With a blow-out huge show at the Ghost Room on June 26th with STEREO IS A LIE, Wiretree, and Searching for Signal, we had to hear from the makers of high concept melodious harmonizers, The Pons. Thomas, Ruby, and Steven talk to us about getting together, playing music and bathroom behaviors. Killer photo above by Kaitlin Langdon.
When did you get together? What kind of factors led to your coming together? Crazy cosmic destiny, the good, old friends-forever bit or just a lucky answer of some classifieds?
Tommy: Ruby and I started out as a two piece band called Lalaland in 2004. We didn’t have a drummer at the time, so we decided to create our own back-up band by recording drums and anything else that we wanted people to hear. We would record on a 4-track, then mix it down to two-track and play it on a DVD player while we played along. Our intentions were to sync-up video at some point. We didn’t make it that far.
While we were recording our first record (Ready? Ready!) in 2004, our producer & engineer Lou Guerrero recommended having his friend Steve Sanders come in and play drums on a few songs.
Steve was already in two bands – Ant Man Bee & Wan Santo Condo – and was under a recording contract with EverLoving who kept him on-call for over a year with the possibility of going on tour with Wan Santo Condo to support Tenacious D, which they did eventually.
However, Ruby and I knew he was our drummer. He knew it too. It was just a matter of time.
Here’s the cosmic part: If I played drums, I would play just like Steve. If I played bass, I would play just like Ruby. It seems like I spent my entire life preparing for this band.
We played as Lalaland until 2007. We changed our name to The Pons when we released “In the Belly of a Giant” in Dec 2008. We needed a name we could own and one that would allow us to do anything we wanted musically.
Ruby: Tommy and I have been in projects together for many years now. We initially met at a party in his back yard. Steve came in to help us record some drums for our last band, Lalaland, and we slowly brainwashed him to join us permanently. That took lots of Lone Star and patience, but it eventually paid off.
What would you say you’re all about? Who your musical influences are, what you want your music to do/where do you want to take it/the genre/your audience? What genre do you consider yourself, or would you rather try and stay genre-ly undefined?
Ruby: We are about playing music we like to play, and prefer to play that music together. We definitely come from varying musical backgrounds, but still have a lot of overlapping bands in common. I’m sure the guys will cite many artists, but I would have to say that Tommy and Steve are are my biggest influences musically. I want our music to do whatever it is that it’s supposed to do – whether that be to shake your ass, make you cry, stand up for something, shut up, make you think, make you laugh. Hopefully we accomplish a little of that. Even though we’re considered rock in the most general sense, I think we tie in a lot of influences within that. So sometimes it is a little difficult to define the genre, as the song usually determines the feel and style.
Steven: I’m influenced by so much from Tom Waits and Thelonious Monk to Talking Heads and too much more to mention. I’m not good at defining genres so much but I would say we are a "dynamic alternative melodic rock"
Tommy: In short, we’re about writing great songs. Most everyone has had that moment standing in front of a band and listening to a song that is so good it makes you feel like nothing else matters. Everyone stops talking and the song takes over the room. I have experienced this many times, most recently while watching Cheap Trick play “Surrender” at Auditorium Shores. That song could start riots. Probably has.
Anyway, that’s what I want. To incite riots.
Influences don’t play a big part in my writing anymore. My ship has drifted too far from the dock at this point. If I think I’ve written a great song, it’s because I feel that I have successfully used everything I know to get there and the song works. If the song sucks, I only have myself to blame.
Genres don’t mean anything to us. I’d play a hammer-on lead if the moment called for it.
Is there anything special about the Ghost Room show? Will you be returning with the greats from your most recent album? Rocking some new stuff?
Tommy: We are hosting the Ghost Room show, so that’s really our big event for the summer, plus, we’re playing with STEREO IS A LIE and Wiretree. Two of my favorite bands. We will be playing mostly new material with a few songs from Giant. ATX Live will be on hand to film the show in HD and interview Austin Bloggers. This show was intended to be our only Austin appearance this summer so that we could focus on writing and finishing our new record “The Blackest Shine”, which is due for release right after the first of the year. However, we were recently asked to open for Everclear on July 2nd.
