The Panda Band

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Panda Band


Img_capt =
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Genre = Indie pop
Years_active = 2003 –present
Label = Bamboo/QStik Records/MGM
Current_members = Damian Crosbie David Namour Stephen Callan
Chris Callan,
Gabriel Nicotra

The Panda Band are an indie pop band originating from Perth, Western Australia. Their unique brand of genre jumping music has earned them a reputation amongst local and international musicians alike. They have toured nationally as support acts for bands such as The Sleepy Jackson, Little Birdy, The Grates and Evermore.

Biography

The band originally existed in the late nineties as "Philius Phog" until Crosbie went travelling Europe. They reformed and played their first gig as "Generic Boy Band" (with Crosbie, Namour, Nicotra and Chris Callan in the band) in an opening heat of the Australian National Campus Band Competition in the latter half of 2003, where they failed to make it past the first round.

At the WAMi Weekender in June 2004, they played their first gig as The Panda Band, with late addition Steve Callan on keys, at a showcase which also featured The Nordeens and Ikey Mo at The Carton Hotel in Perth. Their first single "Eyelashes", was playlisted on national (Triple J) & interstate radio (FBi Radio, RTRFM) and given single of the week in two Australian street press magazines in April 2004. The band undertook its first tour of regional and metropolitan Western Australia with Little Birdy in July 2004, followed by their first interstate dates in Sydney & Victoria playing with Hope of the States in August 2004. Their second single "Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town" (taken from the EP of the same name) was released in September 2004, and was playlisted on national & interstate radio, this was followed in October by an eleven date Australian tour with Little Birdy. The band were selected for Triple J’s Fresh Crop artist for Australian Music Month (November, 2004) profiling the song “Mohawk”. The Panda Band were listed by Rolling Stone Magazine as number 1 band to watch in 2005

"A surreal, swirling and eclectic mix of instrumentation and melodies. Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse eccentricity blended with the classic harmonies and quirk of Sgt Peppers-era Beatles."
(Bronwyn Thompson – Rolling Stone Magazine January 2005).

"Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town" entered the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2004, at number 73 [cite web
url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/history/2004.htm
title=Triple J Hottest 100 – 2004
publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation
accessdate=2007-05-25] and the band were awarded 'Most Promising New Act at the 2005 Western Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMi's) in February 2005. The Panda Band performed at the inaugural Southbound Festival (January, 2005) and played at The Big Day Out in Perth (February, 2005). February 2005 also saw the release of their debut EP, "Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town". The band's next single, "Then you appear" was released in March 2005 and again playlisted on national & interstate radio. March also saw the band performing at The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, SXSW Festival, Rothkos and The Mercury Lounge in New York and The Marquee Club in London. The band then returned to Australia and toured with Evermore in April, June and July. September and October saw the band perform shows at Manchester’s In the City, Liverpool, Leeds, Wrexham (touring with Proud Mary) and three gigs in London (one with The Spinto Band), they also record a live recording at XFM Radio in London for broadcast on John Kennedy’s nightly new music program. The Panda Band were then invited to perform at Canadian Music Week 2006 and The Great Escape Festival 2006 in Brighton, UK. The next single, "Alana" (October 2005) was playlisted on national and interstate radio. The band received three song awards including mixed category, pop category and Song of the Year at the WA Music Industry Association’s Songwriting Awards in October 2005. The band then undertook a headline tour to Sydney and Melbourne including the Bathurst Village Fair and were again invited to perform at SXSW in 2006.

In February 2006 The Panda Band were awarded 'Best Indie Rock Act' and 'Best Drummer' at the 2006 Western Australian Music Industry Awards. The band commenced recording their debut album at Blackbird Studios In March 2006 Damian Crosby was awarded the Australasian Performing Rights Society Professional Development Award for the Contemporary Music category for his song "Eyelashes", which was followed by a national tour of Australia as the main support act for The Grates. They signed to Filter US Recordings in March 2006 to release their album in North America.

