We spend a minute with Shy Panther and find out what’s going on…
Describe your music in five words or less.
Hard for press to describe.
What’s going on right now in the world of Shy Panther?
Just polished off a couple of pieces of Vegemite toast, and hung out a load of washing… We were getting a little restless, so it seemed fitting that Abbe May knocked on our door and invited us on her Karmageddon Tour in December — 4 shows in a week. Bunbury, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth. The Mayans have warned us that the world stops on December 21, which is conveniently the last leg of the tour at the Bakery. Abbe is an incredibly talented and kind human, so the ‘end of the world party’ she has planned for you, sounds like it’s going to be “to-die-for”. We can’t wait. We’re also playing at RTR’s Seriously Sound System Festival, which is mental, and providing we pull through the apocalypse, we’ll be back at the Bakery for the Life Is Noise NYE bash – hey, kudos on that lineup, Life is Noise! Amongst all this, we’re gonna load up the basement with nonperishable goods and spend some more time down there, post-apocalypse, working on some new recordings n things… Hopefully there will be some people left to listen to them.
What are the worst and best gigs you’ve ever played and why?
Worst: most of the gigs we’ve played have been a lot of fun. Parklife was a bit weird though… I think we just ended up confusing a lot of people that day.
Best: Our Erving launch night at the Bird, was a lot of fun. Any gig at the Bird is a lot of fun, because of how welcoming the venue is, and how much of a genius the sound-guy there is… Can I say that? Given that their sound-guy is in our band now? Also, the Chet Faker gig at Mojo’s was the first show we’ve played to a full room of nearly dead-silent patrons — it’s a bizarre and sweet experience to hear a pin rattle’n’ding on the ground.
Tell us something about your music that we might not know.
Apart from us all coming from country-rock backgrounds, did you know that there are brothers in our band? Kynan and Rhien. And one of those brothers, Kynan, actually dates my sister. Which is actually how we all met. And did you know, our second drummer, Chris, is the sound guy at the Bird? Shy Panther — a feel good story.
You’re putting together your perfect local gig? Who would you get to play, why and where? Feel free to include acts/DJs/bands/venues that no longer exist.
I’m guessing, now that Felix Baumgartner’s “leap from space” stunt is over, there may be room for a new headline: “Music Daredevils, Shy Panther, host first ever festival on Mars”
I know we cheated a bit with the “local venue”, but here’s the local lineup:
Ku?ka + Ben Witt + MMHMMM + James Ireland + Savoir + Leure + Diger + Sugarpuss + The Growl + Abbe May + Kynan Tan + Ta-ku + the {MOVE} DJs +many more to be announced.… Did I mention that all these musicians will be accompanied by The Mars Symphony Orchestra..? The gig will be FREE too… Bang for your uncle buck!
