Soy Panday

Cheeky Sarah by Soy Panday, a favorite of mine

Monsieur Soy and Mr. Lindsay; Tokyo 2008

Soy Panday has one of the best names I have ever read, typed, and vocally communicated. With a name like Monsieur Soy Panday, people are sure to store, retain, and recall some bit of information regarding Monsieur Panday. Whether this retention involves his warm laugh and accent, his artistic fabrications, his dance and skateboard moves, or the flowers that spew from his mouth when he serenades his brothers and sisters with his mother tongue, Monsieur Soy is sure to be commemorated. On top of his admirable persona, Soy’s relation to Roy Sunday is desirous, the scar on his neck received when courageously fending off a Bengal Tiger from devouring a frightened child is praiseworthy, and his angelic hair reminds me of the boy in Gustav Klimt's Mother and Child.

Soy's ink and dance manoeuvers are second to none

Mr. Panday, I met you and your mate Mr. Feil in Japan through our buddy Mr. Lindsay. I believe that was your first visit to the land of the rising sun, and you were staying with an ex-missus while escaping Europa. The day we met one another, Mr. Feil was so excited to be a foreigner in the East, embracing his loud use of obscenities, drinking beer where he pleased, and frolicking gaily hand in hand with Mr. Lindsay, that I was momentarily stunned like an armadillo caught in an oncoming car’s high beams. My rudimentary numbness was due to my personal assimilation, the blending of my Floridian cultural characteristics with that of my new home in the Far East. However, our first engagement was fun, refreshing, and loud. Coincidently, we both planned a Japanese sabbatical a year later and our time together was conspicuously amusing, and I then became fond of your dance moves. You then went back to Japan for a third time in the Year of the Ox; 2009. What about Nihon draws you back again and again, and how does it compare with the rest of the world that you’ve been ingenious enough to explore?

First of all, I must say that I can perfectly understand why you got so very fond of my dance manoeuvers; they are quite honestly among the most visually pleasing body movement ever executed by a human being. With that said, there is indeed something about Nihon that keeps me going back. I find big cities very inspiring, and Tokyo is undoubtedly gigantic, and there are therefore an almost unlimited supply of very interesting spots. The people, I must say, are another really big part of my coming-backs. Everyone I have met there was outrageously nice, motivated, understanding and supportive. From an outsider’s point of view, there seemed to be no negativity whatsoever. Their skate culture is very interesting too, as the country is very traditional and peculiar, while at the same time being very “Americanized”. They take what they see from American videos and make it their own, and the result is what Japanese skateboarding means today, an upgrade of the NY-style of skating, just more fun and less serious. Japanese skate videos are definitely very inspiring to watch.
Apart from the skateboarding part, Japan is quite inspirational for art too, as there is a high tradition of design. They have mastered the art of simplicity and subtlety, and pretty much everything is beautiful. It seems that everything has been perfectly designed, well thought of, not overdone. Nihon is definitely one of a kind.

a Monsieur Panday original piece

Parisian culture incorporates opera houses, ballet, both classic and modern, and theatre, as well as independent film festivals. I’ve also read that Parisians tend to follow America’s Hollywood cinema, and that the French cinema ranks second to the United States of freedom fries. When you were growing up in Paris did the abundance of entertainment options have an effect on your acting interests, and what French and American movies, as well as directors and actors are you keen on?

I’ve always loved watching movies, and I’ve also always loved “acting”, doing little improvisations and stuff, although I never went as far as taking acting classes, mainly because skateboarding was taking all my time. But I couldn’t really tell you where that comes from. I think it does come from fighting off shyness, trying to create a different character was an easy way for me to communicate with people. As to what I’m keen on, damn, there are so many. I don’t consider myself a true connoisseur, I actually am pretty easy. Beside being one of Roy Sunday’s biggest fans, I really like Wes Anderson’s movies, I’m a big Zucker-Abraham-Zucker fan (“Airplane”), I really like old gangster movies, like old DeNiro and Al Pacino, the classics…Nothing too crazy in my tastes, I pretty much like everything, every genre… as far as France is concerned, I really like Les Nuls, Le grand détournement…

is Soy acting or skating?

Usually in large metropolises, specific ethnic groups merge together for obvious reasons; language, food, cultural customs, holiday festivals, and symmetrical fornication. Let’s discuss your neighborhood. I remember you mentioning you lived in an Indian neighborhood of Paris, am I right? Have you always lived in this specific vicinity, and if not, why did you decide to make it home base? Also, I’d like to know if growing up as a Hapa, half Asian and European, were you ever scrutinized for being so charming and good looking?

