock, ultimately Panic is Perfect writes songs that, when stripped of all their elaborate production, are meaningful, memorable and unique.