Dean Pagano

I'm a musician and painter originally from Farmingdale, New York. In 2020, I formed Trip the Squid with Chris McGlynn, Darrin Simons, and Roman Boothe. Around then, I began recording at my apartment in Tarrytown, New York with a Zoom H4n Pro and a Strat. That became two solo LPs: the multilayered, guitar-heavy 1.14155251 (2022) and the enigmatic soundscapes of Liquid Dream Reality (2023). In 2022, I moved into a Lexington Avenue studio to focus on art and music, blocks from where I sold works on the street. I painted, recorded, and collaborated there. In 2023, a rainstorm caused its collapse, destroying some artworks and equipment, forcing me to pivot. I then formed Ditch the Mold with Eddie Baron. We lived in his West 48th Street apartment and made and released an 11-song self-titled album. Angel Toala later joined on drums. We played shows and began a second record, which remains unfinished. Trip the Squid revisited its debut and only project, the Squid Tapes EP, in April 2025. Soon after I left New York, I wrote and recorded the six-song EP, From the Stump (2025) at a remote cottage in Putney, Vermont. That led into Sounds for the Modern Artist, a full-length LP written, recorded, and produced independently over nine months of nomadic travel through 22 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, with sessions and inputs spanning across all included territories. I’m based in Seattle, finishing the album for release in late 2026. www.paganostudios.com