On Saturday August 29th DJ-duo The White Panda played at the American University Tavern, capping off Welcome Week 2015 with their high-energy EDM remixes and mashups. WVAU DJ Sean Carolan got to sit down with The White Panda‰’s Tom Evans before the show and ask him some questions.

SC: So how do you chose the songs you remix, and what kinds of genres you are drawn to, or that you like to draw from?

TE: A good combination for us is always been electronica and hip-hop, that‰’s sort-of a go-to. Generally for me I first look for the instrumentation. I look for music that I think is cool and different, interesting, exciting, uplifting, and sometimes I specifically look for stuff that may not have the most attractive vocals on it, and then I like to take that sort-of “feel-good‰Û sound and then bring in something recognizable like an old hip-hop vocal, and it gives it a completely fresh take on that sound. And in addition to that, obviously it has to work sonically and rhythmically with the tempo and key signature and everything – It has to vibe. And there‰’s a lot of little nitpick-y things that determine whether or not something ends up being a good mix. Personally I like electronic and hip-hop as a combo.

SC: Going with that, I really liked your Kendrick Lamar and Katy Perry mash-up.

TE: Oh yeah, “Poetic Night‰Û.

SC: I felt as though it kinda messed with the flow of Poetic Justice, but in a good way.

TE: Yeah and it can make a great rap lyric and a great flow less intense, and more just “feel good‰Û. It‰’s a good way to transform the genres a little bit,  but take the best elements of the both.

SC: You said earlier that you guys were moving more towards making your own original music. What will that sound like?

TE: I think It‰’s probably going to mirror more our live sets – sort of a gritty combination of progressive electro-house. It‰’s just what we have the most fun playing live, and there‰’s no better way to test your music than by playing it in front of people. So that‰’s some of the stuff we‰’re working on. That‰’s not to say that there won‰’t be down-tempo things as well, [but] we‰’re still maybe a year out from an original release. We want to get the right sound and choose the right release to go with, but [we‰’re] probably aiming more in the EDM vein than in the down-tempo mashup vein.

SC: Is there anything that came out recently that you are looking to do a remix of?

TE: There‰’s a few things – I was listening to the new Hallsey album today, I think she‰’s a really cool female vocalist that would be fun to mix. I‰’m working on a couple right now that I can‰’t technically talk about until [it‰’s] decided whether or not the labels want to release them. But I like vocalists like CHVRCHES, MS MR, just powerful female vocalists that I think are sort-of on chill electronic music, but if you put it on intense, upbeat stuff it can really make the vocals shine and stand out.

SC: Who are your EDM and non EDM influences?

TE: With EDM I would go back to Jack ÌÏ as the trendsetters. I personally think Alesso is a really good progressive house producer if you‰’re going for something in the same style. What Avicii is doing is definitely cool, bringing in a lot of live instrumentation, but he‰’s almost moving away from [it], you can‰’t really call what he does EDM anymore, it‰’s sort-of like electronic pop folk. Non EDM? I listen to more old stuff honestly than new stuff. I listen to a lot of classic rock – Sublime, stuff like that. Groups I grew up listening to – Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin.

SC: And how have they influenced your music?

TE: Well, they got me into music. That‰’s a big part of it.

SC: The beginnings.

TE: Yeah, and I generally shy away from sampling them. Anything I sample I‰’m gonna have to listen to a thousand times over while I‰’m making it and performing it, and sometimes that can make a song a little jaded because I‰’ve heard it so much. And when you mix you also want to do justice to the original, and even hope to improve upon the original in some cases, and I know I just never have a shot at that with my most cherished music, so I generally don‰’t touch that stuff.

SC: Who is your favorite childhood artist?

TE: Led Zeppelin I guess, growing up. I still love them and The Stones, but I was never (I mean the Beatles are great) as much of a Beatles guy as I was Stones and Zeppelin. I listened to a lot of Pink Floyd growing up, and then in the sort-of younger vein 311, Blink-182, Sublime, groups like that.

SC: Most recent concert you attended (besides your own)?

TE: That‰’s a tough question. Can you count a festival that I was playing at but I went to a different show?

Me: Yup!

TE: Actually, I did not play Lolla[palooza] this year but I went to Lolla and I saw MS MR and Slim Thug, which was pretty cool, also DJ Snake.

SC: Who do you most want to see live?

TE: Led Zeppelin.

SC: Who, living or dead would you want to work with most?

TE: That‰’s a tough question… Maybe I‰’d say deadmau5, because he doesn‰’t work with anyone, and it might be a nightmare to actually do it, but it would be cool to put out the first deadmau5 collaboration.

SC: What has been your most interesting moment on tour?

TE: There‰’s been a lot, we‰’ve been doing this for a long time. We‰’ve fallen through stages. There‰’s a lot that goes on when you‰’re touring, and there‰’s a lot that happens during shows themselves. Falling through a stage at Ole Miss was pretty crazy. [I was] just jumping up and down on the stage when the stage collapsed.

SC: Was it not braced properly?

TE: Yeah, it was just like a wooden stage that they had built, and I had to do the rest of the show just spreading my legs over the hole I had fallen through. That was a weird one.

SC: How did you guys come up with the name “The White Panda‰Û?

TE: There‰’s not a very good story to it. We [he and Dan Griffith, the other half of the duo] decided we wanted to collaborate, and we decided we wanted to release music under a common name. I was in a library in college and we were texting back and forth – spitballing. One of the names was “Zionnysus‰Û – it was supposed to be a combination of “Dionysus‰Û, the Greek god of wine, and “Zion‰Û, the promised land, so it was gonna be like “Partying in the Promised Land‰Û. And I think “The Off-White Panda‰” was the initial idea, and I don‰’t know where that came from. It may have been one of our friends tossing it out, and we just decided to call it “The White Panda‰Û, and it sort-of seemed catchy so we just went with it.

SC: Do you guys like pandas?

TE: Yeah, everyone does!

SC: Have you seen the pandas at the National Zoo?

TE: I haven‰’t seen them, but I‰’ve see that they‰’re in the news a lot. I guess one of the cubs died recently, but the other survived.

SC: Yeah when we [Zach and I] first came to college, Bao Bao was born, so everyone and everything was all about Bao Bao.

TE: That‰’s awesome.

SC: They actually made commemorative metro cards for her.

TE: Really? That‰’s cool!

SC: And I‰’m sorry if this is a weird question, but I saw this the other day and wanted to ask you about it. What are your thoughts on this picture right here?

(Shows him picture of the panda w/out black eyepatches)

TE: I posted that the other day! Well not that exact one, but I guess a month ago I posted something like “Be glad we do ourselves up for you guys‰Û. It may have been our most retweeted thing of all time, so it‰’s a good photo.