Amoeba Music

L.A.-based Puerto Rican artist Pachyman visits Amoeba Hollywood on Tuesday, October 3rd at 5pm to celebrate his new album, Switched-On (out 9/29 on ATO Records). He'll play a live mini-set and hang out to sign copies of the new album after the performance.

Show is free/all-ages. Album purchase required to attend post-performance signing.

See Pachyman LIVE with Altin Gun, November 9th @ The Belasco

For his latest sonic transmission Switched-On (out 9/29 on ATO Records), musician Pachy García, aka Pachyman, challenged himself to steer his dub-drenched dispatches towards another dimension. The follow-up to 2021’s The Return of Pachyman, Switched-On is an homage to the generative artistic era when musicians first began manipulating synthesizers to emit gloriously off-kilter bleeps, bloops, and whooshes. It also gestures to García’s chirring Korg Poly-800 analog synthesizer that forms the spine of these songs, particularly the effervescent electronic interlude “Mi Sala.” Tunes like “You Looked at Me” fuse a mesmerizing, Krautrock-esque beat with synth musings reminiscent of bands such as Boards of Canada and García’s own minimalist vocals for added texture. His ear for expansiveness comes through the winking “Trago Coqueto,” a cheeky love song crooned through the prism of a cocktail that’s named after a flirty lemon-ginger drink. In a uniquely Pachyman twist, it acts as a poignant ode to his life growing up in Puerto Rico. It couldn’t be a more fitting testament to Switched-On’s ethos, which meditates on García’s conviction to move his art forward while simultaneously honoring his roots.

Though based in LA, García’s music is immersed in the world of the Caribbean, with the basis of his sound being derived from his native home in Puerto Rico. Laced with nostalgia, Switched-On pulls from the island’s musical scene in the 1990’s, when Puerto Rico was embracing new wave Jamaican riddims which were later combined with traditional Boricua sounds. In keeping with the themes of sentimentality, Pachyman uses his Korg Poly-800 to pay homage to a generation of Puerto Rican artists who first began experimenting with synthesizers, all the while allowing his music to ebb and flow. His previous album, The Return Of Pachyman (2021) is more of a direct response to the sounds of his musical heroes, especially King Tubby and Scientist, and on the new album Pachyman wanted to move his art forward while simultaneously honoring his roots looking to embrace more of himself vs. trying to emmulate others. He also pushes himself further vocally incorporating more of his own minimalist vocals for added texture.

Pachyman - Trago Coqueto