AudioPanda is a musical group composed of three members: Aarti Venkat, Ananya Murali and Samuel Sabu. Considering themselves different from a band where every member plays a specific instrument, the trio are equally involved in the roles of musicians, singers, producers and more.
What was the story behind the formation of the group?
"The three of us used to study at SAE Dubai - and that was where we eventually found our way to each other. Aarti and I were friends from school so we both met Samuel for the first time at SAE. Though we were friends beforehand, it was only in the third trimester (when we were encouraged to make more original music) that we planned to work together as a group." says Ananya Murali.
Why the name 'AudioPanda'?
"We first looked for words in different languages, which would summarize who we are as a group. We tried Latin, Greek, French and a whole bunch, but nothing seemed to work. We gave up. We just put random animals and the word ‘audio’ into a random name generator. So the debate was settled - and the name was AudioPanda." says Samuel Sabu.
What are some of the inspirations behind your original music?
"Our writing process has always set the stage for the rest of the project. We plan a concept for the project, after which we map out the number of songs and the genres we want to try out. Again - our creative process was highly meticulous because of the SAE guidelines we had to follow, but I think we’re used to it now." says Ananya Murali.
"For example, our first EP, we wrote 3 songs that took the listener through the timeline of a TV show - first a cheesy theme song, then a love story, and a kinda sad ending. A requirement of our creative process is making it relatable and engaging for our listeners, and it’s not just limited to our original music!" says Aarti Venkat.
"But as we progressed with our EPs and albums, the songs started to get more personal, about things that we had experienced, or things that we hope to experience some time in the future. We wrote songs about reminiscing about the good times we had as children, at the same time we’ve also written songs that talk about our anticipations for the future. The themes that we discuss are very personal to us." says Samuel Sabu.
What genre would you place Audio Panda in?
"I think the beauty of AudioPanda, is the fact that you can’t limit our work to a specific genre. The three of us being people, with very different tastes in music, bring something different to the table, which results in us creating something which is unique and almost genre defying" says Samuel Sabu.
"I think we were just trying different genres out, giving each song (each of which was a separate color and emotion) its own little sonic space to exist in.
Our main influence though. John Mayer for sure. We’re a bit too obsessed with him." says Ananya Murali.
Anything exciting in the works?
"Right now? We’re on a trajectory with our own lives, figuring out what we’re good at and learning more about ourselves. Aarti and I have been performing a lot of our AudioPanda music at our own gigs and keeping the spirit alive. However, we’re not working on music at the moment." says Ananya Murali.
"We’ve been trying to work on ourselves as audio professionals ever since we completed university. We really haven’t gotten the time to sit together as musicians, and friends really - to work on new music." says Samuel Sabu.
"But we definitely have intentions of releasing our music professionally, now that we’re not amateur university students just creating stuff together for projects anymore. Maybe we’ll rework our songs and improve them. Maybe we’ll write some new stuff. Find out in the next episode" says Aarti Venkat.
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