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/

Cory Hainline

as seen on Behold a Drawing of a Pale Horse

I believe I started blogging in 2008.  A blog, as a free public medium, was very appealing as a dated place to write. And the fact that blogs can be read worldwide is also a plus. I eventually started devising interviews and posing the ideas to close friends of mine who were keen.

Perhaps it was in the autumn of 2009 that I had compiled more than a handful of interviews, when my close friend, Cory Hainline, a man who I have always admired, inquired about an interview.  But when he asked I was starting to become bored with the  interview process, and blogging as a whole.  I drifted away from Rice and Egg and sought new undertakings.

Well, another great friend of mine, John Lindsay, has been an avid blogger of the underground, international skate scene, and because I like John and his artistic visions and persona so much I proposed we use his blog as the site to launch that interview I forgot about almost four years ago; the Cory Hainline interview for Behold!  I feel honored to have been apart of this. 

If you have time to kill, feel free to check out some of the aforementioned interviews from a few years ago:

Soy Panday
Craig Kaths
John Lindsay
Scotty Conley
Dustin Eggeling
Brett Davis
Ashley Albritton
Travis Adams

John Lindsay

Yokohama ollie

Vivien loves beer and doughnuts, John loves pizza and gelato, and E.T. loves life!

John and Adam doubles; fs rock & tail block

I had been living in Japan for 3 months, skating by myself, hanging solo and touring Yokohama and Tokyo by my lonesome, and wondering when was I going to meet some skater brethren to form a schralping posse. Scotty The Body Too Hottie gave me some contacts via MyFace, and eventually I met John Lindsay on the world wide web; a fellow gaijin amongst all the nihonjins. John immediately said he would meet me later that week and take me thrashing. At this point all I knew about John is what I saw on his MyFace page and it was all very mysterious. “Well”, I thought, “what have I got to loose. He speaks English, he lives pretty close by, and he shreds.” I was at our meeting place on time and John wasn’t there, but there was a nihonjin guy holding a skateboard in the exact place we planned on meeting. So, I approached him and introduced myself in broken, pidgin Japanese. His name was Natsuki and he was a friend of John’s also waiting to push the night away and his Engrish was as good as my nihongo. John showed up a few minutes later, we shook hands, and set out into the streets of downtown Yokohama. As soon as we let loose into the night I saw a corner store and requested a quick pit stop for a tall boy and some peanuts. Natsuki seemed pretty excited about my desire to drink beer and thrash, however John seemed a little apprehensive but he opted for a tall boy too. After we slammed those 16 ounces of classic Japanese low-malt brews, the best beers for fried foods in my opinion, we were off again like bats chasing bugs. As we pushed down the street at a break neck speed I saw John bust a heel flip that made me whistle. A few minutes later I made a comment about how my buzz had turning into sweat, and John replied “Really? I think I’m still drunk.” John is man who stands almost a foot shorter than me, but his disposition is taller than Sequoiadendron giganteum; he’s extremely sincere, he has a YouTube addiction, and he is a righteous individual.

Mr. Lindsay. You are married man with two cats a sweet tooth, and you and your missus were living in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan before moving across the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco. What Nihon nostalgia do you and Mrs. Lindsay share since relocating, and what stimulates your brains about your new home in the SF Bay Area?
Since relocating, the one thing I really miss about Japan are the convenience stores, the old fashion candy stores, being able to drink beer in the street (important to note that I only started drinking after meeting Adam), pretending I can’t understand anything, getting special treatment for being foreign, skating in Yokohama and Tokyo, having great in-laws, having the Jehovah Witness group come to my door every week to recruit me for their cult, stray cats, skipping work to go bowling and play video games, drinking beer at work, having friends come visit, and being able to find Adam in the most crowded train station (editor’s note***due to his height and good looks) . I think Mrs. Lindsay doesn’t miss it too much yet, but if anything, it’s probably the food and her cat.

