Panda (band)

Panda (commonly stylized as PXNDX) was a Mexican rock band formed in Monterrey, Nuevo León in 1996 as part of the musical movement known as Avanzada Regia. The last line-up consisted in singer José Madero, drummer Jorge Vásquez, lead guitarist Arturo Arredondo and bassist Ricardo Treviño.

Panda
Background information
Origin	Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Genres	Alternative rock pop punk punk rock emo
Years active	1996–2016 (on hiatus)
Labels	Movic Warner EMI Universal
Associated acts	Magnolia y Los No Me Olvides Super Azfalto Desierto Drive
Website	[Official Panda Facebook.]
Past members	José Madero Ricardo Treviño Jorge "Kross" Vásquez Arturo Arredondo Jorge "Ongi" Garza David Castillo David Nuno

Founded by singer/guitarist José Madero, guitarist Jorge "Ongi" Garza, bass guitarist Ricardo Treviño and drummer David Castillo. In 1997, Vásquez replaced Castillo, which led to demo recordings and a deal with independent label Movic Records the following year. The band ended receiving local attention in 2000 with debut and second studio albums Arroz Con Leche and La Revancha Del Príncipe Charro (2002). The next year, they were the opening act for American rock band Blink-182 during their brief tour in Mexico. This prompted Madero, who was working as a lawyer at the time, to drop out and continue their music career.[1] By 2004, their major-label debut translated with success in follow-up Para Ti Con Desprecio (2005). It reached gold and platinum status, with album sales over 200,000. The band would become the target of massive backlash over plagiarism reports that had caused poor criticism and damage to their reputation and image for years to come.[2]

Garza departe from the group before its release, and Súper Azfalto guitarist Arturo Arredondo would later replace him. Their fourth effort, highly-acclaimed Amantes Sunt Amentes (2006) became the band's highest-selling with over 250,000 albums sold, gained gold and double platinum status as well, while achieving international success with Poetics (2009), Bonanza (2012) and Sangre Fría (2013).

In early 2016, it was announced its members would go on separate ways, considering a brief break from recording and/or touring, and the band has been on a temporal hiatus since.[3]Some sources determined that the group had finally broke up afterwards, but Treviño have replied saying "I think people get tired of the same thing; a new album is announced with four singles to promote it, and then going out on tour and then another album. Also, this break serves us to fans missing us on stage."[4] Madero pursued a solo career, while the three resting members formed a new band by the name of Desierto Drive in 2018.[5][6]

Background

Formation (1996-1999)

The band started playing covers but they realized they were good at writing their own material, so they started writing songs about friends, parties and love. Those songs were placed on a demo tape, Demo 1997, and distributed to independent labels. Soon after that, After all that their personal friend and independent producer Mario (MarakaZ) Huerta acting as A&R, caught the attention of an independent label, Movic Records, and signed a record deal (by Kiko Lobo).

History

Debut, second studio albums and moderate success (2000-2002)

Panda's debut studio album, Arroz con leche was released on September 2, 2000, and drew little attention by people and critics, reportedly selling over 50,000 copies. Their second follow-up, La Revancha Del Príncipe Charro, was released February 3, 2002. It sold well, gaining moderate success and reached platinum in Mexico. The album also contained a cover from Joan Sebastian and Alberto Vazquez (singer)'s duet song, "Maracas".

The band toured in the United States and Mexico to promote their album. At the end of the tour, they went into the studio to record a third effort. Jorge Garza left the band after the group finished the material and was replaced by another member from Super Azfalto, this time guitarist [Arturo Arredondo].

Para Ti Con Desprecio, plagiarism claims, fan backlash and Amantes Sunt Amentes (2005-2006)

Ricardo Treviño in 2008

Para Ti Con Desprecio was released in May 11, 2005. The record solidified a change in tone, shifting from their previous sanitized, humorous pop punk sound for a more darker, matured aesthethic elements. It is their most popular album to date in Mexico and Latin America, although it made them lose fans, now called Anti-Pandas, over plagiarism accusations that derived in (supposedly) stealing lyrics and guitar riffs from groups such as My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, and Smashing Pumpkins. The singles "Cita en el Quirófano", "Cuando no es como debiera ser", and "Disculpa los malos pensamientos" topped MTV's Los 10+ Pedidos fora total of 39 weeks. "Disculpa los malos pensamientos" was also the most voted video on MTV in 2006.[7] That same year, the band collaborated in the soundtrack of "Skimo", a Mexican sitcom from Nickelodeon, with the song "Si esto fuese realidad".

