My Panda Shall Fly

My Panda Shall Fly first appeared our radar via the mix he reated for the Hot 100 podcast series with Rack N Ruin. On hearing more of his work, it became obvious that he's an act to keep an eye on.  
MPSF’s recent remix of Pirate Sound System’s Dub N U was featured on the Pitchfork Forkcast; the mix slows things down considerably, adding some woozy synths to further the mood change. We talked to the man behind the music, Suren Seneviratne,  to find out a bit on what makes MPSF tick.  He’s a Sri Lankan-born Londoner with a love of garage and once ‘took a load of xxx’ (read on). He’s also got a bit of a penchant for making big bassy dub jamz with excellent production quality and a forward-thinking style.
 
 
How and when were you first infected by dance music?
That's a really difficult time to pinpoint. In my hometown of Kandy, Sri Lanka I grew up listening to a lot of the traditional 'baila' music and stuff my parents would rock out to, and of course, when I moved to London in early '96 I was introduced to all sorts of music that I had never even heard before, like the Spice Girls. My family weren't particularly a music bunch, but somehow I had it in me from a very early age.
 
When did you start making music / producing, and how long was it before you started making tracks that you were really happy with?
To be honest I think I first got into making stuff back in high school when UK garage first started blowing up. I used to live in Clapham Junction where it was all about listening to pirate radio, especially the nearby Delight FM where one could often hear all 500+ members of So Solid crew doing their thing on there. It was exciting and so I would soon enough start making amateur beats on my computer. I never really tried pushing my music at that time because I thought it wasn’t good enough.
 
What have been your personal favourite tracks / productions so far?
I'm actually really fussy when it comes to my own stuff. I like all the stuff that’s out and about online, there’s much more new and exciting stuff coming though. There’s definitely some new favourites hiding in a folder on my laptop. Beethoven, watch your back.
 
How did you first get into bass/dubstep kind of productions? Many producers with a similar sound come from a DnB background - was that the case for you?
It wasn’t the same for me really, I like drum 'n' bass but never really attempted to make any. The way it is going with me and my sound, I’m not really caring what genre names and categories that my music falls into, but at the very least they are all electronic. My newest stuff is bass-heavy but much slower than your average jump-up dubstep track. No wobble bass too.
 
Where did your name come from?
There are actually three members in My Panda Shall Fly. One day we all “accidentally” took xxx and went into an uncontrollable 7-hour psychedelic mind-trip and realised we had filmed ourselves on the laptop webcam. On watching back the footage we were shocked to discover ourselves chanting words and phrases along the lines of “panda” “kill” and “fly” - so we somehow pulled the name out of that.
 
Your recent remix of Pirate Sound Systems’s Dub N U has a pretty woozy synth vibe too it, any key influences there?
No specific influences, I went in wanting to take it completely away from the original.  I think the only elements I kept were the vocal parts! I’m really proud of it, it’s had great feedback and has the perfect summer sound. It’s been picked up by loads of people too, so I’m really happy.
 
The mix you did for Hot 110’s podcast series with Rack N Ruin takes in a seemingly diverse selection of tracks from the bass scene, is variation an important part of a mix for you?
Yeah I think it’s boring for a DJ to always play the same thing all the time. I couldn't imagine anything worse. If I went along to see my favourite DJ perform or something I wouldn't want him to be dropping the same thing every time. That's why I’m now also playing strictly “Acid Funk” sets.
 
What can we expect from one of you DJ or live sets?
Recently I've been playing a lot of old school UK garage - it seems perfect for the incoming summer. Everyone is loving it. It also happens to be good, and was the music that gave birth to all these new forms of bass music we hear today. But I'm just chucking in anything and everything that I happen to be feeling at the time. Hell, I’d even drop jungle if needs be.
 
If you weren’t a producer / artist what would you be doing now?
I have toyed with the idea of being an astronaut, but the fact that I have absolutely no qualifications or the required fitness or training might make things difficult for me. But I am still looking into this.
 
Which other producers and DJs do you really rate?
Considering that UK Garage has been such a huge influence for me, I still admire the producers that I absolutely loved back in the day like Sunship, Artful Dodger, MJ Cole, Wookie, Todd Edwards etc. Nowadays, there’s some really exciting new stuff coming out. Some of my friends like James Blake, Dark Sky, Matt Flynn, Bok Bok & Girl Unit are really churning out some hot material.
 
What can we expect to see from you in the coming months?
I'm working really hard in the studio mixing down a whole heap of new material that spans the widest musical spectrum imaginable. For example, from hardcore mega-fast trance tracks to all out death metal music with a full six-piece band. Well, okay not really. But yeah some really good stuff I'm hoping to release. I’m also trying to work on some stuff with fellow “band mate” Finn Ryder.