June Panic (born 1976/1977) is an American singer-songwriter from

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

. He has collaborated with musicians such as Heidi Gluck and LonPaul Ellrich (formerly of

Marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmoset" ...

Musical career

June Panic first began performing and recording in 1990, and released his early material on cassette tape on his own label 3 Out of 4 Records. He was the first artist ever signed to Bloomington, Indiana-based record label Secretly Canadian, after cofounder Chris Swanson returned to his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, and heard Panic playing at a strip mall. His 1995 album ''Glory Hole'' was reissued by Secretly Canadian in 1996, as their first release. The album was 28 songs in length, and drew inspiration from the 28 categories of ancient

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

an yogic practices. In 2002, Panic went on tour with the Impossible Shapes and Songs: Ohia, and later toured Europe with the Impossible Shapes and

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ri ...

. He is a mainstay of the Fargo music scene, regularly performing with artists from outside of the city, including

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...

, Low and

Haley Bonar Haley McCallum (born 1983), professionally known as Haley and formerly Haley Bonar, is a Canadian-born American singer and songwriter who was raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. She has lived in Duluth and currently St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2009, s ...

, and

David Bazan David Bazan (; born January 22, 1976) is an American indie rock singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona who now resides in Seattle, Washington. Bazan is the lead singer and creative force behind the band Pedro the Lion and was the lead singer ...

. Panic was a performer at the 2008 Tanned Tin Festival in Castellón, Spain. June Panic has appeared on several compilation albums, including the 2007 Secretly Canadian compilation ''SC100'', featuring 18 artists signed to the label covering songs by one another. Panic contributed a cover of "Fruitful Weekend" by

Danielson Famile Danielson is an American rock band from Clarksboro, New Jersey, that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates. Smith has also released solo work as Brot ...

, while

Nikki Sudden Adrian Nicholas Godfrey (19 July 195626 March 2006), known professionally as Nikki Sudden, was a prolific English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He co-founded the post-punk band Swell Maps with his brother, Epic Soundtracks, while attending So ...

covered Panic's song "Seeing Double". In 2007, Secretly Canadian released a triple album called ''Songs From Purgatory'' containing 48 songs he had originally recorded on a four track and released on cassette between 1991 and 1996. The

master tapes Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via me ...

, located in Panic's parents' basement in Grand Forks, were damaged in the

1997 Red River flood The Red River flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997 along the Red River of the North in Minnesota, North Dakota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached through ...

. Panic was successfully able to salvage material from these tapes, which appeared on ''Songs From Purgatory'', featuring mastering by Kramer.

Musical Style

Panic plays every instrument on his releases. His lyrics often contain intentionally twisted or idiosyncratic imagery, a trait noted by reviewers. He has been described as a "literati folk rocker".

Personal life

June Panic has stated that he "essentially grew up overseas", due to his father being in the military. Panic's wife is also a musician, who plays under the name ''June Panic's Wife''. He has been described as a "

born-again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

queer" by Gregg Shapiro of the

Bay Area Reporter The ''Bay Area Reporter'' is a free weekly newspaper serving the LGBT communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is one of the largest-circulation LGBT newspapers in the United States, and the country's oldest continuously published newspaper ...

Discography

*''The Incubator's Son'' (3 Out Of 4, 1990) *''Cicada'' (3 Out Of 4, 1991) *''The Red Dog Wins Africa'' (3 Out Of 4, 1991) *''The Red Dog Climbs Mt. Shasta'' (3 Out Of 4, 1992) *''Ka Number Three'' (3 Out Of 4, 1992) *''Halfnium'' (3 Out Of 4, 1993) *''A Bowl Of Fruit'' (3 Out Of 4, 1993) *''The Red Dog Vs. Virg Foss'' (3 Out Of 4, 1994) *''Songs From Purgatory'' (3 Out Of 4, 1994) *''Passive Aggressive'' (3 Out Of 4, 1994) *''Glory Hole'' (

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

, 1996) *''The Fall of Atom: A Thesis on Entropy'' (Secretly Canadian, 1998) *''Horror Vacui'' (Secretly Canadian, 2000) *''Silver Sound Sessions'' ( Super Asbestos, 2001) *''Baby's Breadth'' (Secretly Canadian, 2002) *''Hope You Fail Better'' (Secretly Canadian, 2003) *''Bellybuttonless Boy'' EP ( Acuarela Discos, 2006) *''Raising the Canopy Wire'' (

Burnt Toast Vinyl Burnt Toast Vinyl is an independent record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Burnt Toast Vinyl was founded by Scott Hatch, a Drexel University student who had initially been involved with concert promotion at the school. The la ...

, 2007) *''Songs from Purgatory'' (Secretly Canadian, 2007)

Various Artists A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...
Compilation Appearances

* ''Tractor Tunes Volume 1'' (2001) **"In the Grave" *''Tastemakers'' (Essay Records, 2006) *''Acuarela Songs 3'' (Acuarela Discos, 2007) **"Everyone is Saying Hello Again" * ''SC100'' (Secretly Canadian, 2007) ** "Fruitful Weekend" (Danielson Famile cover)

References

External links

AllMusic Biography

Page at Secretly Canadian

Interview with Exclaim!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panic, June Singers from North Dakota American male singers American indie rock musicians Living people People from Grand Forks, North Dakota 1970s births Date of birth missing (living people) Secretly Canadian artists