From humble two-piece beginnings in June 1997, pan!c became a quirky 3-piece pop outfit and later a pub rock band. Later still it morphed into The Grouse which is a pub rock juggernaut almost as loud as WWII and harder than tinplate origami.
Pan!c had a mighty long and successful run in many of the Saturno Group’s venues such as Finn Mcools, Mick O’Shea’s and The Findon Hotel and was the favoured drawcard for many years at Maxwell’s winery during the annual Sea and Vines festival . The band also had resident work at the Daniel O’Connel and the Oxford Hotel in North Adelaide.
Now the boys from pan!c – founding members Paul Garner and Michael Hill, along with newcomer Denis Surmon on bass (he joined in September 1997) – are back in match fitness, taking on a few gigs.
Mike Hill has enjoyed some local success in The Grouse as guest singer but has made an indelible mark in theatrical circles as associate director at the State Theatre. A recognised actor and gifted director Mike ran his own theatre company for many years before stepping up to the big league. In pan!c his duties are no less onerous. He has to play guitar and sing – and that means learning all the words.
Paul Garner has a few nifty tags attached to his bag – former drummer with This House Is Jumping and singing drummer with Spam Electric, Ronnie, Three Chords and the Truth and The Chosen Ones. He was also the “comical” vocalist in the Fat Elvises before taking time off to have children. Now his stitches have healed – although he is still a slave to his pelvic floor exercise routine – he has strapped on the drum kit and ready to rock.
Denis Surmon. Surmon has been in almost everything but Angela Jolie’s g-string drawer. He has no musical shame. Some would say he’s a bass playing trollop but he has also played guitar in the Range Rovers during the singer/guitarist crisis of ‘03 so that somewhat broadens the scale of his trollopery. His name is all over this site; he has every available finger in someone else’s musical pie. He will resume bass-playing duties in the born-again pan!c.
So, pan!c is back in action. There are a few burned-out brain cells and a creeping flush of grey hairs but that’s nothing that a dose of Grecian 2000 couldn’t fix. The boys want to have a bit of fun before their teeth fall out so don’t be too hard on them. And pan!c is all about fun.
Gigs will be posted on the home page of this site. Send comments to: info@blueringrecords.com