| Panda Bear Jones | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Acoustic pop, Finger Metal |
| Years active | 2000s–2011 |
| Labels | Unsigned |
| Website | www.stuckineggbuckland.com |
| Members | |
| Ross Graham Lloyd Jones Steve Brown |
|
Panda Bear Jones were a British pop band, formed in the 2000s.
Contents |
Frontman Ross Graham (acoustic guitar & vocals) formed the group after contacting longtime friend Lloyd Jones (electric bass & harmonised vocals)[1] about the prospect of playing on a few of his tracks in order to produce a demo recording. The initial practise sessions went so well that Jones began to contribute to the music writing process, with songs for what is now The Rigdale Demos EP (2010) being produced.
The band's name, according to Ramen Music[2] was derived from Lloyd Jones' sympathy with Chinese culture in a wider sense, and Ross Graham's disdain for this fact. Lead vocalist Ross Graham is purportedly a flamenco guitarist whilst bassist Lloyd Jones hails from a death-metal background. Steven Brown (percussion) originates from gospel music.[3]
The band had seen quick success, with The Rigdale Demos EP receiving airplay on BBC Radio6[4][5][6] and appearing on the iTunes Store[7] and Spotify service[8] respectively.
Their single-only song 'Stuck In Eggbuckland' was released on Friday the 18th of February 2011. The song was also posted to their myspace page.[9]
The band announced on Facebook that their first studio-recorded EP would be released on the 29th of July 2011, entitled 'Such Is The Mirth'.[10].
The 5 track EP (1 hidden) was produced by Peter Miles [11] and eventually released on the 5th of August 2011 and made available for free streaming on the band's website [12]. The EP is purportedly named after Ross' brother's stock response to the occurrence of natural disasters [13].
The band announced via a video posted to their official Youtube channel [14] that they had split up and were to play one final live performance in December 2011.
Originally branded as pop, the band flippantly suggested their musical genre is one of 'finger metal' on Tom Robinson's BBC6 Introducing show[4] when asked what their musical genre could best be described as. This is allegedly due to the incorporation of Heavy metal music riffs at live performances, mixed with their usual pop music.
It was announced via Facebook that the band were playing a 2011 festival tour, concluding with the Maker Festival.[15] They also made appearances at the Run To The Sun festival in Newquay, Cornwall[16][17] and the Freedom Festival at Freedom Park, Plymouth.[18][19]
The astute observer could note that the band had (via the Facebook social networking site) created 'events' for their live performances each with a unique name and accompanying picture.[1]
The pictures were all unified by their inclusion of a dog somewhere in the image, and all performance titles were usually absurdist puns, such as 'Child Prawn', 'Car Pork' and 'Piss Wizard'.[20]