The West Country trio about to explode in 2014. Rewind my selecta
Interview : Dan Prince
Callum, Benny, Charlie welcome to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
Charlie : “Hey Dan, we are in our Plymouth studio mixing down a couple of remixes at the moment.”
Well if ever there was an act that we are all keeping firm tabs on at the moment, it’s you guys. An incredible twelve months for you with Radio 1 and Mixmag all over you, festival dates and dates in Ibiza all chalked up. Before we delve into your music let’s kick back for a minute and find out how this excitement all began. Where did you all meet and how did the Panda idea begin…
“We’ve known each other through different projects and genres for years, all coming from the southwest and linking through different scenes…from early Dance Academy days, to drum & bass events where Benny MC’d and lots of other hook ups including remix swaps here and there. Benny and Callum actually went to music college together and I’ve known both of them separately for about 8 years. Me and Callum were in touch again and throwing ideas about for getting a project going, then after an impromptu DJ set at Freeze Festival in London where Benny hosted and sang on my set, the idea came to all get in the studio together and see what happened. That was only last October!”
Remember back when you were all 13 years old – who were your favourite artists you’re listening to?
“A mixed bag between the three of us which is one of the positives as there’s always plenty of influences when were in the studio. We were all fortunate to grow up around diverse sounds from Northern Soul to disco, to classical. UK Garage the first time round, and then labels that first got us first hooked on dance music; Credence, Manifesto, FFRR, Inferno, Defected – all those you can instantly picture the record sleeves of an good memories come flooding back. That’s got to be one big downside of this digital age hey?”
Early DJ heroes?
“Tall Paul and Judge Jules ‘The Annual 2000’ was one of the first mix albums I got. Jules was definitely a big influence and help in the early days. Still one of the nicest guys in music! The likes of Eric Morillo and EZ also spring to mind.”
What did your families think of you opting out of the rat race and heading off on the yellow brick road in search of musical glory?
I’m sure like most there was some scepticism to start with – in the sense of it being a pipe-dream of a bubble that will burst, but we have all always had a clear passion and determination that everyone around us has been supportive of, which is obviously massively important.”
So talk us through Panda, who does what where when – Benny, your vocals speak for itself!
“Yeah, so Benny is ‘the voice’ both in the studio and on stage, while Charlie DJs and in the studio Callum is the Mac-daddy. We all play our part in each and every aspect of our productions and writing but he is the holder of the midas touch. We are working on a DJ/Live setup where we are all on stage, which we should have ready to roll for the summer.”
You live down in the west country, a part of the UK that has some fine dance music history thanks to the huge raves, massive artists and clublife that has been around since the late 80s. There seems to be a really good little vibe going on down there at the moment with great little clubs in places like Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay and Newquay – where are some of the better places to lose it at these days?
“It’s often overlooked that the south west has a solid clubbing history (which is how we all know each other)…from the Cornwall Coliseum, The Monastery, etc. One of my first DJ residences was at the mighty Dance Academy in Plymouth, where funnily enough Benny’s older sister worked at the time. The vibe has definitely been coming back over the past couple of years with a shift to quality over quantity. We put on a lot of nights in the region ourselves to bring the likes of Isaac Tichauer, Bondax, Eton Messy, T Williams, Shadow Child, Waze & Odyssey down. We have a twice monthly night in Plymouth called ONE Love which has sold out every party for the past 6 months, and do regular bits in Exeter and Falmouth. Then when the summer lands it’s all about Boardmasters week in Newquay, which we help curate one of the stages for (The Point), and will be putting on some after parties in the town.”
What was your first break into the music industry?
”Different for us all, I had some success back in the trance days which saw a few trips to Asia and running a respected record label. My break in that probably came from Radio 1 plays from Judge Jules and a booking for his night in Ibiza. Callum broke through with his Electro sound which the likes of Zedd and Skrillex all jumped on, and Benny was one of the south west’s busiest D&B MCs…so all pretty varied foundations.”