At the end of the year, the band released Amantes Sunt Amentes, their fourth album, which reached the top of the Mexican charts within weeks and was certified platinum. To date, the album has sold approximately 200,000 copies, and was close to Maná first album Falta Amor.

During this time the band released their second single, "Los Malaventurados no Lloran". The music video has received heavy rotation in MTV.

In February 2007, the band collaborated in the album Tributo al más grande, a tribute album for Mexican norteña band Bronco. The band recorded the song "Oro" with a new rock style. The singer José Madero, accompanied Guadalupe Esparza and Luis Cortes in the song "Amigo Bronco" and led to a great upset.

In mid July, the band released a third single: "Procedimientos Para Llegar A Un Común Acuerdo". Because of the extensive success of the band's previous single, the song was sent to radio stations in all of Latin America at the same time. "Procedimientos" quickly debuted in some of the important Latin charts, ultimately reaching the top 10 in many countries.

On November 30, 2007, Panda released "Sinfonía Soledad", their first live album that contains a concert on Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. It contains their main songs and two new songs dedicated to their fans.[8]

The band was nominated in Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2006, winning the categories Best Group or Duet, Best Alternative Artist, and Breakthrough Artist. The band performed "Narcicista Por Excelencia" during the show. In Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2007, the band was nominated for three categories, but only won Best Alternative Artist.

Controversy

In 2005, the Mexican magazine R & R published an article stating that several Panda songs, mainly from the album Para ti con Desprecio, were similar to songs from other bands of similar genres (some lyrics were virtually translations), such as: My Chemical Romance, Green Day, MxPx, Blink 182, Fall Out Boy.

After the scandal, reporters have often mentioned this to the band when they are interviewed. In the interview published on February 31, 2006, on Versus, a T.V. show from Telehit, the band members appeared defensive when asked about the plagiarism, and responded in contradictory ways. Kross, drummer for the band stated: "We didn't steal, it was coincidentally, I don't know... It was not done purposely, it was not made with any malicious intent, so I don't know, the subconscious betrays you ...".

With the release of their fourth album Amantes Sunt Amentes and the growth in popularity of the band on MTV in other countries, they preferred to change the subject when asked about plagiarism. Bassist Ricardo Treviño said: "There are people who say: You either love or hate Pxndx. I think that those who love us are the majority, so why would we argue about these things?". The group acknowledged that all the bad publicity was publicity in the end in their song "¡Ah Pero Cómo Vendo Cassettes!", that roughly translates to "oh, but I still sell lots of records".

The accusations of plagiarism caused many people to reject Panda.[9][10] These groups call themselves Anti Pandas,[11] and have expressed their position through different websites (YouTube, MySpace and Facebook), as well as festivals where Panda plays. The Anti Pandas say that the list of plagiarism of Panda stands at more than 35 songs.

Panda has been booed in different festivals, such as the 2007 edition of Rock'N'Exa, where the public threw bottles, trash, and other things at them while they played.[12][13]

The same thing happened in 2008 at the Vive Latino,[14] and the Third International Rock Festival in Rio, although they have an outgrowing fan movement in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, not to mention most of Latin America and throughout the world.

Members

Panda in concert.

Closing members

• José Madero (Pepe) - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, Moog synthesizer, piano, keyboards (since 1996)
• Arturo Arredondo - lead guitar, vocals (since 2005)
• Ricardo Treviño - bass guitar, backing vocals (since 1996)
• Jorge Vázquez (Kross) - drums, percussion (since 1997)

Former members

• David Castillo (Chunky) - drums, percussion (1996)
• Jorge Garza (Ongi) - lead guitar, vocals (1996–2004)
• David Nuno (deibi) - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2001-2004)

Touring members

• Fernando Salinas - rhythm guitar (2005-2010)
• Marcelo Treviño - piano, keyboards, Moog synthesizer, vocals (2005–2012)
• José Hernández - lead guitar (2004)
• Rodrigo "Bucho" Montfort - keyboards, piano, Moog synthesizer, vocal (2012-2013)

Discography

Advertising a Panda concert in Hermosillo, Sonora, in 2008.

