Panda sings and plays the trumpet, guitar and piano, so it was only a matter of time before he'd join a band.

But not just any band. Panda's recently become a member of the Dunes, an already established Canadian alternative rock band whose albums are distributed by Universal Music.

The first -- Socializing with Life -- can be found on-line or in music stores across the world. The second, Subject to Change, heralds Panda's debut and is due for a late 2008 release.

This 27-year-old musician's life is no laundry list of things to accomplish. He's consistently gone beyond the mundane to tackle the stuff of childhood dreams and mould-breaking, inspirational ideas. And to his credit, he's not so much money-driven as he is success-driven.

Panda, who grew up in Milton and now lives in Toronto, regularly jets across the country on business, though recently he's been touring the world instead, because of music. Playing in the band has meant juggling music gigs and practices with his other commitments, but Panda's got a game plan. After all, he's always been a sharp-eyed, fast-moving entrepreneur who constantly has several side projects on the go.

"(Milton) was where I first started the entrepreneurial stuff," he says.

Growing up, he remembers teachers saying to him, "You have a really kind of creative side, but you're not doing the task at hand."

Says Panda, "I wasn't the greatest academic. I was a bit of a class clown."

He loved his extracurricular activities, however. His experience playing tennis at the Milton Tennis Club led to his foray into business.

At 17, his first stint as an independent businessperson took root when he became a certified tennis instructor. He began to teach women's and junior classes at Bronte Meadows Tennis Club.

True to his budding entrepreneurial spirit, he gambled on his fate after leaving home for York University. He initially started studying political science -- before jazz performance piqued his interest.

MAN OF MANY INTERESTS

In the end, though, he graduated with a philosophy degree.

In the midst of all this, he started managing the bar portion of Red Rock Restaurant & Bar in Toronto and playing competitive pool out of the bar -- which is how he met the man who owned 35 sunglass kiosks across Canada.

When he landed a job as general manager for the multi-million dollar sunglass company after graduating university, he opened kiosks on the east coast in Halifax and Moncton.

That's not all.

His start-up T-shirt shop -- Article 8 -- on College Street downtown Toronto ultimately developed into a boutique and screen-printing business.

With such an activity-packed schedule, it isn't always easy.

"It's a bit stressful at times, when a lot of things are going on with the band," says Panda.

Even so, he has his sights set on joining yet another band -- The Paint Movement, on whose album he's already recorded.

Panda dispels any myths about his sleep patterns.

"I actually sleep alright. I get my six or seven hours at night."

He wouldn't trade in his experiences with the Dunes for the world.

"I've learned a ton from playing with this kind of band," he says.

He also sees a lot of success on the band's side. "It could be very radio-friendly," he says.

He's played about 15 shows with them since May. The band itself has been around for four years and was in the middle of recording its second album when lead singer, Kevin Pullen, scouted Panda out.

The two met at a poker tournament at a mutual friend's house, and had talked about music. Still, Panda hadn't been expecting what came of this several months later.

Since then, the band has performed in Ottawa and has had many gigs in Toronto. It's also traveled to England, where it was the feature act in a showcase called Canada Blasts.

Popkomm, an international trades show for music and entertainment in Germany, is its next international conquest.

In Panda's words, he's "facilitating dreams and ideas" and won't be slowing down anytime soon. He's started to do consulting and has plans for a side publishing business; he'd like to publish his mom's second book.

Panda says, "I used to think music was my true passion, but it's really doing things."