Tech Panda x Kenzani, the contemporary producer duo from New Delhi, set out to create music that had a piece of their soul and home in it. They looked to the past to help unlock the present, creating a genre that spans diverse sounds and decades.

As it turns out, their blend of emotive electronica with forgotten folk melodies at the centre of their music, is what millions of listeners were craving for too. With the viral hit Dilbar added to their stockpile of successful tracks like Khoyo, Indian Monsoon, Doya and Metanoia, Tech Panda Kenzani have quickly cemented their position as India's foremost electronica acts.

Over the past two years, the duo who Rupinder Nanda and Kedar Santwani aka Tech Panda and Kenzani respectively, have released more than 80 tracks together, amassing fans and accolades.

Verus Ferreira spoke to the duo when they performed at the Dewars Stay Curious HQ by DEWAR’S Xperiences last year and got to know more about their music and what really makes their music tick with the young janta.

Tell us about your stage names — Tech Panda and Kenzani.

Tech Panda: Tech Panda comes from a nickname given to me when I was growing up. I was usually lazy and had panda-like movements given my build. So everyone around me started calling me Panda. I was always into electronic music studying mainly techno. So the name was created - Tech Panda.

Kenzani: No long stories here. My first name is Kedar so I grabbed the ‘KE’ from there and my last name is ‘Santwani’ so I took the ‘ANI’ from there. Formed it together and called myself ‘Kenzani’ because no other artist had taken it.

How did you guys meet?

Tech Panda: I guess for me personally the biggest draw was that I was finally introduced to someone who liked messing around with software and had an inclination to work on creating new cool sounds. He was an amiable and chill person to be around and we decided to sit in the studio one day without any proper agenda or plan as such. We decided to collaborate on a few songs but still kept our original names because we didn’t think we would go that far. One thing led to another, and here we are in 2023.

Kenzani: Funny story, we met through a common friend and immediately discussed our goals towards music. Next thing we know, we are having a studio session trying to see what comes out at the end of it. Sure enough by the end of it, ‘Saawariya’ was born. After that, we started making hundreds of tracks just to brainstorm possible track structures. After much analysis, we commenced releasing tracks that we loved the most.

What is your musical and educational background?

Kenzani: When I was a kid, I used to listen to all sorts of music, all genres – house, trap, hip-hop, urban Asian. There was always music playing around me. My speakers would start up in the morning, and there wasn’t really any time that I was without music. I was exposed to all sorts of music and styles. Music is in my DNA but I never really thought of producing music till much later, when I was 25, 26. I don’t know why I felt drawn to the idea of making music but I think it was because I was looking for a very specific, special blend of sounds and I couldn’t find it. 

Tech Panda: Music was gifted to me by my family. My mother and nani would listen to a lot of classical music. My grandfather was an Army man, and I had the privilege of his tastes and collection. My father was a fan of Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi… So I had access to a variety of music at any given time, and that’s how I fell in love with music too.

You are probably the face of the new electronica sound that India produces. What are the elements you put to create or recreate a song?

Kenzani: I place no limitations or restrictions when I am making music  in the studio. Whatever feels good, whatever gives me goosebumps. I try and make sure that I don’t lose the essence of the Indian sound. I don’t make Indian electronica only, I do make other kinds of genres and I think that’s important. It’s important to not have any pre-set limitations or ideas while you’re making music. You might end up with technically sound music but it may not excite you or be experimental enough. If what I make excites me, I go ahead with the release.

Tech Panda: I keep my mood at the forefront when making music. I am very clear that I don’t necessarily stick to just dance floor friendly music. Music that you can listen to at home, in the kitchen, in your car or share with your friends during a relaxed evening is stuff that I crave to create. Also I’m a sucker for melodies and that’s always the starting point of any work we’ve put out so far. Another thing that I consciously do is not to overfill a track with too many elements… achieving simplicity in sound is the key. And I try to always aim for that during studio time.

You recreated Post Malone’s chartbuster track Sunflower and Swae Lee for ‘Spider Man: Across The Spider Verse’ giving it an Indian feel. Tell us about the song process you took for the song.

Kenzani: ‘Can we pull this off?’ Was the first reaction to each other. Obviously it’s a landmark of a track and we needed to bring our A game to recreate the magic of the original with our signature sound. We didn’t speak to any of the artists, but a clear brief was given to us regarding what was needed from the revisited track. We could hear the new version in our head so all we had to do was the execution.

When you did the song Sunflower and Swae Lee for ‘Spider Man: Across The Spider Verse’, what was the basic idea in mind for the song that would make it appeal to your audience?

Tech Panda:Traditional Indian instruments, heavy electronic elements invoking feelings of nostalgia and brightness would be the best way to describe our signature sound, and we wanted to bring a flavour of that to ‘Sunflower’.

In June last year you released a song called Kulli. Tell us something about the song.

TP & K: ‘Kulli’ has been our most awaited track since its preview in 2020 for ‘Oscillate India’. It is the only track of ours that has got fans and listeners to write us over a thousand messages on social media asking for its release date. That was quite surprising for us. It has been a part of every live set and we finally dropped the single in June.

If I am not mistaken, you have Michelangelo’s world famous David statue face bust covered with eyes in the song Kulli. If so, what is the relation to the song and the statue?

Tech Panda: All our artworks and designs are the brainchild of our art director Dipanshu, and our brief to him has been fairly straightforward. Just like our songs we want our creative direction to also have similar methodology of fusing the east with the west. The face bust you are referring to is half covered juxtaposed with Indian elements like a palanquin and gold motifs to bring alive the vision of our sound.

Your 2018 song Naani has some great sitar riffs. Have you ever thought of one day having a DJ set and a live set with live musicians playing any of your songs?

Kenzani: So we have successfully pulled off shows with folk artists and multi -instrumentalists from Rajasathan in the past and the response from audience has been great. One thing we look out for is same sonic space as ours, so classical and folk musicians are the best fit for us.

How do you source out the visual art for your music videos?

Tech Panda: We take a keen interest in the visual representation and communication for our brand and keep an eye on the local emerging talented people in this space. Our team reaches out to them to explain the scope of work and share the creative brief. Then it’s all about receiving mood boards and ideas from them that we take a final call on.

The electronica scene has evolved and Indian artistes have made international strides. Have you spread your wings overseas and done any shows?

Kenzani: We would love to take our sound all across the globe shows overseas and International tours are something we are looking at seriously this year. But having said that we are also loving performing at Tier 2 and Tier 3 Indian cities where we get immense love and adulation from our fans. We want to keep our travel schedule a mix of both always

Which artists are you guys inspired by?

Tech Panda: There are tons of inspirations musically and that keeps changing. But sticking to electric music space strictly, my biggest inspiration has been Nicolas Jaar for his music is brimming with experiments and emotions.

What is a normal set like when you perform live?

Tech Panda: I think the biggest thing for us to take into account during our live sets is the mood of the audience, timing and setting/venue of the show and such.

What new music are you presently working on?

Kenzani: We are working on furthering the sound space we have created, experimenting with garage and jazz influences. We are dabbling with lots of interesting things atm.

Any collaborations with any Indian or International artists?

Tech Panda and Kenzani: You shall know soon.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira