Team Plaid

As many of you know, Chris Poage and TJ Berry of The Panda Conspiracy joined Blake for the recording of “Break Anotha” and may be making appearances with him in the near future. If you like elements of reggae, rock, and jazz all meshed together into an infectious sound with a positive message, you’ll love The Panda Conspiracy. Sample their music here, but I highly recommend purchasing their full-length album, “Lunar Migration,” from CD Baby or iTunes. You won’t regret it. I love it.

Panda was kind enough to grant us a written interview this summer, and I’ve been remiss in posting this feature. But the timing seems right now, so enjoy!

But first, here’s Blake jamming with Panda back in the day.

Interview with Panda after the jump!

Can you explain how you came up with the name, The Panda Conspiracy?

In the beginning we were all throwing names out there. We liked Panda Conspiracy because it was deceptive. People think of pandas fondly but the word conspiracy puts this obscure twist on the whole thing. It’s not a totally normal band name either.

I can hear elements of rock, reggae and other world music in your songs. How would you describe your sound and what artists have influenced your work?

As a collective, we listen to so much different stuff everything from Ween to the Meters to all the classic roots reggae hence the song “Saturday Morning” written about Kexp’s reggae show. .

How long have you been together as a band?

Officially its been 3.5 years.

How did you come together musically?

I was always a big fan of this band called 94th Street and right around the end of their run I became good friends with the guitar player, TJ. Eventually we moved in next door to each other on this secluded 1 acre piece of property in Bothell. I was finishing up my run with a north end band called Private Stock with members of Mob Law and working on a solo CD out of my living room. TJ and I we’re playing music nearly everyday and from there I decided to recruit the rest of the band and make it happen!

How do you collaborate in terms of arranging the music? How does this process work?

It’s different for every song. Some of my favorite songs are sort of created and arranged all without talking as a group. Others are pre-recorded jams/songs off of abelton live that the band learns or adapts. Sometimes I’ll have a simple song that doesn’t seem too amazing to me and then the band will put a new twist on it and bring it to life!

Not a lot of current bands incorporate horns, especially live. What prompted you to go in that direction?

Horns? They are totally essential! I was a Jazz student for years and have always loved horns. The sax has been my vehicle and a friend to me too. Katie our trumpet player came to it on more of a classical angle so some of the riffs and lines you’ll hear her play are so fast and accurate. It shows a level of musicianship that’s easy to appreciate.

Speaking of playing live, can you tell us a bit about your live shows and if you have any future plans to tour outside the Pacific Northwest?

Our plan touring wise is Alaska. It takes so much work booking and stringing promotion along with a tour as well as getting all the other logistics in line. It’s something we have’t focused on much outside of the Portland, Seattle, Missoula triangle. This year marked our second annual Medicine Wheel festival in Twisp www.medicinewheelpeacejam.com because we weren’t able to hit the road full time this year we’ve been growing this little gem out in the country. It also takes a heap of work, but its well worth it when you get to have the best party of the year with a bunch of friends you never get to kick it with.

How do politics and philosophy affect your music? Both have made their way into your lyrics.

It’s hard not to think. Ya know? It’s something that’s out there and it’s in the air and you can feel it sometimes with out even asking questions. Politics are human nature and if the mood strikes we’re not afraid to speak to it. Historically speaking, art and music has been a way to document the world. In a sense it wouldn’t be right to ignore topics like war and hatred. It’s better to just deal with them as they come. I like Woody Guthrie’s outlook that says: “I hate a song that makes you think that your not any good”

With any art form (literature, music, visual arts, etc), it’s common for people to experience the same thing and understand it differently and also miss the artist’s intent. Does that matter? What is more important, the message or the music?

The music. I don’t think there’s a damn thing we could do about that. I like African philosophies of rhythm being the liberating quality of music. If a song has a good beat and the tune resonates true then it’s a good song. Add lyrics meaningful or not and others are going to put their own spin on it.

The song “Playo” features the line “Ooo we playo, But no payo,” which begs the question, how would you define success as a band?

Success for us is getting out there and playing for people who want to hear it. It’s true that the music industry is pretty dirty and there’s a lot of undercutting, backstabbing, lying etc. The irony is that the “product” they are selling is going to sound the best if its pure, honest and open, making it even more of a challenge to ware the business crap and be artists. On that note every time we get out and play for a large crowd off our own hard work and business sense its liberating and feels like a stepping stone to creating what we’re truly looking for: a sustainable music career.

