Pond (Australian band)

Pond is a psychedelic rock band from Perth, Western Australia, formed in 2008. Featuring a revolving line-up, the band currently consists of Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson, Joe Ryan and Jamie Terry.

Pond often shares its members with fellow Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala. Jay Watson is a full member of both acts, while Pond band leader Nick Allbrook contributed to both bands from 2009 until 2013. Current Tame Impala members Kevin Parker, Cam Avery and Julien Barbagallo are all former members of Pond, with Parker continuing to work with the band as its record producer.

History

Pond were formed in Perth, Western Australia, in 2008 with members Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson and Joe Ryan. The original idea of Pond was to be able to get anyone they wanted to play whatever they wanted in a collaborative musical project.^[1]

Their first album was released soon after in January 2009, titled Psychedelic Mango which contained many psychedelic rock and pop elements.^[2] Their second album, Corridors of Blissterday, was completed live with an eight piece band in five days, and released in June 2009.^[1][3] This led to the creation of their 2010 album, Frond, released in May 2010, featuring a heavier pop influence than previously heard from them.^[4]

After the breakthrough success of Innerspeaker, the debut album by Tame Impala, a band which shares three members with Pond, the album Beard, Wives, Denim was recorded in 2010 and later released to critical acclaim in March 2012.^[5][6]

Pond toured the United States in 2012, appearing at festivals such as South by Southwest, with another album titled Hobo Rocket set for release in the future.^[7][8] On 26 May 2012, NME magazine named Pond "The Hottest New Band In The World" in their "Hot List" issue.^[9] On 28 June 2012, Pond had a one-off performance with Can frontman Damo Suzuki, one of Pond's biggest inspirations and musical idols.^[10]

Originally, Man, It Feels Like Space Again was planned to be the next Pond album, but instead Hobo Rocket was chosen to be recorded and released beforehand.^[11] Pond described Hobo Rocket as being "much better" than Beard, Wives, Denim. "Man, It Feels Like Space Again" was released on 23 January 2015.^[12]

Band members

Current

• Nick Allbrook – vocals, guitar, keys, bass, flute, slide guitar and occasional drums (2008–present)
• Jay "Gumby" Watson – guitar, vocals, drums, bass, keys and synth (2008–present)
• Shiny Joe Ryan – guitar, bass, vocals, 12 string guitar, slide guitar (2008–present)
• Jamie Terry – keys, synth, organ and bass (2008–present)
• Matt Handley – drums

Contributors and occasional members

• Kevin Parker – drums (2009–2011), mixing and production (2012–present)
• Nick Odell – congas
• Richard Ingham – guitar
• Matthew Saville – drums (2009)
• Julien Barbagallo – bass (2014–present)
• Ben McDonald – bass (2014) ^[13]

Discography

Albums

• Psychedelic Mango - Badminton Bandit (BB001) (9 January 2009)
• Corridors of Blissterday - Badminton Bandit (BB002) (4 June 2009)
• Frond - Hole in the Sky (HITS007) (24 May 2010)
• Beard, Wives, Denim - Modular (MODCD148) (2 March 2012)^[6] AUS #64
• Hobo Rocket - Modular (2 August 2013) AUS #37, UK #146
• Man, It Feels Like Space Again - Caroline (23 January 2015) AUS #15^[14]

EPs

• Greens Pool (23 December 2010)

Singles

• "Cloud City" - Hole in the Sky (22 February 2010)
• "Annie Orangetree" - Hole in the Sky (21 April 2010)
• "Greens Pool" - Badminton Bandit (BB011) (23 December 2010)
• "Fantastic Explosion of Time" - Modular (18 January 2012)
• "Moth Wings" - Modular (3 February 2012)
• "You Broke My Cool" - Modular (17 April 2012)
• "Giant Tortoise" - Modular (1 February 2013)
• "Xanman" - Modular (18 June 2013)
• "Elvis' Flaming Star" - Spinning Top (20 October 2014)
• "Sitting up on Our Crane" - Spinning Top (16 December 2014)
• "Zond" - Spinning Top (12 January 2015)

References

External links

• Info at SpinningTop