This past summer, you may remember a post we put up regarding an awesome new mashup album from The White Panda. They had just released their second album, ‘Rematch’, which was just as good, if not better, than their first album, ‘Versus’. While eagerly anticipating their next album, we decided to get in touch with them and ask them a couple questions about themselves, their music and their careers. Check out the interview below (there was no audio version for this interview).
We Got This Covered: To start things off, why don’t you tell us how you two met?
White Panda: We’ve been friends since way back in the day (like 10 years old), and were trained in the same piano studio growing up. So yea it’s been awhile. We had various musical projects in the past, but White Panda is our most recent venture.
WGTC: Where did the idea for the group come from?
WP: The idea for the group came in the summer of 2009, when we had realized that without each others knowing we were creating similar stuff. We had come back home for the summer in between college years, and decided it’d be a cool idea to collaborate on our efforts.
WGTC: Can you tell us a bit about yourselves, such as who you are and how you got started doing mashups?
WP: DJ Griffi: Dan Griffith’s the name they gave me. I love food and I started working with this genre in early 2009.
WP: Procrast: Tom Evans. Started working on mashups as a form of proscrastination in college.
WGTC: What kind of software/hardware do you use to produce your tracks?
WP: Software would be Ableton, Fruity Loops and Reason. Hardware is Roland Fantom, Moog Phatty and a Macbook Pro.
WGTC: What’s your favorite track, out of all the ones you’ve done and why?
WP: Hmm. That’s tough. It probably is “What You Know About Little Secrets” because that’s the song that put us on the map and put everything in motion.
WGTC: What was the most difficult mashup to put together and why?
WP: The idea behind a mashup is usually more difficult than the execution. That being said, a difficult one was “Shutterbug Swing Tree” because we put lots of our own production behind it.
WGTC: Which artists have influenced you the most?
WP: Girl Talk was a big influence when we first started. I also dig Pretty Lights’ style.
WGTC: How long do you foresee yourselves doing this for?
WP: As long as it remains fun we’re going to keep doing it. When that fades, it’ll be time to move on.
WGTC: What are your plans for the future?
WP: Musically, the new mashup album will be coming out very soon. We’re in Boulder, CO right now working on it, along with a lot of other exciting projects this year. Early 2011 for the mashup album. You’ll also slowly begin to see remixes release, and an original EP is in early development right now. Also expect us to be touring quite a bit in between all that stuff.
WGTC: If you can work with any artist who would it be?
WP: Because we’re mostly producers, it’d have to be collaboration with a singer artist. Wiz, Wale, some hip hop artist with some swag.
WGTC: Are you surprised at the extremely positive reactions to both ‘Versus’ and ‘Rematch’?
WP: Yup. I mean by the time we were ready to release the mixtapes, we were pretty happy with the products and thought they were solid, but the feedback on both albums were so great and exceeded our expectations.
WGTC: How much musical theory goes into your compositions?
WP: It varies. Some songs that we blend use elements of syncopation, key change, and whatnot.
WGTC: What was the most memorable show you played and why?
WP: That’s tough, there have been so many good ones. Ones that stuck out from this fall were NYC and UMass. NYC because the energy of the crowd was absolutely insane. UMass because it was our first arena type show with about 5000 kids.
WGTC: How do you put together a live set? Is it pre-determined or do you just wing it?
WP: A lot of preparation goes into a live set (we have so many loops and drumbeats created in our sets it’s ridiculous). We do wing stuff during sets, to mix it up for ourselves, and to adapt to the changing dynamics of a crowd.
WGTC: What impact do you think sites like Hype Machine and Soundcloud have on the career of an up and coming artist?
WP: They definitely help. It can help put you on the map. Hype Machine was a great platform for us in the beginning, and I think we still benefit from it today.
WGTC: For those who haven’t seen you guys live, can you give a description as what to expect?
WP: Mayhem, chaos, whatever you wanna call it. Come prepared, you’re going to party your ass off.
WGTC: Any crazy stories from the road that you can share?
WP: I think those stories are best kept untold.
WGTC: Well thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us and good luck with the new album. We can’t wait to hear it!
