Interview With The Chilled Dutch Indie Duo Dizzy Panda
Today, we had a quick chat with Dizzy Panda, an underground indie duo from Haarlem in The Netherlands. They’re known for blending different styles of music with a touch of psychedelic and retro influences. Their song ‘Feeling Grey’ has almost 100k streams on spotify. We asked them a couple of questions about their name, music and upcoming releases.
Hi guys, what’s the story of Dizzy Panda? When did you became Dizzy Panda, how did you came up with the name and what’s your background in music?
Dizzy Panda originated from a weekend abroad. With four friends where we were looking for an idea for a company to set up. Two friends became enthusiastic about setting up a coffee line. The other two didn’t mind that much. After a few beers the idea to start a band arose. It must have been enough beer… we don’t play any instruments. We just started investigating ourselves, although one of us has worked for one of the main record companies in the past. In the beginning we were mainly inspired by chill / jazzy sounds and artists like Mr. Scruff. That’s also where ‘Dizzy’ comes from, by Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy stood for jazzy and retro. We added Panda to that. Pandas are chill and relaxed. We soon let go of the jazzy sounds.
Your songs are really versatile. Can you walk us through your songwriting process? And what’s your favourite part about the music-making process?
For us it is mainly a puzzle. First, we look for sounds that match each other. The first creation is sometimes 12 minutes long, and we then delete parts or add parts until a nice composition is created. Sometimes nothing happens, then we quickly throw it away. The puzzle and working it out is the most fun part of the process. We also often ask artists for a contribution. With instruments or vocals. That’s always the most beautiful moment. Hearing songs come to life.
You guys are attracted to the underground scene. Why is that? Would you be mainstream if you got the chance?
For us it is really a hobby and we enjoy the creative process and the end result. If there was enough money to no longer have to work, we would do this full time, but we both wouldn’t want to be dependent on someone telling us what to do in music.
What’s the most challenging aspect of being an indie artist?
To be heard!
How do you handle creative disagreements within the band or with collaborators?
We’ve never had one actually. We never hold on to our own creation. You can get quite attached to a certain structure of a song, but I have also noticed that you can get used to a different version very quickly.
Can we expect any new stuff soon?
We still have a lot to plan. We work on a lot at the same time and also have difficulty finishing things. There are 3 jazzy albums, an urban hip-hop album and a pop album on the shelf. These will probably only be released on Bandcamp. Maybe we will publish a few singles more widely. We also have a number of collaborations with acquaintances from our indie circle. The most exciting thing we are working on now is a retro album that should be released in 2024, a bit early ’70s with touches of today. This in collaboration with a brilliant duo and guest artists. Your readers will know them. That will be really cool. And if we succeed, we will land that album on vinyl too.
We are very curious about the upcoming releases and we can’t wait to hear more from this talented duo!
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