Their first full length album "This Vital Chapter" was released in Australia on August 5, 2006 and in the United States on September 18, 2006, with a special iTunes pre-release on the 25th of July. A national tour followed which saw band take New Rules For Boats around Australia with them. They were also joined at various points by Jump 2 Light Speed and Jeff Strong. Immediately following the album tour, they went on The Sleepy Jackson's Personality - One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird Australian tour. They followed this up in November with an east coast of Australia tour with The Exploders from Melbourne and Perth band The Dirty Secrets. The tour was called "Way Of The Exploding Panda". The Panda Band performed at the "Escape To The Park" concert on November 25 at King's Park, Perth, Western Australia, alongside Josh Pyke, Tex Perkins, Sarah Blasko & Augie March [cite web
url=http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/events/2006/escape_251106.html?Menu=events
title=Escape to the Park
publisher=Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority
date=2006-11-22
accessdate=2007-05-25] . They also performed at the Southbound at Bussleton in January 2007.

In 2007 they performed a third time at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas [cite web
url=http://2007.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/39931.html
title=SXSW 2007 Showcasing Artists – The Panda Band
publisher=South by Southwest
accessdate=2007-05-25] . Following the festival they toured nationally, supporting Gomez at some shows [cite web
url=http://www.themusic.com.au/im_m/display.php?s=gig&id=112
title=In Music & Media Archive - Christie Eliezer's Festival & Tour Guide
author=Christie Eliezer
publisher=themusic.com.au
date=2007-03-13
accessdate=2007-05-25] .

Band Members

*Damian Crosbie - lead vocals/guitar
*David Namour - bass
*Stephen Callan - keyboards/samples
*Chris Callan - guitar/backing vocals
*Gabriel Nicotra - drums/percussion

Discography

* Sleepy Little Deathtoll Town "EP" Bamboo/QStik Records February 7, 2005
* This Vital Chapter "Album" Bamboo/QStik Records August 5, 2006

Awards and Nominations

Awards

*2006 WAMi Awards, Best Indie/Pop Actcite web
url=http://wam.asn.au/wamifest06.htm#awards
title=WAMi Festival 2006 – Awards
publisher=WAMi
accessdate=2007-05-25]
*2006 WAMi Awards, Best Drummer – Gabriel Nicotra
*2005 WAMi Awards, Most Promising New Actcite web
url=http://wam.asn.au/wamifest05.htm#awards
title=WAMi Festival 2005 – Awards
publisher=WAMi
accessdate=2007-05-25]
*2005 WAM Song of the Year Awards, Grand Prize – "Sleepy Little Death Toll Town" by Damian Crosbiecite web
url=http://wam.asn.au/soty05.htm#winners
title=WAM Song of the Year Awards 2005 – Winners
publisher=WAMi
accessdate=2007-05-25]
*2005 WAM Song of the Year Awards, Pop – "Sleepy Little Death Toll Town" by Damian Crosbie
*2005 WAM Song of the Year Awards, Mixed Bag – "Then You Appear" by Damian Crosbie

Nominations

*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Actcite web
url=http://wam.asn.au/wamifest07.htm#winnerz
title=WAMi Festival 2007 – Awards
publisher=WAMi
accessdate=2007-05-25]
*2007 WAMi Awards, Most Popular Album – This Vital Chapter
*2006 WAMi Awards, Best Instrumentalist – Stevie Callan
*2006 WAMi Awards, Best Bassist – Dave Namour
*2005 WAMi Awards, Favourite Newcomer
*2005 WAMi Awards, Best Indie/Pop Act
*2004 WAM Song of the Year Awards, Best Indie/Punk Song – "Eyelashes" by Damian Crosbie and Dave Namourcite web
url=http://wam.asn.au/archive-wsoty04.htm#finalists
title=WAM Song of the Year Awards 2004 – Finalists
publisher=WAMi
accessdate=2007-05-25]
*2003 WAM Song Of The Year Awards, Best Indie Pop/Rock Song – "Birds On The Bridge" by Damian Crosbie

Trivia

Steve Callan, Gabriel Nicotra and David Namour also play in Perth band Rollerskates, who are self-described electro funk terrorists.

Chris Callan heads up Perth band Eye Spy, who are known for their takes on songs from the Super Mario Brothers Nintendo games.

The Panda Band made the front cover of X-Press Magazine upon the release of This Vital Chapter.

The Panda Band is signed to Bam*boo Records, and is managed by Scott Adam, who is the head honcho of QStik Records.

References

External links

* [http://www.thepandaband.com Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/thepandaband Myspace Site]
*musicbrainz artist | name=The Panda Band | id=6702c701-d0a6-4b12-ba41-1d0ee967a9e4