pal:ndrøm

During the late 80s and early 90s Bob Davies was first exposed to electronic music and DJing via high school gym ‘house parties’ on Chicago's Northwest Side. Concurrently he began playing guitar in the emo/hardcore scene of the Northwest suburban underground, forming PLR-1 at age 15 with Brian Kelly. Within each of these disparate cultures Bob first experienced the transformative power of emotive music and the importance of building a community around it. Shortly after, Bob started going to raves and immersing himself in early rave culture in Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest notably St. Louis, Madison and Milwaukee. Having exposure to some of the best and technically proficient DJs in the world, he became fascinated with the craft of spinning records. Also inspiring were the members of the rave scene itself, a community as tight as it was diverse. DJing trip-hop and breakbeat heavily influenced by 90s UK hip-hop from labels such as Mo’ Wax and Ninjatune, ’Bob’ was frequently booked for underground parties and AM rave slots.

Outside the warehouse Bob played bass, again with Brian for the Chicago spacerock band Star Phase 23. Bob and Brian (the latter of whom was producing as Supplement) formed the experimental noise project rehab. and contributed compilation tracks on ōmco for Portland’s Outward Music Company label and on Endpoint Compilation 01 for Chicago’s Endpoint label. In addition rehab. self-released a cassette LP rehab., and a full length CD on Endpoint ERD.00:14421-023Z. The project was active in the Midwest and Northwest and performed at art openings, small venue shows, and underground events of all sizes.

During this time Bob co-founded long-running club residencies while attending college in Madison and later after his return to Chicago. A Monday night institution, PLAY represented an opportunity to showcase local talent and provide a venue for a community dedicated to experimental music and all its tangents. Bob began to produce and perform his own music as pal:ndrøm. Early efforts saw him remixing tracks for Pulseprogramming on Portland’s Aesthetics label’s Tulsa For One Second Remix Project and for Salvo Beta on Chicago’s Someoddpilot Record’s Evil Against Evil compilations as well as releasing Topscore EP for Milwaukee’s Topscore USA label.

On November 16th 2002 Bob left Chicago for NYC to pursue a creative career in advertising. A week before his departure he sustained an injury that would damage his hearing leaving him with substantial loss in both ears and a Tinnitus diagnosis. Bob all but abandoned music; DJing, producing and promoting. Eventually reconciling the incident he began to collect music again, inspired by the output of artists working in dubstep and its eventual evolution into the sprawling bass genre. Longing to return to production Bob reunited with Brian via electronica project Through A Rebel Heart and self-released 5 EPs. In many ways this creative collaboration with Kelly served as a prototype for what would become Harlem & Irving Presents.

2020 sees Bob committed to not only writing new material but also finishing or remastering songs that have long been in development. Polyrhythm, randomization, automation, atonality and sonic exploration remain key themes within pal:ndrøm productions. Stylistically these themes manifest as sprawling anthemic compositions often driving and aggressive which borrow from bass, techno and ambient genres. On September 30th 2020 pal:ndrøm debuted Tumble Adrift — his first solo full length release in nearly 20 years on Harlem & Irving.