Pagu is an artist. Sure, there are many musicians and certainly even far more performers, but between his immersive live experiences like Pagu TV and his personalized mail marketing, it’s obvious that Jonah Tatum, the man behind the moniker, isn’t playing by convention. His music is much the same, a sort of left-field take on the pop genre that incorporates elements of glitch, dubstep, chiptune, alternative rock, and beats akin to what you’d find in 90s rap. He’s gained a devoted following due to his high-energy arrangements and captivating hooks, and, with a recent move to Nashville, you might think that everything was all sunny and bright and the future was full of endless potential.

In some ways, it could be. After all, it was after this dramatic change that Pagu is releasing his newest work, Quiet + Slow – though the tale throughout the tracks certainly is far from a hedonistic celebration of success nor a story without its moral shortcomings. The Pagu vibe is hard to place because it is multi-dimensional: laments of chasing empty love are paired against bass drops, pitch-shifted vocals, synth chaos, and seamless genre-hopping. There’s some levity and humor to Pagu, but this record in particular happens to shine with sincerity. This is certainly front and center on the artwork for the singles and even the album itself, with the images capturing feelings of familiarity and dissonance all at once. The tracks are frenetic and quirky but in a lovable way. It’s an unconventional combo, but it’s very Pagu.

Thematically, Quiet + Slow could be best described as a love story. Maybe, more accurately, it’s three love stories: people and people, people and God, and people and themselves. The title reminds me of 1 Timothy 2, where a life marked by quietude and intentionality is praised. In practicality, the album is neither quiet nor slow until its closing moments – the heartfelt “Butterfly” that is full of calls for self-patience and acknowledgment of transformation over time. The track caps the album off by both looking backwards and forwards, and it’s quite a contrast to the opener, “Bowling Ball,” which itself is full of force and gravity.

We’re very excited to present the album to you a day early. You can listen below and read on for an exclusive look behind the record and its themes.

Thanks so much for taking time to talk with me. It’s always humbling being invited “behind the curtain” even a little bit. That said, how are you feeling with the album release just a few days out?

I’m grateful for an opportunity to talk about this project. The pleasure is mine! It’s pretty surreal because followers of the project have been anticipating some itiration of a Pagu album for about six years now. There’s been a multitude of scrapped ideas, names, etc. It’s pretty wild that it’s actually “happening”.

Oh, I believe it. I know the past six years of my side has been some of the craziest, most disruptive years of my life, even without going into any social commentary, and that’s definitely tied into my own creative efforts. So, I’m curious how you eventually landed on the songs on this album specifically – or maybe more generally if there’s anything that tells your brain “Hey, we should keep this one.”

You know sometimes I really enjoy intentionally putting the cart before the horse when I work creatively. For example, far before the song even had a rough draft or demo, I put the name “Wolf Cut Nose Ring” on the track list because I knew I wanted a song called that. Forcing myself to arrive at an end product that made sense with that particular name was an interesting experiment artistically. Similarly, when I landed on the name “Quiet + Slow”, many months ago, that really helped shape what this record was all about, ergo which tunes ought to make the final cut.

I can definitely appreciate that. Just committing, or maybe even overcommitting, to something that might not make sense to the average onlooker. Is there any particular track that stands out as your most adventurous or unconventional in terms of how it came about?

That’s a tough question but I think I’d say “Butterfly” is the most unconventional because that song was actually written by my good friend Ryan Post (of Mid Kid and The Master Plan esteem). He sent me a demo with just vocals and keys. It used to be a long ass song too, something like six or seven minutes. The chord movements were all over the place too, which is classic Ryan fare. But the lyrics really grabbed me, so I knew I had to figure out a way to make it work on the album. So in true Pagu form, I bastardized it into the 3 chord song you hear on the record. “Mind if I tag along?” has to be the most pure, and child-like phrase regarding love I’ve ever heard. It makes me tear up every time I hear it. I know that’s kind of fried to say about my own song, but I did not write that lyric.

It definitely stood at to me as a clear change of pace, but I think it does a great job closing out the album. I didn’t know the lyrics weren’t yours, and I think this leads perfectly into community and collaboration. You’re no stranger to releasing songs with other artists and doing B2B DJ sets. You’ve got your mailing list. It’s basically baked into the Pagu brand. What’s your vision for the Pagu community? Who are some of the key people behind the album?

What’s always made my “baby jump” (as my mom would say) more than anything, is bringing people together. Since I was throwing DIY raves in Dayton, OH during my high school days, the thing that was most exciting to me was getting to have all my friends together dancing. One of my favorite things that I get to experience at my shows is seeing people interact who seem to not have seen each other since the last Pagu show. I’ll see two kids wearing my shirts give each other the “oh hey!” look of excitement and hug, have conversation etc. It’s really humbling, and it truly feels like the reason I was put on this Earth. That’s why I love DJing. Throwing DJ set shows, raves, pop-ups etc. are a lot less about “me” and lot more about “us”.

Also, to answer your second question: the credits on this record are actually pretty short, technically. Everything on this tune was programmed, recorded, mixed and mastered in house from me and my brilliant co-producer Sly Boy. We also had some important contributions from my fantastic friend and drummer Ron Mills. But by and large this was an ultra DIY collaboration between me and Liam (Sly Boy). However, I would be remise if I didn’t acknowledge and honor the numerous people involved as sounding boards. Very grateful to know so many talented artists that I was able to play demos to, and get their opinions on the works in progress. Their perspectives were so crucial to the final product.

