It’s a very few-and-far-between thing to know exactly who you are as an individual. Some people are lucky enough to know from the time they are young, and others may never know. Zeshaun Naveed Hassan, 31, is in the process of finding himself.
Through musical creation to a forever-growing interest in the field of psychology, he is on the journey of self-discovery. When talking with Hassan, it’s hard not to notice that even though he is on a walk of his own in this life, he wants to help people discover who they are just as much.
Born and raised in California, Hassan first lived in Anaheim and then ended up in Menifee, where he attended Paloma Valley High School. Throughout his life, his parents were an influence on who he would shortly become—or rather—the passions he would pursue.
Hassan recalls how his father had a deep appreciation for music and how he grew up listening to a wide range of genres from opera to country. “I’m a country boy for sure,” Hassan said. From his mother, who is an elementary school teacher, Hassan was exposed to psychology when he was 11 years old. He can picture himself in his childhood basement, picking up the psychology book his mother had left out and being obsessed with it ever since.
Hassan began his academic career at Palomar in the year of 2012. For the last 11 years, he has been slowly working his way towards an AA-T in Psychology as well as an A.A. in Music, with an emphasis on composition and theory. Hassan also works in the computer music lab as the music proctor, assisting students with any help they may need. Through all of this, Hassan has had one main goal in the back of his mind: Panoramix.
(Logo courtesy of Zeshaun Hassan)
Growing up playing the piano, Hassan has had to navigate how to combine the different musical aspects of his life in order to keen into what he wants his sound to be. From there was the formation of the identity for Panoramix. “Electronics is where I belong,” Hassan said.
Panoramix, his official artist name, is under the category of electronic music but works to combine a multitude of musical aspects in one. Featuring things, such as vocals and lyrical attributions, Panoramix is standing on his own level of creativity that many others haven’t before. One of the greatest aspects of creating music is the ability to have full control over the creative process, and Hassan is taking full advantage. There is room for anything, everything, and anyone within Panoramix’s music.
“I make music for people that were like me growing up. I want to create a place for people who feel like they have nowhere to go within themselves, it was an escape to a place no one else can go to besides me, and I want to create that safe haven of some sort,” said Hassan.
Music is used by people as a tool to serve many different functions. Some use it to put themselves in an emotional state, some use it as a means of focus when studying. For Hassan, it’s an emotional connection that also serves as a means for artistical drive. “I would say that a lot of my music derives from a feeling of loneliness and kind of darkness in a way. I kind of thrive in that emotion. Sometimes I’ll put myself in a depressing place mentally just to get through the songs more,” he said.
In a 2019 article featured in the Journal of Psychology of Music, the researchers state, “Given the powerful emotional effects of music, people might want to use music to regulate their emotions in several possible ways. For example, some may want to increase positive emotionality, or use negative emotions in order to achieve a certain goal.”
While also offering an emotional response, Panoramix can serve a whole new purpose to the students of Palomar due to its genre of electronic. According to the European Journal of Physical Education and Sports Science, “Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is a kind of music that has a good influence on our mental functions. Studies have shown that students perform better when listening to serene music like EDM.”
Panoramix Productions, “an all-encompassing sound experience,” is the future for many artists, even Hassan himself. It is a music production company with the inspiration of helping others. Offering many different services, such as audio engineering, recording, mixing, mastering, editing, etc., the company is something Hassan wants to introduce and implement on the Palomar campus for fellow students, offering free services. Currently, the beginning of this will occur in the fall semester of 2023.
“The point of Panoramix Productions is to be very supportive of artists. I believe in music education. I want to be that foundation for people who need services. I want to be that guy that says, ‘Hey, you wanna do that? Let’s do it then,’” Hassan said. Limitations is not a word to be associated with Panoramix Productions. Desiree Hassan, the sister of Zeshaun, delights in her brother yet also connects to the true vision of his company. “I’ve always told him, ‘You can do anything you want. You just have to start, and before you know it, you’re doing it,’” she said.
Hassan may have spent most of his time growing up in Menifee, but it wasn’t until he moved to San Marcos in 2012 that he began to establish who he was. Working as a server at Denny’s, Hassan met another artist, Maxine Madrone. Madrone and Hassan quickly formed a friendship that led to a musical connection. Madrone was present at the formation of not only Panoramix Productions, but Panoramix himself.
Hassan and Madrone worked closely on an album, titled “Bad Dreams,” which is set to release this summer. “We both learned a lot about ourselves as artists and what it takes to make an album,” Hassan said. The song “Bad Dreams,” featured on the album, is the first song Hassan ever recorded with the collaboration of another artist. Before this, he had been flying solo.
Panoramix has already released an EP and an album titled “Garden of Birds” on listening platforms, such as Spotify and SoundCloud. The album and EP were created seven years ago when Hassan had only basic skills and knowledge to utilize. With his upcoming works, Hassan shows the skills and concepts he has gained from his own personal teaching and the courses he has taken.
“My first few works were kind of fill-in-the-blank, very structured. Now, I have more of a flowing vibe-like drawing a picture. I appreciate that I can see myself growing within my music as well,” he said. With this growth in mind, Hassan refers to the upcoming album as “my first real album.”
With inspiration from his mother, his job within the music lab, and who he is as a person, Hassan has many possibilities of the direction he could take for his future. Apart from the growth of Panoramix Productions being the ultimate goal, Hassan also has a drive for teaching, which stems from his want to help people. “I’ve always felt like a teacher,” Hassan stated. Within his two passions, Hassan could see himself ending up teaching music or psychology. But for right now, he is focused on growing his musical audience. “Having music out is one thing, but having people listen to it is another thing,” he said, referring to the beginning stages of Panoramix Productions.
But the true beginning of Panoramix Productions began when Hassan was 15 years old as a sophomore in high school, taking a Photoshop class. “This is one of my favorite stories, I think because it was really unexpected,” he said with a smile on his face. Within this class, he found the program “Garage Band” when he was playing around on Mac computers. He then spent the entire year of class time building a song from the samples the program had available. From there, the rest is history.
No matter what Hassan decides to do, one thing that will remain is his music. “I can see that the music is just trapped inside him, and it’s going to come out one way or another,” Desiree said. •
