Zulu Panda

Zulu Panda Recorded an Album With Different Musicians and Producers in Every Province and Territory
June 18, 2018 by Chelsea Novak

Canadians have a reputation for being friendly and Wesley David Scott—the singer and songwriter behind indie rock project Zulu Panda—can confirm that this is true.

Scott spent last year touring Canada and recording one of his two new albums, 13 Canadian Love Letters. It started out as a way for him to celebrate and explore his identity as a Canadian on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation.

“I was planning on releasing a studio album—and it was going quite well—and I was chatting with friends and I had this crazy idea that it would be really cool to perform and record in every province and territory,” Scott says.

Over the course of the year, he recorded songs in Whitehorse; Yellowknife; Iqaluit, Nunavut; Abbotsford, B.C.; Edmonton; Saskatoon; Winnipeg; Toronto; Montreal; St. John’s; Fredericton; Halifax; and Malpeque, P.E.I.

Although 13 Canadian Love Letters was a Canada-150-inspired project, Scott didn’t seek out any government funding.

“I decided to go on my own dime … because I wanted creative control over the music and the process. … I wanted to make sure that I was confident in this project and able to report it myself because there are parts of the history of Canada which are … troublesome for some people, and I wanted to make sure I explored all of the facets and got a good understanding of what life was like for Canadians and what Canadians thought at a true level. Rather than some puff piece,” Scott says

The Canadians he met are all pretty proud to be Canadian, yet a lot them were hesitant about waving the “150 flag.”

“Certainly, it’s important to acknowledge Indigenous communities and how some might see that as more of a mark of colonial history than celebrating the country as a whole,” Scott says. “It’s very important to represent and acknowledge all our cultures when we talk about Canada.”

Scott not only met and talked with Canadians on his journey but collaborated with them as well.

He says Zulu Panda has always been open for other artists to participate and for 13 Canadian Love Letters he worked with not only other musicians but with different producers in every province and territory.

“I think in the end I worked with about 19 different producers from coast to coast to coast and put together two albums and decided to release them,” Scott says.

13 Canadian Love Letters opens with “Intro to Inuktitut”—the language spoken by about 75 percent of Inuit in Nunavut.

Scott explains that he had the opportunity to have strangers share things about themselves and their cultures throughout his tour, and he thought the moment recorded in “Intro to Inuktitut” was a unique one that people would find interesting.

Another story Scott wanted to share was his stop in Edmonton at the Tavern on Whyte.

After drawing hostility from the crowd by performing a sound check while the Oilers were still playing, Scott and his drummer got told to “Go back to Germany” during the show. Afterwards, the drummer accidentally had his drink spiked with hash oil, which made for an interesting evening that led to a 2 a.m. pharmacy visit.

Scott decided that the incident deserved a song, so he wrote “Tavern on Whyte” before his next recording stop in Iqaluit.

“I thought, ‘You know, this is kind of a basic story-telling track that I want to make sure gets out there to share,’” Scott says.

His second album, six-tracks long, is called Power On!

Now that both albums have been released, Scott is traveling the country once again.

He’s in the midst of his second 30-day summer tour, covering stops in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and last month traveled from Vancouver to Montreal and back again. Later on, he’ll also be touring parts of B.C. and Alberta in July and August.

Scott also recently had the chance to play in China.

“It was a lot of fun. Very different audience, but really cool vibes,” Scott says.

Up next, he and a friend are working on a musical based on a classic 1980s action movie. - Vue Weekly