Larry Gus


Territory: DE | AT | CH

Panagiotis Melidis started writing music as Larry Gus (λάρυγγας [larigas], greek for larynx) in 2006, after his previous band, the bass and drums duo Ginger, parted ways.
Initially his music combined sample-based constructions and psychedelic pop melodies, merged into an infinitely dense amount of layers and polyrhythms.
He soon became known for his energetic and chaotically improvised live performances which involve intricate layerings of vocals, drums, electronics along with lively stage banter.
He studied and worked as a computer engineer, with postgraduate studies at the Music Technology Group in Barcelona, and coming from such a technical academic background, he always applies various interdisciplinary approaches on his production process. For instance, “Years Not Living”, his DFA debut, was a song cycle directly inspired by the formal algorithmic constraints introduced by Georges Perec in his novel “Life A User’s Manual”.
Similar techniques have also been key parts in the numerous remixes he’s done over the years (Cut Copy, YACHT, Sandro Perri, Sinkane, Eric Copeland, Little Boots, WIN WIN), always transforming radically the originals into unknown territories.

'My Friend Larry Gus', a documentary shot by Vasilis Katsoupis, premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival at 2015. In 2010, Panagiotis quit his job and studies and moved from Barcelona back to his small hometown in northern Greece to work on “Years Not Living”, staying at his family house with his mother, amidst the beginning of the Greek financial crisis. The film documents the relationship of Panagiotis with his craft, his family and his friends, and the steps that eventually led to DFA picking the album, all the way from Veria to Milan and New York.

He has performed at numerous festivals across Europe (Sónar, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, Nuits Sonores etc), he has toured with Cut Copy in the US and he is a Red Bull Music Academy alumni (Tokyo 2014).
Panagiotis currently lives and works in Athens, Greece, where he moved back with his wife and son, after living for five years in Milan, Italy."