Jay Watson of POND on Tinder, Touring, and Tunes

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Australian psychedelic band POND played at Petit Campus on October 20 2014. Their show was very loud and very sweaty. It was an amazing amount of fun, and one of the first times I got to really rock properly. I find it very refreshing that POND actually cares about putting a great rock show with great music. The night was a fantastic, and I can’t wait to hear their new album in January.

Robyn Homeniuk (RH): You’ve been touring a bit of the east coast the past week, how has it been going?

Jay Watson (JW): We’ve been to New York, Philly, DC, and Boston. We did a few in New York. It’s been really good, and one of the last New York dates sold out. I think that is the first time that POND has done that.

 

RH: That’s awesome, congrats for that.

JW: Yeah, especially since we seem to keep playing the same night as some other cool bands. I think tonight for example Flying Lotus is playing right?

 

RH:  What’s the difference at a sold out show? Can you tell when you’re on stage the difference between a sold out show vs. otherwise?

JW: No, it was at Rough Trade in Brooklyn, so the crowd – it was still great – was maybe too cool to really go all out. Usually at our shows the fans really make the night, there is always a variety of people and a variety of blood alcohol levels.

 

RH:  I recently went on a bus tour through those same cities, and I hated every minute on the tour bus. How do you handle the days you spend on the road?

JW: It’s not so bad actually. I mostly listen to music, work on music. We also play a lot of FIFA on the Xbox.

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RH:  So maybe it’s a bit more liveable for you on a bus than for me. Have you guys had a chance to try out Tinder yet? I’ve heard it great for travellers.

JW: I have seen a few of the guys try it out, it seems pretty hilarious. I tried to sign up for it but it wouldn’t let me sign up without giving Facebook information. I don’t have a personal Facebook anymore, so no I haven’t had the chance to use Tinder. To be clear, I only wanted to have a laugh with it.

 

RH: Right, that sucks. I’m sure some girls would be pretty pleased to find you on Tinder. Speaking of crushes, do you have any artists you have a musical crush on right now?

JW: Hmm, right now I would have to say Ariel Pink. Their music is really amazing, I’ve been getting into it lately.

 

RH: POND has a new album coming out in late January, right? Can you tell me a bit about the record? Is it finished already?

JW: Yeah, it’s been finished for ages. It’s completely different from our earlier stuff. I think people will enjoy it.

RH: Do you find any difference working on music for POND vs. working on music for Tame Impala or other projects?

JW: Well Kevin Parker writes most of the music for Tame Impala, so for POND I do a lot more writing.

 

RH: I want to ask a few more “cute” questions, if you permit it. Do you or anyone in the band have favourite foods? Or favourite films?

JW: The only one of us with a strict favourite food is Joe, he has managed to eat a piece of pizza every day for the past five years. That’s definitely a favourite food. We tried poutine here last night, and I thought that was fantastic.

 

RH: If you were to do anything other than music what would it be?

JW: Hmm, I don’t know. I always thought that if I had to go back and do the school thing, I would want to study something really difficult and complicated.

 

RH: I study Cognitive Science, which is a bit of Neuroscience and Philosophy.

JW: Yeah, something like that would be really cool. When I stop touring and making music, maybe someday I’ll go to uni.

 

RH: As my last question, I’d like to ask for some general advice for 18-25 year olds?

JW: Hmm well, in terms of creative stuff I think you should just do it. Most people, at least the ones I know, aren’t doing it to be famous and it something that needs to be done by someone. If you want to do something creative, be it music or art, I don’t think you should let anyone stop you.

POND releases its new album MAN IT FEELS LIKE SPACE AGAIN out January 27 in the US.