[6][7] He was the first artist ever signed to Bloomington, Indiana-based record label Secretly Canadian, after cofounder Chris Swanson returned to his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, and heard Panic playing at a strip mall.

[6] The album was 28 songs in length, and drew inspiration from the 28 categories of ancient Tibetan yogic practices.

[10] He is a mainstay of the Fargo music scene, regularly performing with artists from outside of the city, including Bon Iver,[11] Low and Haley Bonar,[12] and David Bazan.

[7][16] The master tapes, located in Panic's parents' basement in Grand Forks, were damaged in the 1997 Red River flood.

Panic was successfully able to salvage material from these tapes, which appeared on Songs From Purgatory, featuring mastering by Kramer.