Cosmic Jokers: Pond Interviewed

"...a free-wheeling troupe of noise-makers."

Pond are space-rockers from outer space. Well, Perth (Australia) to be exact, but then that area does contain the most remote city on Earth. They kinda have to make their own fun, if you follow our drift, and it leads to some mighty strange places…

Such as 'Heroic Shart' or 'Elvis' Flaming Star'. Both track titles from Pond's new studio album 'Man, It Feels Like Space Again', and both examples of the group's heroic wit, or their ability to view the insanity in today's world and simply open up another beer.

Speaking to Clash from a Dublin soundcheck, Nick Allbrook is unrepentant: “The more that people think we're vacuous, like teenage fuckheads, the more fun we have perpetuating that image. It's just fucking fun! Art is what you do in your own time and debunking anyone else's idea that we're doing anything worthwhile puts the onus on us to keep writing and be inspired by our own output.”

They're certainly inspired. 'Man, It Feels Like Space Again' is a lavish, ambitious return; steeped in psychedelics, there's a virile colour to the group's work which is no doubt born from endless days spent staring at the deep Australian sun. It's an approach which leads to some strange areas, as Nick readily admits. “A lot of the time it's quite carefully structured,” he says, “but with this last album it's all fairly loose. We used to love the idea of a free-wheeling troupe of noise-makers.”

Free-wheeling they certainly are. Each member of Pond has other projects on their CV, with these diverse influences bleeding into one another. “We all write in our spare time,” the singer explains, “we write and record in our spare time. We're still somehow, throughout all of this, we're all best friends. So, you show your friends what you've been doing and sometimes certain songs make an impression on people.”

“There's no point in doing that if it takes too long and becomes arduous trying to convey ideas to five different people,” he continues, “I'll just do it by myself or whatever. It can happen naturally and one of the times we try to record when we try to record we each bring a batch of songs and work through that.”

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A more considered work than their previous catalogue, 'Man, It Feels Like Space Again' gains both in cohesion and impact. “I mean, (previous album) 'Hobo Rocket' had that aesthetic ideal, and it was more like… intense. We were vomiting our sound out on tape. Now, we put a lot more stock in restraint and using things that are actually going to be more potent, instead of piling people's shit on top of one another.”

The album may have a central thread – a group of sounds, themes the band return to – but Pond also know when to play it loose, such as the nine minute closing track. “I guess it was kind of a combination of things, of ideas,” he admits. “We wanted some epic, long progression. There were some other parts which, as lyrics, we added to these parts and it kept growing. That happens a lot with a lot of our songs. Things that each of us have written kind of slot together really easily. That's when we get together and jam, that's when that happens. This is an inflated version of that process.”

Arriving in lurid, instantly eye-catching colour art, the album finds Pond literally wearing their influences on their sleeve. Sure, those videos may well be DIY – and somewhat deliberately crude – but this conveys a certain aesthetic, one borrowed from the work of 60s Pop artists. “A lot of the time we just get told that we need to do a video clip really quickly so it's like, let's just shoot some bullshit on our phone and buy ten bottles of mustard and throw it at each other,” he smiles. “But sometimes we actually try and relate things.”

“I really like the idea of this album having a kind of pop art feel about it, which I guess… 'Elvis's Shooting Star' is Andy Warhol's screenprints. I think we're going for a similar thing. A lot of the visuals and video clips have that same kind of kitschiness.”

Out now, the new album has been accompanied by some explosive, delirious live shows. Finally released from the studio, Pond seem to delight in, well, just being Pond. “It's fucking great!” the singer exclaims. “I have a great time with these idiots. It's like a real lack of pressure. I know it sounds kind of dull but it's also weirdly comforting because no one's around to expect anything off you. You're off grid. All you've got to do is one thing for like an hour a night.”

Probed on who isthe joker in the band, Nick refuses to name names. “I think we're too juvenile for practical jokes,” he explains. “I think practical jokes, punch lines, puns, anything that needs planning is far beyond us.” “I think there's such a saturation of melancholy right now,” he finishes, “and having this really dark look about things in order for it to be accepted as artistic or of any worth. But I guess we kind of try and offset that.”

Photo Credit: Tahlia Palmer

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'Man, It Feels Like Space Again' is out now.

Catch Pond at the following shows:

February
25 London Electric Ballroom
26 Manchester Academy 2
27 Bristol Fleece

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