SF is a great city! We like how you can pretty much take a leak anywhere you feel inclined to. The restaurants here are delicious, the people are friendly, and the scenery is beautiful.
John, your baking skills are surprisingly good for a breast-less, uterus-less human. What’s your preferred baked morsel when masterminding in your kitchen? Also, when you enter a bakery, what is the one baked item you look for first, and how many do you typically purchase?
First off, I want to say, “Thank You.” I think you might be one of the only three people who have actually eaten one of my baked goodies. I am a very big fan of “Butterscotch Chips, “a close cousin of the more renowned, Chocolate Chip.” Just as delicious, but just hits a different taste bud. For the record, I don’t go to bakeries too often, since I do like to bake my own cookies, cakes and pastries, but when I do, the first things I make sure to look for are cupcakes. There’s nothing better than a store bought cupcake, in my opinion.
Mr. J. C. Lindsay, you have traveled quite a bit for a man of 35 minus 9 years of age. Of all the countries and or cities you’ve visited, which area of the world touched your heart and why, and would you please recall a memorable account from that place on the planet?
My favorite trip was to Vietnam a couple years ago. Being a white guy in South East Asia can be pretty cool, everyone wants to be your friend! By the end of my trip, I had friends all over the place, even ones who felt comfortable enough sticking their hands into my pockets and helping themselves to my money.
On one particular trip to some sand dunes, about 50 little Vietnamese children greeted me as we rolled up in an old authentic Army Jeep leftover from the war. They all greeted me with smiles, hugs, and a big “Hello”. They took me to the top of the sand dunes and wanted me to go down it on their homemade plastic slide. In my most courteous manner, I tried to refuse, but they were very insistent that I go down. I tried to refuse once more and just walk away, but as soon as I did, I felt the weight of about 50 children pushing down on my shoulders forcing me onto the slide. They all got behind me and started pushing me down the hill. As I started to get a little further away from them, I jumped off the slide and starting run down the sand dune in hopes that my athleticism would pay off and I could out run these kids. I could hear them yelling at me, “You Slide, You Pay!!!!” As you can probably tell, I was really scared and I just kept running toward the jeep where my tour guide was waiting. He was drinking coffee and saw the angry mob behind me and quickly ran to the Jeep to get us out of there safely. We got in the Jeep just in time as the kids ran up next to it screaming, “Fuck You!!!”

On another trip to Korea, I had lost my way and could not find my hotel after being stranded by the group I was with. I walked in the direction of where I thought the hotel was and after asking a couple people, they all ignored me or couldn’t understand what it was that I was trying to say. I finally saw a guy who I assumed could speak English. My assumption was correct! He was from Pakistan and had been living in Korea for a couple years working in a cell phone factory. He grabbed my hand and took me to my hotel. I thanked him and thought it was all over, but next thing I knew, he was asking me to come to dinner with him. I couldn’t turn down the free food so of course I went with this stranger. He took me down the street and tried to get me in a taxi. I tried to tell him I wasn’t comfortable getting in taxi and just wanted to eat around my hotel, but next thing I knew, I was being pushed into the taxi against my will. We got in and our taxi driver was just as crazy as the guy who was trying to either kidnap me, or try and rape me later that night. They started screaming at each other in Arabic, because as it turned out, the cab driver used to live in Saudi Arabia, and my new Pakistani friend also lived in Dubai and could speak Arabic. Things got weird at that point and they started screaming, “Allah….Allah…Allah…” or something of that nature. We eventually arrived at our destination and to my surprise; he took me to a Pakistani restaurant! He ordered a ton of food, drinks and deserts which all had to be eaten with my hands. The food was real good, but one thing I knew that he didn’t know, was that I didn’t have any money! Surprise! It didn’t matter too much though, because at the end of our meal, I found out, he didn’t have any money either! Double Surprise! He went up to the counter and started arguing with the restaurant owner. So, I nonchalantly walked to the bathroom and slid out the back door, never to see that guy again, and with a free meal in my stomach.
John, let me remind you that you have a Bachelor degree in Painting, and thus you could be considered an artist. Artists usually appreciate other artists’ work, so please counsel us on your artistic inspirations, both in terms of people and favorite crafted compositions.
Can I go way back for a minute? I’m going to. When I was a little weef, I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island where my father was working for Hasbro Toys at the time. My brother and I used to go into the office a lot and play with all the toys, and I used to hang out with some of the designers who were kind enough to give me my first set of markers and some old scrap paper. I would look through old drawings of toys, GI Joe’s and Mister Potato Heads all day long, and this got me into drawing my own characters, which oddly enough, I still do today!
In terms of artists, I really like Mary Blair. She did a lot of illustration work in the 60’s for Walt Disney and worked closely with Salvador Dali. Tezuka Osamu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tezuka_Osamu) he did a Japanese comic book. Ge-ge-ge no Kitarou artist, Shigeru Mizuki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeGeGe_no_Kitaro). Makoto Aida, Japanese modern artist (http://www.ybca.org/exhibitions/2009/makoto-aida.aspx). Anything that is kind of flat and 2-dimensional is alright in my book.
And lastly Mr. Lindsay, I have noticed you are extremely skilled at living each day as it comes, or living in the ‘here and now’ as some may say. However content you may be in the here and now, I would like to know what the future holds for you, your missus, and your two cats, Momo and Cookie, who by the way are the nieces I never had, because I’m their Uncle SZA SAD.
Wow… the future. I haven’t really thought that far ahead! I hope the future holds for me lot more traveling. I would really like to go to Norway and see my family there as well as Ireland to see where my other grandfather was born. I also have a son in Paris, France, he’s 34 now? My goal for the future though is to get my stuff together and show some paintings. I have also made a promise to myself to give up sugar. Now it’s in writing!
I must say I don’t think that will happen because of your love for baking, cupcakes, and candy. Sorry John. Either way, you have my unconditional support, my friend.

ollie photo: Styley

doubles photo: Kohei Yamada

artwork: Soy Panday