Studio albums

Album	Year	Chart Position
Arroz Con Leche	2000	16 MEX
La Revancha Del Príncipe Charro	2002	7 MEX
Para Ti Con Desprecio	2005	1 MEX
Amantes Sunt Amentes	2006	1 MEX 3 VEN 1 ECU
Poetics	2009	1 MEX 1 ECU
Bonanza	2012	1 MEX
Sangre Fría	2013	2 MEX

Live albums

Album	Year
Sinfonía Soledad	2007
Panda MTV Unplugged	2010
PXNDX: Hasta el final	2016

Collaborations

Album
Skimo Soundtrack Released: 2006 Songs: Si esto fuese realidad
"Un mundo maravilloso" Soundtrack Released: 2007 Songs: No te deseo el bien, pero tampoco te deseo el mal
Tributo al más grande Released: 2007 Songs: Amigo Bronco (Pepe, Luis Treviño and Guadalupe Esparza) Oro
Nos Vamos Juntos - Un Tributo a las Canciones de Caifanes y Jaguares, Vol. 1 Released: 2010 Songs: La Celula Que Explota (Caifanes Cover)	Tribute Album

Singles

Year	Single	Album	Top Singles Chile	Top Singles Colombia	Top Singles Iberoamérica	Top Singles México	México Rock Digital	Los 10 más Pedidos Norte	Los 100 más Pedidos Norte	Billboard Hot Ringtones
2000	Buen día	Arroz Con Leche	-	-	-	92	-	-	-	-
	Si supieras		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Miércoles		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Te invito a mi fiesta		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Hola	La Revancha Del Príncipe Charro	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2003	Maracas		23	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Ya no Jalaba		-	-	-	-	-	-	77	-
2004	Quisiera no Pensar		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	Cita en el quirófano	Para ti con desprecio	-	-	-	-	-	1	4	28
2006	Cuando no es como debiera ser		-	-	-	-	-	1	26	-
	Disculpa los malos pensamientos		-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-
	Narcisista por excelencia	Amantes Sunt Amentes	25	-	36	9	1	1	40	-
2007	Los Malaventurados no Lloran		35	8	29	26	1	1	2	-
	Procedimientos Para Llegar a un Común Acuerdo		-	10	61	54	1	1	18	-
	Muñeca	Sinfonía Soledad	-	10	61	54	1	1	-	-
2008	Nunca Nadie Nos Podrá Parar (Gracias)		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2009	Sólo A Terceros	Poetics	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	2
	Adheridos Separados		-	-	-	23	1	1	33	1
2010	Nuestra Aflicción		-	-	-	-	-	1	7	-
	Feliz Cumpleaños	MTV Unplugged	-	-	-	-	-	-	67	-
2012	Envejecido en Barril de Roble	Bonanza	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Romance en Re Sostenido		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	La Noche de la Mesa Triste		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2013	Enfermedad en Casa	Sangre Fría	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2014	Saludos desde Turquía		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Usted		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Libre Pastoreo		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

References

1. "El día que blink-182 salvó a Pxndx". punkeando.com.mx (in Spanish). 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
2. "La historia detrás de todos los plagios que hizo Panda de Green Day y My Chemical Romance". culturacolectiva.com (in Spanish). 2018-12-13. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
3. Alvarez, Renzo (2016-02-09). "PXNDX: estas son las 10 razones de su separación temporal". RPP (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-31.
4. Alvarez, Renzo (2016-02-09). "PXNDX: estas son las 10 razones de su separación temporal". RPP (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-31.
5. "José Madero aguanta vara y se sale con la suya". Charrocanrolas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-31.
6. "Desierto Drive: la nueva banda de exintegrantes de Pxndx". Punkeando! (in Spanish). 2019-04-01. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
7. YouTube, "Los 100+ pedidos del 2006, 2006.
8. PandaLandia, Primera Plana: Ya está en todas las tiendas, México, 2007.
9. ElUniversal.com.mx Grupo Panda, Menos enamorados, 2006
10. Terraarticulo.aspx interest?=669,186 the group accused of plagiarizing songs from bands like Green Day and My Chemical Romance, 2008
11. ElComercio.com Internet could be found almost as many clubs as antipanda Panda fans, 2008
12. Vanguardia, Panda received samples of rejection by the hearing, 2008
13. YouTube, "angry panda concert exam", 2007
14. Vivelatino.com.mxChronicles VL08: Scenario Verde. Part III Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, 2008

External links

• Official Website