I’m pretty surprised by those short credits. I was going to ask about guest vocalists, but I’m guessing it’s just pitch-shifting and hyperpopification then?

Yeah besides a few background vocals from Sly, all the vocals on the record are me. We got my vocals sounding so convincingly, and beautifully female on “Butterfly” that I started to have a crush on them.

It seems fitting for a song about loving yourself, honestly.

On the note of “hyperpopification”, the really high pitched vocals at the end of “Jonah Tatum Diss Track”, starting with “all your friends, all your pals…” are completely unaltered. That’s just me going chipmunk mode au naturale. That was one of a handful of moments making this record where I really outed myself as an amateur vocalist, because my throat was sore for days.

That’s crazy. I guess while we’re on the topic of “Jonah Tatum Diss Track” – you’ve already talked about the community around your shows and your desire to cultivate it and bring joy to people. But then you’ve got that song, “Laptop Superstar”, and a couple others where it feels like everything is a relational mess. Is that accurate to say?

Anthropologist Robin Dunbar posits we can only maintain meaningful (or stable) relationships with around 150 people. Things get a little hairy for the extrovert when tasked with interfacing with hundreds… Thousands of people online and/or at shows. It’s definitely complex. I really wish I could be best friends with every single person in the room when I play a show.

I feel like even 150 is far more connections than most people I know. I guess everyone defines “meaningful” a little different, but I think about, let’s just say your typical band, maybe four or five people trying to coordinate schedules and how much just devolve into solo acts. If you’re married, you get to enter the circuit of hanging out with other married couples. But people just being together because they care and there are no events and gimmicks? Conversation just for the sake of conversation? And then there’s the artist-fan dynamic. I’m sure there’s a good mix of people who leave immediately, only came with their friends, have seen you before but kept silent, are vocal devotees, etc.

Yeah it’s a definitely a mixed bag. One thing that always bums me out is when I get home and some kid has DM’d me to the tune of “I really wanted to say hey, but I was too scared”. Which is equal parts sad and endearing. I’d like to think I’m pretty approachable? Who could say?

I can’t help but feel like a lot of the music and arts world is full of introverts. That’s not inherently bad, but it does pose some challenges. I even know some folks as performers who get flustered when people talk to them after the show.

There’s definitely thematic continuity on the record, encapsulating this angle and certainly much more. I know you did a video as a reflection/words of wisdom to your younger self. If you feel comfortable sharing at all, what kind of things were going on in your life that helped you arrive at this story for the aforementioned album people have been waiting years for?

Well like I said in that video, I’m not sure if it was God breathing down my neck, finally fully developing my brain, or what. But somehow I developed a modicum of self-awareness and just kind of realized all at once how I had been conducting myself pretty poorly. I’ve also had a couple gnarly breakups in the past couple years that were made quite public, completely outside of my control or desire. My initial reaction was definitely to pass the blame. But when you have a multitude of people that don’t know each other airing out the exact same grievances about your character, it’s hard to deny that you’re the common denominator. That definitely catalyzed some heart work.

I’m sure it probably was a punch to the gut, but it definitely feels like you’re approaching the situation with some visible humility, maybe even humor. Who writes a diss track on themselves?

You know, I was hoping that track would look more like “Jonah Tatum Diss Track (feat. [ARTIST] feat. [ARTIST] feat. [ARTIST] feat. [ARTIST])” but nobody had the balls to talk mess about me. I literally sent that track to like a dozen of my friends and nobody stepped up to the plate. Except my cousin, Hunter. He tore me to shreds.

It’s funny you mention that, though. “JTDT” was definitely going to be a joke track of sorts at first. But now it’s anything but. Despite its goofy name, that song is deeply confessional. After I realized nobody was going to help me out on it, I decided “Who better to write a Pagu diss than Pagu?” And that’s when things got really introspective really fast. My legitimate and earnest hope for that song is that any opp or ex-girlfriend that listens to that song feels truly vindicated when listening to it. Whoever hates my guts the most, I want them to hear that track and go “Yeah, exactly.”

I appreciate you sharing all of that. Well, I don’t want to keep you all day here and I know we’ve already covered a lot of good ground. So I’ll open things up to you. Is there going to be a release tour? Anything else you want to say about the record? Any anime you want to recommend?

No plans for a tour right now. We’re focusing on quality over quantity for 2025. So fans can expect some carefully curated and high effort shows. I’ve been thinking about bringing back Pagu TV honestly, I don’t feel like I gave that show the amount of reps it deserved.

As far as the record is concerned, if you like it and feel compelled to share it; I’d prefer people share it in person, face to face, rather than their Instagram story. Maybe consider writing “check out Quiet + Slow by Pagu” on a bar napkin and slipping it to a stranger than Tweeting (X-ing?) about it.new

Also I have to shoutout K-ON!, my favorite show ever bar none. Literally the only reason I play guitar now. I actually pretty blatantly lifted a line from that show’s lead in “Slice of Life”.

Lots of good stuff right there. I will say Pagu TV was definitely was of the creative live experiences I’ve been to, certainly on the DIY level.

Well, again, thank you for all your time here and candidness on the record. I definitely encourage everyone who reads this to keep an eye on what you’re up to, whether that’s by social media, mailing list, or beyond.

Thank you, man. For real.