PANIA: 'I'll Love You From A Distance, But I'm Still Gonna Win'

Australia's homegrown R&B and hip-hop scene is thriving – Western Sydney was once the cultural hotspot, but now Sydney's old rival Melbourne is back in the game. PANIA (aka Pania Hika), Western Melbourne's mysterious new alt-R&B queen, is unveiling her debut EP, burnt ur clothes & changed the addy – a coming-of-age saga. The takeover has begun.

A self-described "Westside girl", Pania is chatting over Zoom – glamorous with her impeccable make-up, ponytail and white crop T (it has the sassy graphic "u say im skuxx? pls dont lie"). 

In recent days Melbourne's traditionally working-class, multicultural Western suburbs – subjected to harsh lockdown restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic – have battled floods. The Maribyrnong River is overflowing, yet Flemington Racecourse, home to the Melbourne Cup, has been spared due to a controversial protective barrier. While Pania is safe, her friends weren't so fortunate. "I didn't even know it was flooded," she exclaims. "I don't check the news or the Internet much – like I've been busy, so I didn't even know it was flooded until I went on Instagram and I saw a photo."

Many a big star shy away from the stage. Famously, Beyoncé Knowles created an alter ego, Sasha Fierce, to overcome social anxiety. Pania can understand that duality. With a Māori mother and Indian father, her upbringing was communal – but she was an introvert. "I'm still extremely shy as a person."

Music provided Pania with a vital sense of her Pasifika heritage. But, though playing guitar, she did not envisage herself pursuing a pop career, let alone performing. "I didn't even use to sing when I was a kid," Pania reveals. "All my best friends were in the choir, but I was just like, 'Nah, not my thing.'" However, she recognised the pull. "Music was kinda like a way where I felt like I could connect with something. So I always loved that feeling." Pania envied her buddies' ease. "I was like, 'Fuck, I wish I could sing.'" Privately, she tried – and when the besties finally heard her voice, they were encouraging. Later, Pania posted tracks on SoundCloud, attracting local producers.

Curiously, it was Justin Bieber who motivated Pania. "I was a massive Belieber – like a massive fan," she laughs. "I remember watching his documentary [2011's Justin Bieber: Never Say Never], and there was a scene where he was singing to the crowd, and they were all singing [back] – like the whole stadium was packed, singing all the words back to him – and his parents were in the back crying. And, in that moment, I was like, 'I think I wanna sing' – like 'I think I wanna do this.'"

As a high schooler, Pania discovered confessional soul vocalists – Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse – appreciating how "raw" and "vulnerable" their music was. "I really resonated with that – and it inspired me a lot," she says. "Then I started writing songs on my guitar. I performed them at little gigs around Melbourne, and people were like, 'Yo, I love your songwriting.'

"It was weird to me 'cause I'm not that into writing or reading. So the fact that people can resonate with the words that I'm putting into my music was a good indicator for me that it was connecting with people."

In 2018 Pania broke out with Lotus, a break-up song helmed by the underground Eleftherios, generating blog buzz that eventually led to her signing with Warner Music Australia.

Pania met the Melbourne-based engineer/producer HAMLEY at a Sony songwriting camp. His credits include Allday (the now landmark Startup Cult!) and Stan Walker's smash 2020 Bigger – platinum in New Zealand. "We really hit it off," she says. At the time, Pania was a novice, cutting demos. "I didn't really know much about recording in a studio – like I don't think I'd ever been to a studio." HAMLEY helped Pania develop her craft – and a sound.

Pania would work with HAMLEY on her first official single ICYY – again about heartache – which aired in May 2020, a Pt 2 featuring Kiwi Keziah Feterika. She inaugurated the roll-out for burnt ur clothes & changed the addy in February with the party banger tiki. "I think I'll always love tiki because of the vibe it brings, and the energy it brings, and shooting the music video – like the memories I have with the song, and just the reach that it achieved as well."

Since then, both ICYY and tiki have been synced for Netflix's widely lauded reboot of Heartbreak High – the original '90s teen drama establishing Alex Dimitriades' profile. "I haven't properly watched the show yet, but I will get to it," Pania divulges. "I've just been busy. My attention span is so bad now that I'll watch a show and just get too distracted."

Mind, Pania did check out how her music was used. "When you see stuff like that, you're like, 'All right – this is why I do this. I need to keep going.'" She recollects listing her goals – one being to have songs licensed for Netflix programs. "So the fact that it happened is crazy."

Pania has had other opportunities. This year she joined an International Women's Day virtual concert hosted by US rapper Saweetie, who herself blew up with 2017's ICY GRL. Then, in July, Pania met Tyler, The Creator. 