The record industry seems to be in a bit of turmoil with lagging album sales and illegal downloading. How well do you think the music industry is responding and where do you see yourselves fitting into it? Do you plan on staying indie?

In a lot of ways I think the industry is better today with all the downloading because it’s breaking down walls like Columbia and Sony who never leave NY or LA. I would love to tour through but cant see living there which is practically a requirement of the big boys. The way its going I see panda signing with a small indie label and working our way up to a larger one as our fan base grows. But we could care less about the old dinosaurs that used to run the music industry.

Can each of you tell me something about yourselves as individuals. What are your backgrounds? How long have you been playing music? What inspires you?

Katie:
Born and raised in Bothell , WA, is a Cell Biologist by day (Amgen, Inc.) and musician by night; she plays with a number of groups, mainly The Panda Conspiracy. Her other groups include Moodswings (an all women jazz band) and Hot Dish—she’s also been seen making guest appearances with The Missing Players. Katie picked up the trumpet for the first time in 5th grade when she started beginning band in the Northshore School District. Much of her life consisted of soccer, however, she never managed put the trumpet down for good. Although she enjoys playing classical music and jazz, she started learning improvisation in early college and immediately fell in love with it. Musical inspirations include Jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, The Grateful Dead, Maria Schneider and the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra. Other inspirations include riding her Soma Cyclocross bike downhill at high speed and jumping in random bodies of water.

TJ:
I’ve liked music forever, startin jamming with my family when I was kid. then started jamming with friends and then started creating bands. Been in lot’s a bands. 4 Inch sole, The baby Dragons, UmmaGumma, 94th Street, White Rhino, Private Stock, Hot Dish, Moblaw, and The Panda’s.

How long have you been playing music? For like a while .

What inspires you? All kinds of awesome music, killer food, nice doggies, and floating the river.

Quinn:
yo….
i started playing bass guitar when i was 13, in my middle school jazz band. i soon picked up a guitar and learned how to play heavy metal. i also played tuba in band, got boared so switched to percussion. later in life 20’s was introduced to local drum circles around seattles parks and fell in love with the djembe. i have played in a handfull of seattle bands. 1st was absolute when i was 18. i played guitar with this funky punky 4 piece. then i played guitar with stony bone child when i was 20 . this was more an alternative band. when i was 25 i was the front man for a band called white rhino, wich was most the origonal members for panda, and also a reggea based hip hop rock dub dnb band. i moved to santa cruz when i was 28 and joined a band called temple of funk playing guitar with this funky hip hop 6 peice. now at the age of 30 im rockn steady with the pandas playing percussion and ocassional vocals.
i am inspired by waves, sunshine, nice booty, and funky grooves. i like beer mnnnnnn and tequila yea yea…………………

Sandy:
Its ok i’ll introduce myself….I am a self taught musician starting at the age of 13 playing guitar. Weened off slayer metallica and Megadeth, I played speed metal in the group Systematic Discipline throughout highschool where I switched to bass and joined the local hiphop live band the Subdwellers. Subdwellers received considerable Praise from the area, and even landed a short lived deal from sony before the band broke up in 2002. In 2004, I and two close friends formed Missing Players, An experimental project that still continues today. In 2006 I joined The Panda Conspiracy.

Chris:
I love art and live music. I cant think of a better way to spend time then at a outdoor festival performing or just soaking in a good show. I’ve been in lots of bands including: Sub Real, Cedar Roots, Private Stock, Safal, Panda and I’ll do session work on the side for fun and sometimes a little extra cash. Any spare time I find I head out to the coast to surf or to the mountains to hike. I draw most of my inspiration from nature and other inspired humans.

Ryan:
Hmmm something about myself.. Well, I hate Sandy. From a small town in Ohio. 25 yrs old Father, Married.
Maybe talk about how long we’ve played together.
I’ve been in punk bands and metal bands.
I’ve been playing music since I got my first guitar when I was 11 and still play the same drumset I got for Xmass when I was16 ..17 I don’t remember.
I get my inspiration from going to shows, the amazing musicians I have the privelage of playing with in Panda, and Happy Lake No. 1 Teriyakki and Wok.
I hate Sandy

What’s next for The Panda Conspiracy?

This fall we’re working on our 2nd studio album and we’ll also be splicing together some live concert footage of this years medicine wheel fest. Next year the Alaska Tour, Bigger shows and bigger Medicine Wheel and hopefully we can afford to get the alignment dialed in on van halen (our van).