Moon Panda Touches Down in San Diego
The spacey sounds of distorted synthesizers and sparkly chimes might lead listeners to believe that Moon Panda operates from a space station. While their music seems to inhabit the vaporous waves of Neptune’s rings or the mercurial pools of the inner solar system, they’re now calling San Diego home. Moon Panda has Maddy Myers on bass/vocals, Gustav Moltke on guitar, Josh Cabitac on drums, and George Godwin on keyboards.
Moon Panda’s blend of dream and indie pop is reminiscent of the thick, lush French pop music of the 1980s, a trend that’s been explored in parallel by bands like Men I Trust and Wet. But Moon Panda veers from these contemporaries in the way they explore texture and layers throughout the tracks. Their most recent record, 2023’s “Sing Spaceship, Sing!” bounces between the studio perfectionism of Sade’s “Diamond Life” and the astrological explorations of early Pink Floyd.
This is best exhibited in songs like “Pool Day” or “Starfruit.” The tracks begin humbly with Cabitac’s spotless rhythm nesting under Moltke’s twinkly guitar riffs. As Myer’s feathery voice develops the songs into its next movements, the songs are propelled by ever-increasing layers of spacious guitar, grandiose synthesizers, and funky bass lines that culminate into an overwhelming sea of extraterrestrial bliss.
The band formed when Myers and Moltke crossed paths as students at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Myers, a vocal student, met Moltke, a guitar student, because their respective roommates were siblings. When Myers expressed interest in starting a rock band, her roommate introduced her to Moltke and the two have played together ever since.
The duo also met Cabitac at Berklee, who was their drummer when they were still a rock band. Cabitac left the band when they moved to Europe, but after cycling through several drummers, he returned to the band when they moved back to the United States. “We are so lucky, [Cabitac] is from L.A. and he comes every week to practice and write,” Moltke said. “We went through like, eight drummers in-between, but now he’s back. We’re super lucky because he was our favorite drummer.”
Their keyboardist George Godwin joined the band thanks to a quirky coincidence. “We met [Godwin] while we were living in London,” Moltke said. “He was in a band called Grateful Moon and we were in Moon Panda and both bands had the same drummer. We met [Godwin] through him and became friends.”
“He definitely adds a new element to the band,” Myers chimed in. “It’s a new element that is very different from what we were originally.”
After living in Denmark for several years, the band relocated to San Diego in December to expand their scene and reach a larger audience. The band made a commemorative entrance at San Diego’s Wonderfront 2024 festival, announcing their new residency in San Diego and their intention to develop their music career in our city.
The band is currently working on new material with producer Adam Thein, and hoping to release a new album next year. For this upcoming album, the band is allowing themselves to explore new sounds, particularly from their favorite psych and singer/songwriter influences like Orion’s Son and Still Woozy. “We have around 15 songs we’re working on right now. We worked on this [album] for about a year, and we hope to finish it this year.”
Since their last album, the band has opted to record in their home rather than in a professional studio. Myers said, “When you’re in the studio there’s pressure. The pressure of, ‘oh, okay, I have an hour to really get this right’ versus just being in your house and feeling it at the moment; it’s so much better.”
“I love the studio experience a lot,” Myers continued. “In the studio, you’re just full of opportunity and it could go anywhere, which is really nice when you’re in this total creative space.” While unable to define the overall aesthetic of the upcoming album, Myers said, “I’ve been pushing this for years, I’ve always wanted to get more psychedelic. I just love a huge synth that takes over and engulfs the song.”
Moltke credits the bands’ changing sound with how much they have changed as live performers. “Our sound has always been quite synth-heavy live, and I feel like we are more psychedelic live than in the studio. It’s hard to [summarize the aesthetic] of all the songs, as it was more about making them as good as they can be.”
Myers added, “I think we’re being drawn to a little bit of faster tempos these days. It’s just so much more fun to play to an audience when they’re dancing a little.”
As if moving cities and recording an album wasn’t enough, Myers and Moltke have also welcomed their first child together which Moltke joyfully described as “a learning curve.”
“It’s been hard honestly,” Myers said. “He’s too little to be around music [and] it’s too loud to play a live band around him so one of us has to be with him, or a grandparent. But I think it’s going to be okay, he’s the best.”
As the band starts a new chapter in San Diego, they hope to explore all the opportunities the city offers them. “We have some shows coming up in the Fall and then we’ll try to finish this album this year and we’re excited to play more locally. San Diego is such a great city and we’re excited to be here,” said Moltke. “We’re excited to get out and play and tour a bit more in the US. It’s always been a dream, and we’re excited to do it.”
Moon Panda’s upcoming album is yet to be announced, but their two albums, “Sing Spaceship, Sing!” and “What on Earth” are available on all streaming platforms. They also have an upcoming show on October 19th at Gold-Diggers in Los Angeles.