Ponytail

Baltimore band Ponytail is Jeremy, Dustin, Ken, and Molly.

And to think it all started as an art school class homework assignment.



Chief Magazine: Were you all involved with the band from the beginning? How did you all meet?

Jeremy: It was actually totally random.  I was a freshman in college and only knew Ken.  He was taking a class where you studied ideas parallel to painting but in a rock-and-roll format.  I wasn’t signed up, but I was curious, and after the first class Ken told me to join, mainly because he didn’t know anyone else.  

Dustin: The class was really simple: work on one project, and start a band, and perform at the end of the semester.  I was really excited to be in this class and to be in a band starting from scratch.  I got into the building the class was at, and I had a hard time finding the class, and there was another kid, Mike Petruzzo, who was looking for the class, too.  He ends up becoming our keyboard player in the band, but he leaves in a year or so.  

Ken: Now he's involved in Wildfire Wildfire, which is great.  

Dustin: I come into class, and I see two nervous-looking freshman kids—Ken and Jeremy—and at that second I wanted to be in a band with them.  Our professor chose the members of the bands in his class and sifted through the kids and pointed at each person to be in a band.  We then had lunch at the cafeteria and talked about what albums we've been listening to and became really good friends.  Mike introduced love to the band, and it has been a very important part of Ponytail.

There seems to be a bit of a burgeoning music scene in Baltimore. Did you sense that while you were developing as a band, and did you get to know the other bands that are from there? Are you still based out of Wham City?

Dustin: We were very much involved with the bands from Wham City and Dan Deacon has been really supportive of us from the beginning. We all live in Baltimore right now. The music community here is very tight; everybody knows each other, and there are a lot of good vibes.

Jeremy: Absolutely, there is definitely energy in the air here. Especially in the beginning, when everyone was hearing all this music for the first time.

Ken:  There are a lot of really good musicians in Baltimore. It's humbling calling them friends.  I remember being totally intimidated by More Dogs, and they are the nicest guys ever.  It's heart-warming, flattering, and intimidating to see other bands from Baltimore at your show. When I'm watching a Baltimore band, I usually find myself thinking, "Man, this is so good!" But not just good here and now, but good for everywhere. I saw Dan Deacon's first show at the Ottobar and I was really into it. I went up to him after the show and introduced myself. That was before we were a band. Later, he came to our first show and after that we started doing shows together. We played a bunch at the old Wham City in the Copycat.  Nolan from Double Dagger helped us get some of our first shows. We've been very lucky.  

Jeremy: I remember one of the first shows we played was with Ecstatic Sunshine—also one of their first –and Dan Deacon came up to them afterward and gave them hugs.  I also remember going to a Double Dagger show when I was like 15, and they made fun of me for being in high school, and now they make fun of me for being in college.

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Growing up, did you want to be involved in music, or did you assume you would have other careers? In fact, you don’t seem all that old now. How old is the oldest band member?

Dustin: I'm the oldest.  I'm 24.

Ken:  I'm 21.  I switched from violin to guitar when I was 13 or 14 basically to be in a band, and I've been playing in bands since then.  But when I went to college I was pretty focused on Visual Art.

Dustin: We went to art school, and I was hoping to become an artist, but I am not interested in anything about the art world.  I do love art though.  

Jeremy: I’ve always wanted to pursue art and music. When I was younger, I wanted to study architecture, but it turned out that I have no attention span when it comes to math.  I’m 20.

Dustin: I think I always loved seeing videos or movies of bands rocking out and how cool and expressive they are.  Of course they are feeling it, man, because that chord is so fricking good!  

The vocals sound a little like animals getting hurt. Where do those vocals come from? Is Molly, the singer, using actual words?

Dustin: I remember at first Molly was just playing the chimes in the band.  My good friend Yutaka told me that she should probably be the singer.  I thought about it for a day and had Molly come over and we listened to some Peruvian huayno music from the ‘60s.  They have this amazing expression and passion in their voices!  Molly's vocals don't sound much like huayno music, but it’s definitely a reference point.  She does have lyrics, but the three of us don't know half of what she is singing.  I like that, though.

Does she come up with vocals after the instrumental parts have been written?

Jeremy: We all write together most of the time. Molly will usually work out the vocals as we go, but sometimes she will come to practice and listen to the instrumentation.

Ken:  We are usually all in the same room when we are truly writing a song.  We try to stay very democratic, but it can be frustrating.  

The band seems to have been influenced by surf rock, maybe some Deerhoof as well. What bands made you want to get involved in music, and what did you listen to growing up?

Jeremy: Surf rock rules, Deerhoof too, but there are too many influences to name.  I try to let as much in as possible and sort through it.  In the end, it is whatever comes out naturally, and between the four of us there is a huge filtering process.  Growing up I was into Master of Puppets by Metallica. That album rocks so much.  

Dustin: When I was growing up, I was infatuated with The Ventures, so yes, there is a surf influence there, for sure.  I just love the whimsicality of The Ventures; just love music where notes can make me giggle.  Also, growing up in Tokyo might have been a big influence too.  I feel like the way I play guitar can be very Japanese.

