Veranda Panda (who hail from Durban) will be bringing their electronic music to the Park Acoustics stage this weekend. They make music with machines and a violin and promise to get people grooving in no time at Sunday’s event.

I recently had a quick chat with Liam & Jane from Veranda Panda via E-mail. This is how it went down.

Where does the name Veranda Panda originate from?

Liam: I was in Belgium performing as an actor, and one day we were walking through the town messing around and having a laugh and we started to make rhymes with all the things we saw. So we saw this ceramic panda and someone said “hey, that panda looks like it’s on a veranda”…..and I thought that would be a pretty cool DJ name, and then we decided to keep it when I met and started working with Jane.

When people ask you to describe your music, what do you tell them?

Jane: I think we tell them something different every time, they are probably all getting super confused! But basically we are live electronic music with strings (violin) attached and we dabble in many genres from bass to hip hop to bubblegum bee pop, but our sound and way of writing is starting to get quite distinct. We try to make music that doesn’t take itself too seriously, that is happy and that people can get down and have a little dance to.

When you think of Park Acoustics, what comes to mind and why?

Jane: Big trees, big party, big smiles, and Big Henk.

What are you currently working on?

Liam: We’ve just released our new radio single “Sugar Bee”, which has been doing pretty well on a lot of stations. We’re in planning stages on a music video for that, and also are in studio working our next releases….and we are also beefing up our live set preparing for our tour, which kicks off at Park Acoustics and then will see us visiting places like Grahamstown, east London, Port Elizabeth and J-Bay.

What can music lovers expect from your set at Park Acoustics on the 26th of June?

Jane: MUCH FUN. VERY DANCE. LOTS PANDA. But seriously, a lot of high energy live stuff, some new unreleased music, lots of jumping, and even Liam rapping and Jane sometimes swopping her violin for saxophone. We can’t wait.

I’d like to thank Liam & Jane for taking time to answering these questions and I’m really looking forward to watching their set at Park Acoustics on Sunday. I also wish them the best with their future musical endeavors.

Watch this space for updates in the Music and Interviews categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.