Gold Panda

Gold Panda’s output has explored various realms ranging from organic, sample-heavy glitch-hop to moody experimental techno. Making his full-length debut with 2010′s Lucky Shiner, a mixture of microhouse and downtempo sometimes recalling DJ Shadow and Four Tet, the producer continued making atmospheric club tracks and more reflective compositions on subsequent releases like 2016′s Good Luck and Do Your Best. He also teamed up with Jas Shaw (Simian Mobile Disco) for the release of a 2018 full-length as Selling, and additionally explored stripped-down house as DJ Jenifa and ambient/drone as Softman. He returned as Gold Panda in 2022, reflecting on middle age, fatherhood, and sobriety with the full-length The Work.
A retiring sort with the given name Derwin Dicker, Gold Panda began his electronic experiment as a lark in the late ’90s as a teenager, chopping up pop songs with abandon on his music producer uncle’s sampler. By his late twenties, he was remixing tracks for Bloc Party and Little Boots, and turning the ears of tastemakers with his original hip-hop and glitch-laced compositions. The EPs Before, Miyamae, and Quitter's Raga were released in 2009, with You and the Ghostly International-issued full-length Lucky Shiner following soon after in 2010. After contributing a mix for the !K7 label’s DJ-Kicks series and released the rarities compilation Companion in 2011, Dicker did some traveling, which ultimately inspired an international music concept for his 2013 sophomore outing, Half of Where You Live. Shortly after the album appeared, a follow-up EP was released, titled Reprise. Formed of the two album cuts “Reprise” and “Community,” the EP also boasted reworkings by Fort Romeau and T. Hemingway.
It would be three years until Gold Panda’s next full-length, which came in the shape of 2016′s Good Luck and Do Your Best on the City Slang imprint. Drawing inspiration from what the producer described as the unique qualities of the light in Japan during the April and October periods he was there, Good Luck and Do Your Best had a noticeably warmer sound than its precursor. A much darker and more experimental EP titled Kingdom appeared later in the year. This was followed by Your Good Times Are Just Beginning, an EP containing remixes of tracks from Good Luck and Do Your Best.
Dicker then devoted several years to various side projects. He collaborated with Simian Mobile Disco’s Jas Shaw as Selling, releasing the ambient house album On Reflection in 2018. He also released a series of ambient/drone recordings as Softman, and the house album Jag Trax as DJ Jenifa (an homage to De La Soul’s “Jenifa Taught Me,” which happens to mention a character named Derwin). After becoming a father and refocusing his life, Dicker returned to the Gold Panda moniker with 2022′s The Work. ~ Jason Thurston & Paul Simpson