Pachyman Will Deliver His Dub Reggae at ZeyZey

When you hear Pachyman's expertly crafted dub reggae, you figure the creator is from an island in the Caribbean — and you would be right. But while the sound is reminiscent of tunes made by Jamaican musicians like Lee "Scratch" Perry or King Tubby, Pachyman was born and raised in Puerto Rico.

"Puerto Rico is a percussive-heavy culture. We have lots of good percussionists and bassists," Pachyman tells New Times from his home in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles before giving an impromptu music history lesson. "Reggae became common folk music in Puerto Rico. The two islands are really close, so the music resonates. A lot of nearby islanders moved to Puerto Rico for construction work. A lot of them had their own bands on the weekends. In the early '90s, there started to be a reggae scene where the songs were sung in Spanish."

That's distinct from the island's other famous musical export, reggaeton, with some of the genre's biggest stars like Bad Bunny and Daddy Yankee hailing from Puerto Rico. As an aside, Pachyman points out that reggaeton was originally a spinoff of dancehall reggae.

"Digital dancehall did the rounds in the Caribbean where people would sing in Spanish over dancehall rhythms," he explains. "Eventually, they slowed the music down to have different rhythms, but reggaeton eventually did come from dancehall."

Pachyman grew up as Pachy Garcia amid a hodgepodge of musical influences. "My dad liked boleros; my mom liked classical music. One brother got me into Café Tacuba; my oldest brother loved Metallica. I had friends into Can and krautrock," he shares.

However, what most resonated with Garcia were the Bob Marley tapes he heard during his high-school years that had him next checking out dub producers Scientist and Augustus Pablo. "I started playing guitar in high school but switched to piano in high school to join a reggae band," he adds.

Years later, after moving to Los Angeles, he found himself fascinated by the past.

"I got into production techniques with old-school aesthetics. I wanted to replicate King Tubby and Scientist records. I wanted to experiment and make music that sounds old." He took on his high school nickname, Pachyman, for this project. "It's a tribute to Yellowman Beenie Man, all those Jamaican emcees, even though I was doing instrumentals with no emcee."
Pachymas says over the course of his four studio albums, his creative process has changed. "When I started, things were rudimentary," he explains. "I'd start with drums, then bass, then I'd add keyboard and guitar. I did it as one live dub mix. Now, I'm writing on keyboards or finding a bassline and dabbling from there. I'm adding more vocals and backing harmonies, but the groove is always based on drums and bass."

With the occasional addition of lyrics, Pachyman has embraced his bilingualism on his latest album, Switched​-On, with songs titled in either language, like "Lovers" and "Mi Sala." "This project started in English, but Spanish is my first language. A song can start in Spanish and end up in English," he adds.

The musician is making his Miami debut on Thursday, November 21, with a headlining performance at ZeyZey. "It'll be a sound system set," Garcia teases. "I'll put on my songs and light up tracks with big reverbs and delays. I have a synthesizer and mic; it'll be a big party."

He plans for the party to continue well into 2025 when he embarks on his first tour to Australia and New Zealand. The new year will also bring a new record, the details of which Pachyman was hesitant to share except to say, "It's an evolution into different territories while retaining what I'm known for."

Pachyman. With Nella and Safe Stadick. 8 p.m., Thursday, November 21, at ZeyZey, 353 NE 61st St., Miami; zeyzeymiami.com. Tickets cost $10 to $45 via shotgun. Live.