Couple of big releases to start talking about; kicking off with the mighty ‘Rewind (Sounds of Sumo)’ EP that Rob Da Bank opened his show with on Radio 1 last week. Talk us through the release…
“As the title suggests, that’s a definite throw back to the garage sound which we all grew up too and love to this day. We wanted to switch things up after the more straight up house ‘ Eighty Nine EP’ on Cool Kids. It’s had some great support from that Rob Da Bank play to EZ dropping ‘That Girl’…and it still doing well on the download charts.”
Next up and a tune that the DMC Buzz Chart crew are going ballistic about right now…’Harmony Fifth’ – how long has this been kicking around and did you know you were sitting on something pretty special on completion?
“That one has been quite a surprise actually, we made it specifically for the Black Butter ‘Spread Love’ compilation, so did feel it embodied the clubbier side of what the label does. The response on it has been great, I think after the first couple of times of playing it out, whether it was Plymouth or London…the crowd response was a heads up to how it was going to be received.”
As mentioned earlier, 2013 was such a good year for you. You played at Ocean Beach Club in Ibiza last June for Subsoul, had you all been to Ibiza before and what were some of the eye openers for you on the trip?
“It was great to be asked out for the SubSoul party, being on that season line-up with so many other great names was a big achievement for us pretty early on. I’ve been going out to the devils isle for almost a decade now but the other two were first timers. This year is when I get to show them all the island has to offer…eye openers an all!”
For festival first timers reading this, what are the 5 things Panda never go to a festival without…?
1. Eye mask and ear plugs!
2. A Bloody Mary kit, for the morning after.
3. Friends & family – Although there’s already 3 of us, nothing quite like a festival with a big group.
4. Wellies – the obvious one, which we learnt the hard way at The Masked Ball in Cornwall on Halloween. Absolutely mud bath which proved difficult to get around with trainers on…lesson learnt!
5. A spare bag of marbles. Or two.
You have just been added to the huge Horizon Festival in the Bulgarian Bansko Ski Resort starring alongside the likes of Kerri Chandler, AME, Catz ‘N’ Dogz and Josh Butler. I take you are all expert boarders being from the west country…?
“This is one we are really looking forward too, heard such great things from last years event and the line-up this year is next level. Sadly, we are all complete novices so the risk of broken bones is pretty high. It may just be an apres ski vibe this time round!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
”In no particular order…
Fred V & Grafix – Recognise (Panda Remix)
Dansson & Marlon Hoffstadt – Shake That (Blonde Remix)
Newbie Nerdz – Everytime
Ben Remember – Moving Harts
Foamo – Running
James Foxx – Holding On
Blood Orange – Good Enough (Fei Fei Remix)
Panda – Sputnik Moment
Arches – There’s A Place (Rektchordz Remix)
Lancelot – Givin’ It Up (Panda Remix)
You spend a lot of time with each other – what is each others most annoying habits?
“There isn’t anything that springs to mind…Callum would possibly say myself and Benny’s tendency to hit an after party!”
You have a blank cheque to put on your own festival. Where do you have it and who are the 3 headliners…?
“It would have to be close to home, somewhere picturesque in Devon/Cornwall…a beach maybe with Prince, Stevie Wonder, and BT.”
And finally, what is next on the agenda studio wise for you guys?
“We’ve spent the majority of this year so far on remixes, with bits coming out on Hospital, Anjunadeep, Sumo, and Marlon Hoffstadt’s new label. We have a two track collab EP with Armeria to finish, and two of our own EPs to finally wrap up. Oh and a track with Fred V & Grafix on their forthcoming Hospital album. We have just launched our own label Bambusa Records which has taken a lot of our time up too with some great releases lined up from Ben Remember, Mainline Mussy, Boean, and Rektchordz.”
https://soundcloud.com/itspandauk