I have actually not always lived in Paris, I moved around France a bit before settling here about 8 years ago. My brother had been living here for a year or two before me, in a different neighbourhood, but yes, as soon as I moved here and with him, we relocated to the Indian part of town. Not because it was the Indian part of town, just because it was a good location, close to many train lines, and pretty cheap. And so I could go eat Indian food every other day at this one restaurant, hahaha. It’s a really cool part of the city to live in.

As far as my Hapa upbringing, hell yes, I mean, if that word actually exists! Actually, thanks to my devotion to skating and my shyness, I didn’t learn about the concept of girls until I was old enough to have kids of my own, hahahaha. Ok, maybe things weren’t that bad, but they really weren’t that good either. Luckily for me, I later realized being shy was rather stupid, and I stopped. That’s when the scrutiny began…hehehe.

Mr. Lindsay and I were discussing life and leisure over a few glasses of Crème de cassis and a plate of Quiche Lorraine, while basking in the tunes of Brigitte Fontaine and critiquing the original painting La Toilette by Edgar Degas that Mr. Lindsay bartered for last month by exchanging one of your illustrations. While our intellect soared high above the heavens and peered down upon the earth, our extreme mental capacities spotted you devouring a strawberry and nutella crepe. Our ascended psyche descended back to Mr. Lindsay’s flat and we were then reminded of your contagiously blissful manner. Mr. Lindsay then disclosed the secret of your master’s degree. Of course this chapter of the Panday saga did not faze me because I know how accomplished and civilized a man of your stature is, and forever will be. What did you study at your institution of higher education, do you use this part of your intellect now, and what knowledge do you prefer to absorb in the present moment? Also, if you ripen into an apprentice, what would you contemplate and who would be your mentor?

Let’s start this one by being very honest: there was no strawberry in my strawberry and nutella crepe. A man of my maneurism would never dip into this nonsense of a nontaste. As far as my education, I studied Business and Econimics, and I guess even if I don’t really use it, being that I don’t work and have long ago prefered to choose to follow the less profitable path of the ‘artist’s’ life, I guess it has developped my intellect. School basically enables you to learn how to read and write properly, to understand and analyse, not only what’s going on in the current economy, but things in general. It trains and sharpens your understanding of things, and what I came to understand about business and economy quickly applied to everything in my everyday life, to my skating life, to my love life even. In a way what you learn mainly, if you’re willing to look a little deeper than what you’re tought and to read between the lines, is to understand the human mind.
As to the second part of the question, I am an apprentice right now. I am currently trying to learn how to paint, following advices from my master, Marke Newton. And closely looking at Gustav Klimt’s paintings to try and understand his technique.

Soy, you are French, and Americans love the French for some reason. What French stereotypes would you presume the citizens of the Land of Freedom hold in regard to your fellow countrymen and women, and what are some predictable stereotypes that your comrades maintain about us over here in the land of the brave? And finally, when visiting the good ol’ US of America, have you experienced any cultural tension or shock, and did all the women discarded their clothes at the first perception of your magical accent?

Stereotypes, damn, there sure are a ton of those that travel back and forth. French people, on top of being as charming as they’re dirty and smelly, are usually thought of as being rude and hateful towards Americans I presume. Which is of course completely false, unless you are in Paris and yes, everyone is quite rude. Hahaha. Or unless you are indeed a loud American. Americans, as well as Brits, do have a tendency, and at this point this is no longer a stereotype but a truth, hahahaha, to be loud. I’ve actually seen that first hand in many countries I’ve visited, touring with fellow American skaters, and have felt embarrassed more than once that our group was being super loud in the quietest of metros and trains…
As to women discarding their clothes at the first perception of my french accent, let me tell you a funny story. Well, I at least think it’s funny. Anyway, I was at a halloween party in Philly with Jack Sabback and Bobby Puleo a couple years ago, we had driven to Philly for two days, pretty much only for that party. Of course the goal was to try and not stay at Jack’s old place, as it was cold and uninviting, at least less inviting than a night at a lovely girl’s apartment. So anyway, we were at this massive party, and since everyone kept telling me that every American girl was easily charmed by French accents, I spat out my Frenchest tongue to a beautiful girl. We chatted for about 20 minutes when she said she had to go to the bathroom but would come back straight away. At that moment she disappeared not only from my direct neighbourhood but also from the party. Vanished. It was late, or actually quite early in the morning, and I was tired and over it, and I abandonned the useless French accent to tell a friend in my regular not so French accent that I was hungry. A no less charming girl then walked towards me saying, “you’re hungry? Come with me, we’ll get you something to eat”. I was a little puzzled but followed her outside, where I thought she was going to take me to a sandwich place close to the party. Instead we walked for a little bit, and she said “there’s this diner there that’s open all night long, and it’s really convenient, because it’s right by my place…” The accent thing hasn’t yet worked for me once.

check out Soy's current works by clicking this link: http://soypanday.carbonmade.com/