For Pere Ibañez:1. **Transitioning from Photography to Music**: After a successful 15-year career in photography, what inspired you to shift focus towards music and form Sonic Panda?
I’ve always been too shy and somewhat introverted, so Photography felt right since I didn’t have to expose myself too much. But in reality music has been my biggest interest since childhood, is just that I didn’t feel ready to take that step, until now. The moment I started writing songs it just felt right, like that’s what I was supposed to be doing.
2.*Musical Inspiration**: How has your creative process as a photographer influenced your approach to composing and performing music?
The creative process for me is quite similar in both cases, with the photos I used to sit down play music to get in the mood and start sketching the composite of the photos I was going to take. Now I sit down and I start playing the cords and melodies of the songs I’m writing. And that background as a photographer is so present that now when I’m writing songs I have images and aesthetics in mind already attached to those melodies.
3. **’Life Is A Flower’ Cover**: Why did you choose to cover Ace of Base’s ‘Life Is A Flower’? How did you approach reimagining the song with an Electro-Rock sound?
That was a song that both Seni and I knew, when I was a teenager and I had an attempt to form a band, the first song we covered was that one. So it felt funny that now that I had a band the first song that we would release would be that cover, somehow finishing what I started as a teenager.The original track is very poppy and completely different from the music we play, so we took the song into our territory, turning it into more of a pop-rock track, while trying to keep it’s mellow core.
4. **Cultural Fusion**: Sonic Panda is a fusion of Spanish and Chinese influences. How does this cultural blend shape your music, and how do you balance the unique styles from both your backgrounds?
In our case, Seni and I have completely different influences and musical tastes which makes us very compatible, when I write songs I have always a more edgy approach, then Seni comes in and restructures the idea giving it a more texture and polished feel.
5. **Signing with No Where Records**: What does signing with a Spanish label like No Where Records mean for the future of Sonic Panda, especially with the international aspect of your partnership?
Since we are very new to the music industry, signing with them has been a blessing so far, they navigate us in this uncharted waters and are helping us define our sound and focus our energy. We feel very comfortable working with them, I’ve worked with agents and representatives in the past during my photographic career. But now I feel that with No Where records we have a more honest and direct contact, maybe is because they are Spanish as me or maybe is the nature of their company. In any case we feel at home.
Thank You
For Seni Ren:
1. **Creating Sonic Panda’s Sound**: As the producer and keyboard player, how did you develop Sonic Panda’s signature sound, especially with the mix of European Industrial and Nu Metal in your upcoming single, ‘Foreigners‘?
In the case of our upcoming single ‘Foreigners’ I had less input, it’s a very ‘Pere’ track. He came to me with a simple melody and riffs that reminded me of Rammstein and I immediately knew that he was onto something. As the song developed I tried to help him keep the track focused and not lose it’s melodic side.
2. **Studio Life in Beijing**: How has your studio in Beijing contributed to the creation of your music, and how has the Chinese music scene responded to your unique blend of Electro-Rock?
Pere and I have separate mini-studios, normally he does something and send it to me so that I will review it and propose changes that he might or might not agree with lol. About the Chinese music scene, we have had not chance yet to perform here, for now we only released one song with zero to non promotion in China so is hard to say. But Chinese market tends to be more of ballads and Chinese soft pop. Hopefully we will do something in the future.
3. **Musical Partnership**: How has your collaboration with Pere Ibañez evolved, and what strengths do each of you bring to Sonic Panda’s dynamic?
Pere and I know each other for almost 10 years, so we know each other pretty well now. He is a workaholic and insanely creative, I feel like he is always in the midst of something whether is a photo, a song, a poem, who knows. But at the same time he is pure chaos, I feel like I bring peace and order. I organise, polish and define the ideas. I am also the one to tell him when something feels like too much or stop him from going too far, we butt heads often but at the end of the day he listens lol.
For Both:
1. **’Foreigners’ and its Message**: Can you share the inspiration behind your upcoming single ‘Foreigners’ and its music video? How does it reflect your personal experiences or the band’s philosophy?
‘Foreigners’ will be released soon, and is our first original song. We feel it really represents our views on the latest years of wars, cultural divide, xenophobia and racism. The song says that ‘we are all foreigners somewhere’ and it is a simple but eye opening fact, we know it well, we are a Spanish and a Chinese person. We love the song and cannot wait to share it.
2. **Navigating Genres**: You mix Electro-Rock with Industrial and Nu Metal influences. How do you balance such diverse genres while maintaining a cohesive sound?
We focus on the melodies and then dress them up in the genre the way that we feel they fit better, but the melodies comes first. So bringing up elements from electronic, industrial and any other genre will work well together if all are in service of the melody, if all of them share a common goal. Is like having a diverse football team, the team is better for it and works well if they all share a common goal.
3. **Future Projects**: Now that your first original single is set for release, what can fans expect from Sonic Panda in terms of future releases and live performances?
I don’t know that we have fans yet haha. But we have plans for future releases after ‘Foreigners’, exciting collaborations and live performances are in the talks. There is certainly more to come.
4. **International Audience**: With roots in Spain and China, how do you plan to navigate and connect with both European and Asian music markets?
Any answer we give you right now would be a lie really, we are still figuring it all out. We are very happy that our first song has been played in different countries and found diverse listeners around the world. We’ll see how things go and what opportunities open up, we’ll probably be wherever they want us haha.