Ken:  I really liked the Grateful Dead growing up. As far as surf rock goes, I skateboarded for years. I've been trying to recall that attitude. We all love Boredoms, too. We have pretty diverse taste between the four of us.  Recently, we've been listening to some really good rave and dub music in the car.  

If someone were to just hear the vocal track, it might be reasonable to assume that your music belongs to a genre with the word “death” in the title, but the instrumentals by themselves sound far closer to art-punk. It’s an unconventional blend, but the two sounds balance each other well. How did the conversion of the two styles come about, and had you ever considered making the instrumentals harder?

Ken: If anything, I want to make my parts lighter.

Dustin: The instrumental and vocal aspects came about very organically. There are times where we are surprised how the songs got written.  It sometimes takes a lot of thought, and sometimes it just happens.  With the guitar parts, Ken and I will sit down sometimes and write together.  But it is the best when the entire band can sit in a room and try things out.  I think how Ponytail works is that Jeremy, Ken and I make a musical platform for Molly, so she has room to experiment.  For me, she is the symbol of freedom.  The three of us make structure, and she flows on top of it however she likes to.

Jeremy: The combination seems natural to me. I love hearing any type of vocals in music. Maybe I like to know someone is at the other end.  There’s this one Miles Davis song that’s like a seven-minute-long instrumental, and right at the end Miles repeats something like “Till, play that…Till, Till.”  I think he’s telling someone to do something, but I’m glad they left it in because it’s a really good song ending.

Why did you decide not to use a bass player in the band?

Ken:  None of us played bass. I used to toy with the idea of playing one.  We had a friend sit in with us one practice in the first year of Ponytail, and he was a great guy, but it didn't feel right.

Dustin: It definitely added some beef to the sound, but it lost its focus.  It just didn't work for us.  I think we've adapted to this simple lineup and have been fine without one.

Ken: Personally, at this point, I think a bass would really weigh us down, but I'm not opposed to experimentation.

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Molly doesn’t seem, physically, like the kind of person who would make these sounds. Does the fact that she’s a small female who then starts shrieking and yelping ever catch audiences by surprise?

Ken: I think people are surprised.

Dustin: I think a lot of people are intrigued by Molly, for sure.  But I feel like everybody has it in them.  She has been called numerous things, like banshee, monkey and many animals.  

Jeremy: I once read that Molly was a whore. We all thought it was cool.

What’s the weirdest comment you’ve received from an audience member?

Ken: Some people on this past tour kept saying I look like a young Weird Al.

The weirdest comment you’ve received actually had the word “weird” in it. You recently signed to Monitor Records, shortly after releasing your album Kamehameha. How was your experience with choosing a label and signing so quickly after the album, or had the record deal been in the works before the album release?

Ken: Monitor approached us and was really enthusiastic about giving us a lot of attention and working with us immediately, so we said yes.  We also keep in touch with Carpark, which is a great label.

Dustin: I think it’s been really positive to change labels. Peter from Creative Capitalism was really supportive of our next step, and it’s just been good vibes all around.

Even the word “Kamehameha” exudes a Hawaiian vibe, which seems to match the surf rock undercurrent of some of your songs. Where did the album’s title come from?

Dustin: I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and my mom is a hula instructor in Japan.  The songs of that album had this very unified theme to it – “Alltogethernow,” “Two Eyes As One.”  Kamehameha was the king of Hawaii who unified the islands, and we also had a song called “Island Z.” “Bermuda Triangle” also loosely, has a tropical vibe.  

Jeremy: I really like Dragon Ball Z.  I wanted the full name of the album to be 100X Bigbang Kamehameha.

Dustin: Jeremy and I were obsessed with Dragon Ball Z, and this energy ball that Goku shoots out from his hand is called Kamehameha.  So for me, I was interested in combining unity and energy within the songs of the album.  

The album has gotten some great press, including reviews from Pitchfork and the music blog Idolator. How does it feel to get such a strong reaction? Were you ever uncertain about the kind of critical response that you might receive?

Ken:  Before the album came out, I would listen to it on the way to work and back.  Some days I was embarrassed. Other days I was incredibly excited.  I'm definitely glad that people seem to like it.

Dustin: It’s really nice to get positive reactions from the media.  I don't think in anyway we should denounce something positive.  We've definitely gotten negative reactions from people in their personal blogs, where they absolutely hated us.  I think it’s just difficult for people.  But that’s the sacrifice of trying to change things up.

Jeremy: I was hoping people felt strongly in one way or another, and I’m really glad a lot of people like it.  It’s actually really amazing to me.

You’ve played with some great bands, including Matt & Kim and a recent tour with Battles. Are there any bands in particular that you have gotten to know or become friends with on the road? What bands out there would be cool to tour with who you haven’t played with yet?

Dustin: The tour with Battles was amazing.  They were also all so nice and supportive. Whenever I look back on that tour, it makes me smile.

Ken:  We loved touring with Battles. I have really fond memories of that tour. It was like going to camp. At the end, we were so sad to leave our momentary best friends.  Touring with Hella was really fun, too, though short. We got to play with Marnie Stern on the Battles tour and see Zach and Robby again.  It's great making friends with awesome musicians who are such good people.  We played with DMBQ in New York recently.  I'd love to tour with them.

