Upon listening to a band for the first time, there’s often an overwhelming urge to categorize them — to deconstruct their sound and translate it into terms that we are familiar with. This is especially true with Hot Panda. Though there is a core sound that is consistent and unmistakable, their eclectic album compositions draw from many different genres and styles, leaving the listener struggling to pin down what exactly Hot Panda is about.
It’s an issue that frontman Chris Connelly is acutely aware of. Though Hot Panda recognize their eclecticism, they cringe at any attempt to make specific comparisons.
“We don’t really think about what we sound like. We are all kind of confrontational people that don’t like to be labeled as something,” explains Connelly. “So when we do something and people think we’re a certain kind of band, then all our instincts go, ‘Let’s do something completely different from that kind of band.’ It’s constantly trying not to be labeled. If people think they understand what kind of band we are, we want to change it up and be a different kind of band.”
It’s an interesting approach. With the proliferation of music blogs, the Internet and the inevitable shortening of attention spans, it is increasingly difficult for a complicated band like Hot Panda to communicate what they are about in a 30-second iTunes sample.
“When people do that with us, I hope they hear the right 30 seconds. Jesus, that’s a short time,” says Connelly. “It encourages bands to make it so they are easily understood — so they can be understood in 30 seconds. Sometimes that hurts us. Lots of our songs sound different from our other songs.”
Extensive touring on the strength of the release of their first full-length, Volcano Bloody Volcano, has helped the band share their musical vision outside of 30 second samples. They are currently touring with material from their new album, How Come I’m Dead?, slated for release on October 12th. Though they make stringent efforts to disassociate themselves from labels and similarities with other bands, there is one thing that Hot Panda unequivocally share with other Canadian indie acts that they can’t escape: dealing with the strain of all this touring.
“When it’s the right amount it’s okay, but too much touring is too much,” says Connelly. “I have a pioneering spirit. I do love being out on the open road and exploring and seeing new places, but I feel like it’s nice to have a home, a place or community that you live in and seeing everyone. Part of being in a band is you kind of sacrifice that.”
Connelly appreciates the good times like playing on a stage in Hamburg that had been graced by the Beatles. He’s also conscious of the crazy times too, like when they got stuck at a party with hardcore, combat boot-wearing, mohawk-sporting punks in St. Louis.
“We just left at six in the morning before anyone woke up . . . We just kind of snuck out,” he says. “Hardcore punk guys just have a way of being so aggressive with how they deal with you. We thought we were going to get our asses kicked. We stayed up all night and the house was disgusting. Cat piss on the couches — it was just a mess.”
Sketchy situations like this arise from the lack of funding that some smaller indie bands face. Connelly says money is the number one struggle for the band, but he’s not greedy. He doesn’t want Coldplay levels of fame and fortune.
“I don’t need a big house, I don’t need a car. To just be able to pay my rent, go out, get dinner sometimes. That’s all I need,” says Connelly. “When I get to a point where I am able to live comfortably off just music — that would be a point where I could say, I feel happy how big this band is. Nobody else has to work another job, we can just get by on playing music.”
Music that they are bringing all over the country — just don’t go to their show and tell Hot Panda they sound like a band or fit in a genre you appreciate, because you’ll probably find that their next record won’t sound like that at all and it’ll be all your fault.