Pantaleimon
Pantaleimon is the musical project of Andria Degens, a vocalist and multi instrumental sound artist. Combining elements of acoustic, folk, world, and electronics to create music that have been associated with indie folk, and psych folk genres.
Past guest members have been Isobel Campbell, Jay Darlington, Baby Dee, Will Oldham, James Blackshaw and Robin Casinader. Pantaleimon have worked with Hugo Race, Current 93, Andrew WK, Stephen O’Malley, Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris Carter amongst others. Featured in Cam Archer’s ‘Wild Tigers I Have Known’. Pantaleimon’s music spans 4 albums and 2 Ep’s originally released on the Durtro label and later Durtro Jnana. And in 2013 the latest, the fifth record, ‘The Butterfly Ate The Pearl’, was released on Grass Girl Music.
Andria Degens was born in England. During her early twenties, she sold everything and took to the road, traveling two and half years through South East Asia. Following some very deep spiritual experiences Degens began to play music with a new sense of purpose. When she arrived back in England, she started making experimental recordings, and in time adopted the name “Pantaleimon.” The name “Pantaleimon” was inspired by Phillip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials Trilogy.’ The name means “all merciful.”
Degens wrote and recorded some minimal instrumentals for Appalachian dulcimer and bouzouki which came to the attention of Christoph Heemann, who invited her to record at his studio in Germany; this became her first album, Trees Hold Time. This strange, otherworldly first record was very well received upon its release in 1999 with Antony of Antony and the Johnsons saying, “I love Trees Hold Time. Andria has a lovely pure voice and her spirit is evident in her work. What a soulful collection!” Since then, her growth as an artist as well as spiritually has been ongoing, reaching a new high point on ‘The Butterfly Ate The Pearl’.
Her work draws upon a diverse range of influences such as Brian Eno, Can, Neu, Mississippi Fred McDowall, Eden Ahbez, Djivan Gasparyan, Kate Bush, Nico, David Bowie, Soundgarden, Vedic Chanting, and Mozart as well as authors like Orson Scott Card, Wilhelm Reich, Peter Reich, Jostein Gaarder, C.S. Lewis, Erik Linklater, Dick Gregory, Joseph Massey, Rabindranath Tagore, Paramahansa Prajnananda and Paramahansa Yogananda.
Pantaleimon have had the pleasure of supporting/playing with a host of eclectic artists including Six Organs of Admittance, 16 Horsepower, Current 93, Lightning Bolt, Bonnie Prince Billy, Matt Sweeney, and Antony & the Johnsons. ‘Live in Barcelona’ (2009) features James Blackshaw accompanying Degens on 12-string guitar.
Before releasing her first work as Pantaleimon, Degens appeared quite randomly on The Dirty Three’s ‘Horse Stories’, ‘singing’ on the title track with Warren Ellis. In 1992 she was invited to play guitar as part of the “Wall Of Noise” show hosted by the band Wire at the Clapham Grand. Over the past decade Degens has featured on; Susan Stenger’s epic project ‘Soundtrack for an Exhibiton’ ; Current 93’s ‘Black Ships Ate The Sky’ with her rendition of ‘Idumea’ ; X-TG ‘s Desertshore/The Final Report in memory of the late Peter Christopherson; and Hugo Race’s ‘Between Hemispheres’ album . She collaborated with the bands Strings of Consciousness and Lüüp on ‘From Beyond Love’ and ‘Meadow Rituals’ respectively. She has worked closely with L.A. based film director Cam Archer over a number of years, providing narration for a series of his short films, and of course her music appeared on the soundtrack to his critically acclaimed feature film Wild Tigers I Have Known, as mentioned above. In 2013, Degens worked with American animator Eric Leiser on her video singles “If I (Was)” and “Ember.”
Andria co-ran Durtro Records, and then Durtro Jnana Records with her ex-husband David Tibet , along with Mark Logan from 1997 to 2010. In 2013 Degens established Grass Girl Music.
Pantaleimon are published by Domino Publishing Company
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