Young Star Exclusive: Gold Pandamonium
MANILA, Philippines - For someone like Gold Panda (Derwin Panda in real life), having a surname like “Panda” wasn’t easy to live with. “It started off as a bit of a joke and I got bullied quite a lot,” admits the 30-year-old Briton. “And I guess it got worse as I got older. You go through different phases, like the guys would take the mick out of you, but the girls would think it’s cute so then you’re cute for a little while.” Stuck with a name like this, he’s had to deal with the awkwardness of hearing his name being announced in airports and other public spaces.
Even his first job did little to help his reputation, as it came down to either a stint at Muji or the sex shop across the street. “Muji didn’t call me back, so…” trails off Panda.
At this point, he made sure to practice music when he wasn’t at the sex shop, and soon he had the chance to self-release an EP. “I started a MySpace page and I got really lucky when a label contacted me to make a remix for a band called Bloc Party. A week later, they decided to manage me and I finally quit my job,” narrates Panda. But did working there ever inspire a naughty remix? “No, never. I wanted to avoid that,” says Panda. “Although I thought that if I ever wanted to sample a porno, I would really disguise it and people would be like, ‘What is this beautiful sound?’”
He would later get to open for singer Caribou, whose South American booking agent he hit it off with. “She said ‘I don’t want to book this guy. I don’t even know him.’ She didn’t like my music to begin with. But now she’s appreciated it more,” recalls Panda, who now lives in Germany with her.
In sonic terms, Gold Panda’s music also reflects the constant traveling he’s been doing, having lived in Japan for a year and eventually returning to London to study. “I guess I wanted to put movement and the feeling that you’re going and arriving somewhere. The music’s a soundtrack to a journey, where looking out the windows and wheels turning gave me the idea of repetition,” examines Panda, who made sure B-Side (The Collective, Makati) experienced all the ambient chaos of a live set — a slamming, spellbinding interweaving of his studio tracks two Fridays ago.
Live sets are often incomparable, of course, but it pays to hark back to his first full-length “Lucky Shiner” (Ghostly International; 2010). The album was rated 8.3 by Pitchfork — basically, a grade to die for in most indie music scenes. As far as genres are concerned, Panda still fumbles around, eventually blurting out “happy softcore.”
“But I’ve always wanted to make music that always had emotion in there,” says Panda. “People have called it chillwave or post-dubstep but I don’t know if those terms even apply. If my mum asked me what type of music I made though, I would just say electronic music.” At this point, he plans to record this Christmas and drop a follow-up album next year.
When it comes to fans downloading his stuff off MediaFire links, Panda cares little about it. “It’s kind of like lending friends film or taping stuff back in the day,” compares Panda. “That wasn’t allowed but everyone did it. What’s the big deal, man? I don’t think I make much money selling my music anyway. I make it touring and doing remixes.”
As to whether or not he minds having a video out on MTV right next to the likes of Ke$ha, Panda isn’t ruling out the idea of expanding. “I wouldn’t mind producing for someone else, like a pop thing,” admits Panda. “But with Gold Panda, I’m quite happy keeping it the way it is. I’m not really fussed about being on MTV or anything like that.”
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Make sure to score a copy of Gold Panda’s DJ-Kicks compilation, out on Oct. 31.