Pania conceived burnt ur clothes & changed the addy during the 2020 quarantine. "It's been done for a while," she admits. "It's just getting it out…" The EP's title recalls classic feminist R&B bops like Blu Cantrell's 2001 Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!), a cheater revenge anthem. Indeed, influenced by 2000s R&B as much as Gen Z trapsoul, Pania's songs convey the emotional turmoil of romance but are ultimately about gaining perspective, personal growth and empowerment. 

"I'm human – like we're all human, and we all go through the same emotions, whether it's good, bad, toxic, all of that stuff. We all go through it. So I'm like, 'I wanna write about it and just be raw and honest with it' – 'cause everyone's gonna relate to some part of it, especially when it comes to being an adult and going through relationships. When you're kind of in that transitional period, like after high school, you still don't know yourself, so it's hard to kinda navigate your way through those emotions. So I just wanted to write about that."

Pania is keen to share the tuneful opener with/without us – the soundtrack to catching an ex living their best life on Instagram, but expressing empathy over bitterness. "I just like the message," she notes. "It's just like, 'We're gonna be okay, but I'm gonna be better with or without us' – 'cause every relationship that I go through, it always means something to me and, even if we're not cool, I'll always have that love. So it's kind of just reiterating that. It's like, 'I'll love you from a distance, but I'm still gonna win, and you're still gonna see that – so you can do what you like with that, but it's always love.'"

Pania's current single, MY CREW, is for her "homies". "If you know me, you know how much I love my friends," she states. MY CREW is also symbolic, Pania repping Melbourne's R&B movement, oft-eclipsed by Sydney's. Ironically, in the '90s, Melbourne R&B was popping with acts such as the Dandenong vocal group CDB – Roger Abboud's Midnight Productions, an incubator for talent in the South East. Daniel Merriweather signed to Mark Ronson's Allido Records, duetting with Adele – presaging the neo-soul combo Hiatus Kaiyote. Is that dynamic cyclical?

"I definitely see the Sydney focus, 100 per cent," Pania ponders. "I think it's just [a] faster pace – like there's more hustle there. People are really hungry for it there. That's what I've seen when I go there. That's why I love being there – 'cause I'm always in a work mode. Whereas when I'm in Melbourne, it's very chill… I'll hit someone up [to collab], and they'll be like, 'Oh, maybe, I don't know…' But, if I'm in Sydney, it's like, 'Yeah, let's do it today.' So I think it's [a] different lifestyle; different culture."

Pania laments the lack of local figureheads. "There was a little bit of a gap in Melbourne – like there was no one really for us to look to as inspiration from Melbourne in the R&B scene; that person that I felt represented [by]. So I think there was no one really doing it.

"When I started figuring out there was Melbourne music, it was kind of like REMI… I used to see Sampa The Great… That was just bubbling when I got into music. 

"So there was nothing to really look to as inspiration from our own city – to get that fire rolling. But I think it's starting now… KAIIT was really, really dope – a really great example."

In 2022 Pania considers herself as the artist that will bring that heat to Melbourne alongside pals like the MC Agung Mango and BROCKHAMPTON-compared group 3K, cheekily declaring, "I guess that's our job now, hey!" She guested on the local R&B divette CD's Catcha Grip.

In addition to her music, Pania has introduced outré aesthetics – fashion as a passion. She admires Rihanna's inclusive FENTY beauty and lingerie empire. Auspiciously, Pania was involved in an Adidas campaign. "Before I was into music, I was always into fashion. I was always that kid that would wear like random scarfs at school, and it would get confiscated… It's always been a dream of mine to have my own fashion line or just have my own brand."

Pania, who appeared at Sydney's Listen Out, will launch her EP with shows in Melbourne and Sydney. Previously, the singer performed with a DJ, but today she has a band. And Pania is enjoying the live experience. "I think it's been a process. You know, I'm super shy, so putting myself on a stage is like the most vulnerable place I can ever be – for me. I used to get super anxious, but now it's just about inviting people into your world – and performing live is just another way to do it. 

"I'm just trying to embrace that more. I've been rehearsing heaps with a DJ… So I just wanna create a vibe and, whoever vibes with it, whoever fucks with it, then it's cool that they're on the journey now – 'cause it's such an early stage. 

"I mean, you won't see this side of me forever. So it's cool that I can just go to spaces and grab fans at the beginning 'cause they're here for the journey. So I think it's a special time, for sure."

PANIA's E.P 'burnt your clothes & changed the addy' is out November 10. You can preorder here.