The challenging aspect of playing and composing progressive music, typically attracts skilled musicians. However, the thing that really brought Panopticum to it's current line-up, is a combination of coincidence, though decisions, and friendship.

Where are we today? We all started off playing classical music at 10 years old. Most of us continued studying their instruments, and graduated. In our professional lives, we're musicians, stduying, teaching, mixing and playing music during most of our time. Besides Panopticum, everyone has other musical environments, bands, and activities.

Still, there's no place like Panopticum, where we can create the kind of music we like most of all.

What actually is progressive rock? Much discussion is going on, but for sure, it is defenitively not copying Genesis from the 70's.

Typical elements in progressive are: extended songs with rich harmony, shifting time signatures, evolving musical themes, virtuosity and improvisation.

Just a few examples of superb bands that have made a massive impact on the 'Prog' scene: Dream Theater, Genesis, Rush, Toto, Spock's Beard, Transatlantic, ...

So, what about the word "Panopticum"? It litteraly means "to see everything". Some clever guy invented some kind of prison with a watchtower in the middle, and called in a Panopticum. You can read about it here: (dutch) (french). To us, the word simply sounded okay, but it might have a deeper meaning than we realize.

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Panopticum