P:ano
Canadian pop group p:ano was formed in 1999 by high-school friends Nick Krgovich and
Larissa Loyva. With a shared admiration for artists like Yo La Tengo, Belle & Sebastian, and
Low, their living-room rehearsals in the suburbs of Vancouver resulted in songs indebted to the
atmosphere, winding lyricism and vocal interplay of those evergreen indie-rock heroes. Yet,
despite the innocent display of these formative influences, they also managed to sound like
themselves.
The first p:ano album, 2002’s ‘When It’s Dark and It’s Summer’, was produced by Colin Stewart after he literally jumped out of an alley to hand the band his number while they were loading out after a school-night show. Co-released by Zum Audio and Hive-Fi, the album was a big hit in Vancouver and enthusiasm was such that the labels had trouble keeping the album in print. In time, Nick and Larissa were joined by Julia Chirka on bass and Justin Kellam on drums to form p:ano’s classic line-up. They went on to record three more ambitious albums, including a couple for Mint Records, and toured around North America and Europe with acts like The Microphones and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
The bookends of p:ano’s initial incarnation began with their first show in an abandoned shoe store at the mall and ended with a final show at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival in 2006. Around this time, Pitchfork said: “A few stronger choruses, and p:ano, despite their strange appellation and forbidding obtuseness, could go on to fashion the album of next year.” Whoops! That never happened.
Larissa left the group to concentrate on her solo project Kellarissa. She also ended up as a touring member of How to Dress Well and ‘Kaputt’-era Destroyer. Nick, Julia, and Justin continued as No Kids, touring and releasing an album and an EP on German label Tomlab before calling it quits. Post-No Kids, Nick continues to build a critically acclaimed sophisti-pop solo career and frequently collaborates with artists like Joseph Shabason and Dear Nora.
In the winter of 2023, there was an unexpected invitation to contribute a song to a Zum Audio 25th anniversary compilation. Everyone was up for it and soon enough they were making music together for the first time in 17 years. Recording for the Zum comp was so much fun that it blossomed into a new p:ano LP, ‘ba ba ba’. The record will be self-released on September 17th, making it the first new p:ano album in 19 years and the first to be issued on vinyl.
Last year p:ano played two shows - one in a small neighbourhood park in East Vancouver and the other in Nick’s parents backyard. The old friends are looking forward to sharing their new album, playing another show or two, and continuing to make music together just for fun.
The first p:ano album, 2002’s ‘When It’s Dark and It’s Summer’, was produced by Colin Stewart after he literally jumped out of an alley to hand the band his number while they were loading out after a school-night show. Co-released by Zum Audio and Hive-Fi, the album was a big hit in Vancouver and enthusiasm was such that the labels had trouble keeping the album in print. In time, Nick and Larissa were joined by Julia Chirka on bass and Justin Kellam on drums to form p:ano’s classic line-up. They went on to record three more ambitious albums, including a couple for Mint Records, and toured around North America and Europe with acts like The Microphones and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
The bookends of p:ano’s initial incarnation began with their first show in an abandoned shoe store at the mall and ended with a final show at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival in 2006. Around this time, Pitchfork said: “A few stronger choruses, and p:ano, despite their strange appellation and forbidding obtuseness, could go on to fashion the album of next year.” Whoops! That never happened.
Larissa left the group to concentrate on her solo project Kellarissa. She also ended up as a touring member of How to Dress Well and ‘Kaputt’-era Destroyer. Nick, Julia, and Justin continued as No Kids, touring and releasing an album and an EP on German label Tomlab before calling it quits. Post-No Kids, Nick continues to build a critically acclaimed sophisti-pop solo career and frequently collaborates with artists like Joseph Shabason and Dear Nora.
In the winter of 2023, there was an unexpected invitation to contribute a song to a Zum Audio 25th anniversary compilation. Everyone was up for it and soon enough they were making music together for the first time in 17 years. Recording for the Zum comp was so much fun that it blossomed into a new p:ano LP, ‘ba ba ba’. The record will be self-released on September 17th, making it the first new p:ano album in 19 years and the first to be issued on vinyl.
Last year p:ano played two shows - one in a small neighbourhood park in East Vancouver and the other in Nick’s parents backyard. The old friends are looking forward to sharing their new album, playing another show or two, and continuing to make music together just for fun.