Jeremy: I would love to play with Boredoms.

Dustin: The tour with Battles was the only one we've been on with a band, but we've been on a few short tours.  We've gotten to know the Dirty Projectors well, and they are so awesome.  Dave is such a sweetheart.

Ken: We love the Dirty Projectors – we've played with them a bunch of times. They are incredible, and I think it would be so good to tour with them.

What albums or songs have you been listening to on the road?

Jeremy: The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta, the Grosse Point Blank soundtrack.

Ken:  I had really good moments on tour with Keith Fullerton Whitman's Multiples and Dirty Projectors’ Getty Address.  Popol Vuh was perfect at some points. Had a couple really nice moments with Tetsu Inoue's track, "Karmic Light."

What other under-the-radar bands should we know about?

Dustin: I've been listening to this band called P-Model from Japan – a new wave band from the ‘80s and ‘90s.  Their stuff from the ‘90s is just bizarre and amazing.  It’s this weird mix of new age and new wave.  I really want to steal their melody from this song called, “Oh! Mama.” It’s so good!  

How has touring been, considering you’re one girl and a bunch of guys? Do you all shower about an equal amount?

Jeremy: I sweat through all my clothing at every show so I try to shower whenever I can.

Dustin: We shower maybe once every 3-4 days.  Molly being the only girl was never really an issue.  I kind of forget that she's a girl.  We're all people, you know?

Ken:  I'd say three days is the cut-off.  Going swimming on tour is the best.  It's like group bathing.  It makes everyone feel better at the same time.

Which song of yours do you feel most satisfied with so far?

Jeremy: I’m really proud of all of them, but I’ve been digging a new one called “7 Souls.”

Ken:  The five or so new songs we've been playing on this past tour, I think, are our finest work to date. We've gotten tighter and faster, but sort of loose, goofier, and more versatile.

Dustin: The songs we've written the past two months I've been really excited about.  They are a little more complicated than the old songs.  “Celebrate The Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)” is probably the song that took us the longest to write, so I'm really attached to that song.  

When will you be recording the next album? Do you have time to write music on the road? What kind of changes do you anticipate in your sound on the next record?

Ken: We are still planning the next album.  We will probably record before winter.  I want it to sound fuller, but I want it to relate to our live show.  

Dustin: We have to write a few more songs to make it a legitimate album.

Jeremy: I think the drums will be bigger sounding.  When we mixed the first one, I wanted the guitars way in front, but I think it's going to be a better balance this time.

Dustin: Definitely a bigger drum sound on the next record!

What side projects are you involved with? Is Ecstatic Sunshine still playing?

Dustin: Ecstatic Sunshine is still playing and we're trying to get ready for a new record also.  We're really excited about the direction we're going in as well.  It’s going to sound a lot different from the last record.  We're going on tour with Dirty Projectors in the fall.

Jeremy: I’ve been a part of a project with Jimmy Roche, Dan Deacon and Kevin O’Meara of Video Hippos called Ultimate Reality for the past year. It’s two drummers playing to an electronic film score with video projections.  We just finished the recording and hopefully it will get released somewhere at sometime.

Do you have any guilty pleasure song or TV show that would surprise people? Do any of you listen to Avril Lavigne or anything?

Dustin: I do like Avril Lavigne's “Sk8ter Boi” song--catchy, right? I like U2 and Alan Parsons Project, but I don't really feel guilty about it.  My girlfriend, Angel, and I have been religiously watching the US version of The Office, and that’s been kind of a guilty feeling.

Ken:  We all really like Fleetwood Mac.  

Jeremy: Third-wave ska.

I was in Boy Scouts with the trombone player from Reel Big Fish, so I’ll pass along your faint praise the next time I see him. What else do you like to do when you’re not playing music?

Ken: Hang out with my girlfriend. Work on art ideas. Travel. Spend time in the woods.

Dustin: I love working on personal video projects.  I have been working on a montage piece with my good friend Andrew Shenker for the past year or so.  It’s been a real lifesaver.

Jeremy: Making art is really satisfying. I’m also a sucker for bikes.

Here’s one last thing for everyone to answer: Tell us a story about a time that you almost died, or a time when you did something crazy and got away with it.

Ken:  Our friend took us snorkeling in San Diego, and I watched a shark swim directly underneath me.  It was supposedly harmless, but I was freaked out.  

Dustin: I almost died when I was thirteen or fourteen years old, when I was snowboarding.  I totally flipped over and fell, and there was this other dude coming behind me, and his board came so close to my head that it took my beanie with him.

Wow. That’s a close call.

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Dustin: I still think about that and shiver.  I have a few stories like that.  I'm a pretty clumsy dude.

Jeremy: The last day of middle school, I switched all my crappy cymbals with the school’s really nice cymbals; I probably gained like $400 in cymbal money.  Middle school can suck it.

I wouldn’t worry. I think most public school music programs have money to burn.




Website
www.jeremyhyman.com

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