Conceived in Brooklyn, NY in September 2000, PANTHERS began as a side project for five friends. In addition to playing in his current project TURING MACHINE, Justin Chearno had been involved with PITCHBLENDE, DOLDRUMS as well as UNREST. Jayson Green, Geoff Garlock, and Jeff Salane were all members of ORCHID, a band which remains one of the most influential hardcore bands of the nineties. Finally, Kip Uhlhorn was a member of THE RED SCARE, a chaotic punk band that released two albums for Troubleman Unlimited in the late nineties. Given such an venerable pedigree, PANTHERS was at first thought to be a finite distraction from the constituent's other endeavors. However, PANTHERS has evolved into the main musical outlet for all involved. Drawing influences from MC5 and THE STOOGES, PANTHERS have established themselves as a New York City favorite. PANTHERS combine explosive song writing and an equally explosive live show, referencing avant-garde art movements such as, Dada, Neoism, and Fluxus, as well as incendiary youth groups including SITUATIONISTS, WEATHER UNDERGROUND, and THE PROVOS. PANTHERS will cause you to dance and will surprise you every time you listen. Politically inflammatory and dynamic musically, Are You Down? is a record that demands reaction. Recorded at Rare Book Room by Nicholas Vernhes, these ten tracks hustle by so quickly that you need more. These songs will resonate in your brain and force you to push repeat again and again. This is the sound of PANTHERS, this is the fucking noise.