www.myspace.com/pandaconspiracy Describe your band/duo/group. How did you come together? TJ and Chris grew up near each other in Bothell Wa. and each played in contemporary bands of each other. TJ in UmmaGumma / 94th Street, and Chris in Roots Vibration. They played shows together and eventually started Jamming. Chris wanted to start a solo project and asked TJ to join and that collaboration evolved into the early version of the Panda conspiracy. With fellow Roots vibration members Paul and Drew, the early Panda's had a strong foundation in Reggae and Dub. With the help of old friend Katie, the addition of trumpet added a fresh vibe. Drew eventually left and the band spent a frustrated year moving though many bass players and in the end Paul left as well. Then, from the band 'Missing Players' whom TJ was producing at the time, they recruited Sandy for bass duties. About that same time they started Jamming with Ryan, the husband of a family friend and things just just seemed to click right into place. Sandy and Ryan brought a much more aggressive Rock oriented vibe to the band than the old Panda's had, which further extended the vast range of music influences that make up the Panda's sound. The current lineup has been in place for a year and a half now and everyone is stoked on the music and the vibe. How did you come to be known as Panda Conspiracy? We have a stripper friend who had a sneaky little dog named panda. . . Who and what are your influences? Ween, The Who, The Meters, Beatles, Bob Marley, The Clash, Zeppelin, Morphine,Slayer,The Dead, No Doubt, dj shadow, Donny Hathaway, Paul Simon, Surf and rockabilly, Willie Nelson, Sustainable Farming, Thai food, Wine, Sunshine and campfires. How would you describe your audience? I would say that our audiance is as diverse as our sound. We get the same positive response from the folks at the festivals that we get from playing an all ages show in the city. It seems like people either shake their asses off or stare with wide eyes and smiles. What are your goals as a group? I feel like Panda will go as far as our fans allow us. As a family we work together so well that nothing seems to stand in our way. We all are so driven and have no outrageous expectations other than giving it our all while we are on stage and hope that the crowd can share that same energy and excitement. What drives your music? I think we all love this band. the music pretty much drives itself. "bottle of wine" started as an email between each other, we each wrote a verse and then tj put it all together and sang it! What message/s are you delivering to the world? Consume! Your not consuming enough! hahahaaaa What does your latest album portray? I think this album shows our movement in the band towards a new sound. the original roots are there still but the dynamics in the music are more extreme now. And this is just the beginning. I feel with this album we are just skimming the surface of the band's potential and what's to come. What roles do each member of the band act out/play? Chris writes most of the material solo and then brings it to the table for us to tear it apart. Tj Shreds the guitar as well as records and produces all the albums from home. Katie makes people cheer with her trumpet.Sandy does most of the art you see from us. Ryan makes cute babies Describe a defining moment for your band. Before some show we played in Bellingham we marched around the streets of down town with the horns and percussion in a marching band style and brought twice as many people back to the venue, Pied Piper style. People just started following us and joining in. They stayed for the whole show. I feel like we broke the barriers between performer and audience that night.