Pachyman & MNDSGN

 

Over the course of four albums under his Pachyman moniker, Pachy Garcia has proven himself a dedicated craftsman working in the lineage of dub reggae. In a way, the Puerto Rico-born, Los Angeles-based musician had mastered the methodology of genre masters like King Tubby and The Scientist, using vintage gear, constructing glorious walls of sound, and developing an intuitive understanding of the power of repetition. 

As the cult around his music grew, Pachy began to seek new motivation.

“I was thinking, How do I feel and how do I evolve with this project? How do I inject excitement and spontaneity in this process? I needed to break out of this formalist dub reggae purist mindset to find a more personal sound, create my own niche.”

If his past work, while indelibly Pachy’s own, was indebted to the masters of dub reggae, Another Place — his fifth album for ATO Records recorded, as ever, in his basement studio 333 House — is the moment when all of those debts are paid off. He leans into the idiosyncratic elements of past projects, synthesizing the myriad scenes that have recontextualized the methods and aesthetics of dub, from pioneering synth-pop weirdos like William Onyeabor and Yellow Magic Orchestra to Basic Channel’s amniotic dub techno.

“I was trying to understand who I am as a musician — not just operating in a distinct lineage but how I’ve metabolized and expanded upon it,” Pachy elaborates. “Who am I behind all of this? It’s a very personal, vulnerable journey. I wanted to build my own world and create these new connections in my brain, incorporating everything: vaporwave, chillwave, soul-jazz, James Brown, Kosmiche musik and krautrock, the driving repetition of drum n bass.”

 

Mndsgn, aka Ringgo Ancheta, was born in San Diego, raised in the southern region of New Jersey, and is currently based in Los Angeles. The youngest in a family of Filipino descent, Ringgo grew up in a household where the love and appreciation for music was always synonymous. Ringgo has aimed to explore the human condition in his music. Taken as a whole, his body of work chronicles the evolution of self, asking throughout: how can we live in a way that is true to ourselves? How can we find beauty in the everyday and unfamiliar?