Interview with The White Panda
Who is The White Panda? Where does the alias come from?
We are a mashup duo group based out of Los Angeles and Chicago, consisting of Tom Evans (Procrast) and Dan Griffith (DJ Griffi). Dan came up with the name The White Panda – we were looking for something catchy, and as a half-white half-asian duo The White Panda seemed fitting.
How did you find each other?
We grew up together back in Los Altos, CA – a suburb south of San Francisco. We studied music together as kids at the Podich studio and have been good friends since those early days.
How long have you been mashing and how did you start?
We haven’t really started mashing exclusively until early 2009. I think we started primarily because our love of dance music and hip hop; and desire to combine the two realms of music into one genre. We both started doing mashups simultaneously from opposite sides of the country. In mid 2009, we talked about fusing our music together under a joint venture and The White Panda was born.
What software and hardware do you use?
Software: Ableton Live, Adobe Audition and Fruity Loops Studio. Hardware: Laptops and mixers.
What is your mashing process with two people?
A lot of the process is individual, but there is much communication between us two. One of us will lace together a concept, and we’ll spend a good deal of time on the phone talking about it and reshaping it until we’ve produced a quality track. Internet communication has made the process much more collaborative.
How long does it take you to make a track?
It all depends. Sometimes we’ll sit on a concept for weeks at a time before we think it’s good enough for release. Other times we can fire out a track in one day.
What are you doing in your free time?
We’re both graduating this year, so school takes up some time. Outside of that, I’ve been watching the West Wing religiously lately (Tom).
What inspires your song choice?
Everything and anything. We’re always looking and always listening for new stuff. As an example, Tipsy In The Sun was created in one morning when we were playing a show at Dartmouth, in 15 degree weather, and all I wanted to do was get back to the sunshine of LA, so I made the song.
Favorite song you’ve made?
Dan: What You Know About Little Secrets (TI // Passion Pit) Tom: Hypnotic Echo (Akon // Plies // Cyndi Lauper)
Do you listen to other mashup artists, or do you just like to make the stuff?
Yeah. We listen to other artists for sure. Girl Talk is my favorite (Dan).
What is playing live like? How do you do it with two people?
It’s awesome. There is no better feeling than seeing people dance and enjoy your music. We tend to switch up mixing between the two of us during sets. It’s great because both of us feed of each others’ energy, and at the same time, we can get a great feel for how the crowd is reacting to certain tracks/loops we play.
Any cool stories from a show you’ve done?
Shows are always a blast. It’s fun to put crazy requests in our hospitality riders and see what we can pull off – we once were provided with light-up sunglasses as per our request.
What are you guys doing in your free time?
We’re both graduating this year, so school takes up some time. Outside of that, I’ve been watching the West Wing religiously lately (Tom).
What can we look forward to in the future from The White Panda?
More tour dates, and a summer album 2010. Look out.
Favorite pizza topping, candy, and color?
Dan: Sausage Pizza, Starburst Candy, Blue Tom: Bacon, Skor, Teal
Any other comments?
Thanks to all our fans and the tremendous support we’ve received.
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