Ruby: It’s such a great venue, so we’ve been really excited to get back there. We recently took some time off to write and record, so this will be our first show in town following that. We’ll rock out with all the classic hits, and have a preview on what’s to come on the new album.
How do you like to get ready for a show? How do you like to perform a show, what’s it all about for y’all?
Ruby: Live shows are always great because you never know what you’re going to get. You just try to have as much control as possible, but you have to leave a lot up everything else around and go with it as best as you can and have fun. The best part is that the audience is very much a part of the show. I guess that can be the worst part too…
Steven: A few beers and some cigarettes and some light stretching.
Tommy: Our best shows typically happen after being on the road for a while. So we really like to get in that frame of mind even if we’re only playing local shows. Occasionally we’ll invite friends to watch us rehearse.
What’s the idea behind your upcoming album, The Blackest Shine?
Tommy: The Blackest Shine will be our second record, so we really want to release something that is more potent than In the Belly of a Giant and shows how much we have developed. But more importantly, we want this record to rank among the best in the grand scheme of things.
Most of our songs have very big, very dark themes, but with very swing-happy music. This record is to biggest, darkest, swingin-est one so far.
The Blackest Shine is about survival – still being able to see yourself even in the most distorted situations.
The CC Grady foreword to your LP is pretty great, high concept sort of stuff. With talks of post-modernism and poetry, do you take literary influences in your work? What kind of stuff do you all read? Favorite books/authors?
Tommy: Grady’s foreword was entirely personal. We didn’t direct or edit him. He simply wrote what he thought after listening to Giant. He’s not the only one to arrive at that place. Many writers explain similar feelings about that record and how much it seems to deal with big issues. Big issue records get big issue reviews.
I don’t read fiction very much. It’s probably because I like true stories and they seem to be more interesting to me. Unless it’s comedy. David Sedaris kills me. So does Kurt Vonnegut. I like to read about American History. Any time anyone wants to politicize something, I simply remind them pick up a history book.
What are your Top 5 Desert-Island Albums?
Steven: Tom Waits- Closing Time
Pixies- Doolittle
Talking Heads- Remain in Light
PJ Harvey- Dry
Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique
and anything Neil Finn
Tommy: Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen
The Beatles – Revolver
Glenn Miller – all of it
Talking Heads – Fear of Music
Let the yellow mellow or flush it down?
Tommy: Flush it. If it looks like piss and smells like piss, it’s piss.
Steven: Flush it.
Ruby: I always heard it was "if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down." If it rhymes, it must be right. Is it? Flush it down gets my vote.
Guiltiest-Pleasure TV show?
Steven: American Idol
Tommy: Wipe-Out!!!
Ruby: Wipeout.
All-time favorite movie?
Tommy: Grey Gardens – I’m gauging this question on the number of times I’ve seen the movie.
I think I’ve seen Grey Gardens 10 times. 5 Times in one day.
It’s a true story – one that’s happening in every neighborhood in the world every day.
Ruby: Sorry if it’s a cheesy girl movie, but maybe Amelie? It makes me happy.
Steven: The Big Lebowski or Withnail and I
Do you consider Austin a part of your band? Would you be the same without this city?
Steven: Yes, very much so. Ruby and I are native Austinites. I have been playing in clubs here since the late eighties.
Tommy: Yes and No.
Ruby: My Mom has said that she made sure her children were born in Austin, so this town is very much a part of me. Plus we all came together here – Austin has a way of doing that. Whether we would be the same without this city is yet to be determined, but it will always be a part of who we are.
–Mitchell Mazurek
[Ed.: One last reminder…the Pons are headlining the show at The Ghost Room in the very fine company of Wiretree and STEREO IS A LIE, Saturday, June 26th.]