Get to Know: Pania

Having only been in London for less than a week rising R&B artist Pania hasn’t wasted time in seeing what the grey city has to offer.

Now, this Monday morning she has found some time to speak to New Wave magazine. We discuss her latest garage-inspired single ‘Burna FONE’, her sound that she describes as “pretty girl music”, as well as explore the exciting emergence of the Australian music scene. “I just wanted to show the world my city I guess”, she says.

At the weekend she enjoyed, an R&B slow jams rave hosted by Chuckie Online one of the most authentic and distinct voices in our scene. “ the music was like ugh, so good. Like hearing ‘Shawty in the Club’ was crazy."

"I love it here, I love the culture. It’s good. the fashions are good. suns out I can’t really complain,” she says smiling. It’s been really nice.”

Explaining further, “It’s winter in Melbourne, so it’s so cold (over there), like disgustingly cold so it’s good to get out of that.”

As she talks about the city she grew up we cannot help but see similar comparisons to London. “Melbourne is like the art city of Australia”, Pania says. “It’s the fashion capital, it’s multicultural and there’s a big party and nightlife vibe going on.”

We grew up mostly listening to American music, and then when the UK scene blew up we kind of shifted to more of that. So yeah, it’s a mix in Melbourne. A lot of people do love the UK trap in Melbourne, autotune wave.”

But also, UK garage. Whether they’re attracted to the energy and pace of the beat or that deep feeling that the sub-genre unlocks garage is a cemented part of UK history.

Asking the musician from West Melbourne what drew her to working with Toddla T, she says “That was actually me trying something completely different. Just something out of the box. I love garage

“I wanted to I guess, kind of”, she pauses to think of the right word, before settling “Yeah switch it up a bit, do something fun.”

She definitely does lean into a new sound with her latest release compared to the smouldering late-night ‘All Mine’ or any of her other passionate tracks. “It’s so different, she shares. “But I like that. I like to keep it interesting and I like to have the main consistent thing in all of my music be voice and melodies and switch up the beats.”

“It started with chords and this gospel melody. It started really slow but then he added the drop, vocal adlibs and then he was like you need to rap on the hook, that’s how it all came together”, she said laughing lightly.

“I would just call it pretty girl music,” she says when asked to describe her sound. “That’s the genre pretty girl music. I want people to feel themselves when they listen to it. It’s the music you play when your on the way to the club.”

Her Indian and Māori heritage is also something that is very important to her She reveals that she was named after the Māori myth Pania of the Reef by her grandma, it’s proving a fitting choice because of her enthralling R&B vocals, and emotive tone of voice.

She also naturally finds expression through fashion, manifested in the stylish fits that can be found on her Instagram and also through the aesthetics in music videos.

“The music video was a lot of work”, she admits, “and a very long shoot day.” Shot in Melbourne it provides a look into the cultural spaces that exist in the inner city.

“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to do”, she answers when I question her on the image she presented of the city. “to kind of put on my city and doing a track with a big London producer I wanted to, you know, cross those worlds and make people from my city feel a part of it too.”

“So that’s why I got some of my favourite rappers in the video as well like Baby Face Mal who opens the scene. There are also constant shots of the Melbourne skyline in scenes.”

I’ve been into fashion since before I was into music. My main fashion influence is 2000s music videos, old school 90s music videos, it’s where I draw all my inspiration from”, Pania says.

With the 'ALL MINE' cover art, I got all my inspiration from old-school Aaliyah videos. I just love all those old-school Aaliyah videos no matter what setting she’s in her skin is always golden.”

“In Burna FONE, the first scene was inspired by Lil Kim and BALI references. (BALI) is one of my favourite movies because of the cinematography.”

The aim of bringing Melbourne, and Australia to a wider audience is commendable. Wanting to highlight the talent that doesn’t get noticed, she says “There’s a really talented scene in Australia, and I feel that in the next few years, you’ll start seeing more of that.”

Inspired by a Justin Bieber documentary and her friends who were all singers at the time, one day Pania decided to do YouTube karaoke when “no one was home” she confides.

“It started from there and for a long time, I was doing it on my own privately to build confidence. When I started writing songs that’s when I really got into music.

Her first EP burnt ur clothes & changed the addy was released at the end of last year. Reflecting on what she learnt from the experience, “how emotionally unstable I am, nah I’m kidding”, she adds laughing.

“I guess as artists music is our outlet and once you start to reflect, sit back and listen to it, especially as a project and you have to actually write out what the meaning of each song is you kind of learn about yourself a lot."

"You learn about how you deal with things, I feel that it helped me grow and understand things and helped me learn what I can do better. You always want to improve on the imagery and the songwriting."

Pania plans to stay in the UK until the end of the month and already has an idea of what’s on the agenda. “working in the studio, photoshoots, and meetings, she lists

We can only hope, however, that being in the UK leads to more creative inspiration as she works on new music and gains new life experiences, continuing to bridge the Atlantic gap between Melbourne and London.

Listen here