Serious Shit

INTERVIEW WITH PONYTAIL
Recently, Cannibal Cheerleader had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Ken Seeno of Baltimore’s own Ponytail, a fantastic band whose new album Ice Cream Spiritual is fast becoming one of our favorites of the year. The band’s penchant for wildly inventive riffs, 7-minute strong structures, and legendary live performances has garnered them international acclaim, and now Ken answers a few questions about what ties the Ponytail together.

CC: Describe to us the story of Ponytail, what makes you tick and how you came to be. How did you meet and how did you come up with your band dynamic?

Ken: Well it should be noted that we were put together randomly without having known each other. We all by chance took a class 4 years ago entitled “Parapainting” at the Maryland Institute College of Art. The professor, Jeremy Sigler, is a poet from New York City. It was his concept that everyone in the class should be formed into bands in order to create art groups that would practice alongside the art world. By the second class we had been put together based on first impressions. At the end of the semester we played 1 show and when it was over, we kept going!

Our candid and interesting interview continues at the end of this post. Be sure to check out Ponytail at their Myspace in the meantime!

Ponytail – “Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)”
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WHISPERTOWN 2000 REVEAL NEW ALBUM
In a recent posting to their Myspace, Cannibal Cheerleader favorite the Whispertown 2000 announced their new album Swim and posted the LP’s first track “Pushing Oars”. Here’s the update:

“HEllo, hello, and hi!

We are proud to announce that our new album, “Swim”, will be released on Acony records on the 21st of October!!!!

The greatest.

One new song, “Pushing Oars”, has been posted for your listening enjoyment. Unless, of course, you don’t enjoy it, in which case it’s been posted to bum you out. :)

We have a few upcoming dates posted with Jenny Lewis, and also a Nashville date, the home of our new label! Come visit us, and we’ll post more dates soon..

How are you?

What are you doing?

with love,
your friend,
morgan xo”

“Pushing Oars” sounds like a lovely, stripped down indie-rock crooner with a country tinge and rainy Northwestern sadness. Definitely a great track and makes our mouths water for Swim in full. Can’t wait until Oct. 21st! Here’s a Whispertown oldie to keep you occupied in the meantime!

Whispertown 2000 – “Intentions”
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TRYOUTS: BLOC PARTY’S INTIMACY
Vocoders, electronics, synthesizers, vocal effects. Not necessarily musical terms associated with U.K. powerhouse Bloc Party but definitive additions to their newest LP Intimacy, which dropped last night after only a three-day lead time. It would seem we hardly had time to brace ourselves, to wrap ourselves around the band’s newest incarnation, a Chemical Brothers-referencing byproduct of the Manchester scene. And yet, upon initial examination, Bloc Party have managed to construct an organic world of genuineness and heartfelt emotion from the clicks and whistles of their new electronic front. Beginning track “Ares” is initially off-putting and we’ve all heard “Mercury” a few hundred times up until now, so the album really seems to begin with incredible standout “Halo”, which sounds like the older, wiser cousin of “Helicopter”. The album stays high from there, dipping into a softer territory with “Biko”, reminiscing on a Weekend in the City with “Zepherus”, and forging into new, beautiful territory with “Better Than Heaven”. Overall, Intimacy is an excellent record, though one that requires multiple listens to truly understand its theme of alienation, loss, and loneliness. Definitely makes the team and will probably be that one kid that surprises during competition with a rocking routine despite sitting out all the practices to write in her diary.

Bloc Party – “Halo”
Bloc Party – “Better Than Heaven”
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INTERVIEW WITH PONYTAIL (CONT’D)
Here’s the rest of our interview with Ken of one of our favorite bands of the year Ponytail. Enjoy!

CC: How would you describe the Ponytail sound? What inspired you to take this really adventurous route with your music? How did you come up with this style?

Ken: It came very organically and naturally stemming back to everyone expressing themselves individually while working together to create “songs” and this is sort of how things just are for us!

CC: What are some of your influences? What bands are you listening to right now? What are some of your favorite songs (both songs you’ve written and songs by other artists)?

Ken: I think our influences come from many genres, like classic rock, punk, electronic music and ambient music. This list of bands could stretch for a very long scroll, so I will spare getting too specific, but I must say that between the 4 of us we have many different influences. Right now I’m listening to a lot of Bill Frisell, Skinhead Ska (mainly this awesome band called Symarip), and Green Day.

CC: What inspired the use of vocals like Molly Siegel’s as an additional instrument rather than a traditional vocal delivery? Why do you sing this way and how in the world did this style come about?

Ken: I of course can’t answer for Molly, but I think it started as a noise that was clustered together with our ex-keyboard players style. Later, when he quit, the guitars and the drums emerged as a platform for experimentation and this is where we are today!

CC: Describe to us your artistic process. How do songs get written in the band, is it the music first, a theme, a riff, vocals?

Ken: I think we take pride in starting with a clean slate. Song writing, for us, can start in many different ways, whether an idea, or just picking a riff out of the air! Ideally, all 4 of us have input and we tailor our parts to specific to our personalities and very fun and challenging to each of us musically. It’s very frustrating and time consuming to write music, but so rewarding!

CC: For the uninitiated, what is your live show like? We’ve all heard unending praise for your performances, how would you describe them to someone who has never had a chance to see you? What goes through your mind when you’re performing?

Ken: We try to always give 100%. It’s very loud, and bouncy, and usually just hope we don’t make too many mistakes! It can be hard to keep it all together, but I really honestly feel that if the world is just right for that half hour we can channel some serious shit!!

CC: What’s it like receiving all this new attention from blogs like Pitchfork? Have you seen your fanbase increase and how do you deal with all the press and notoriety?

Ken: It’s exciting and it creates a lot of work for us! We have so much for to deal with now that we have never experienced. We are learning as we go. I don’t want to complain, so I will say that we are pursuing a dream and it’s hard to believe!

CC: Have you as a band ‘made it’ yet? What is it to ‘make it’ as a band and how can bands achieve the level of success that your band has?
Ken: This is only the second time I’ve been asked this question so I don’t know if I can really answer it adequately. My theory is, if we are in this same place in a year, we’re not progressing. That definition of “same place” is constantly shifting. I don’t want to plateau and I think we have so many goals and opportunities coming up, maybe we have “made it.” But its very subjective and I worry that corruption can occur when things become overblown. I really can’t answer this one! We just do our best and that’s all we can do!

CC: How much improvisation goes into your songs? Does the music flow out naturally or do the tunes take multiple takes and are carefully crafted? Describe to us the recording of Ice Cream Spiritual.

Ken: I never thought about improvisation with this band until people starting asking about it after the record came out. I used to be in a “Jam Band” and we didn’t even practice for shows, haha! So I think, with Ponytail, we do actually do a lot of editing and practicing, but we love to keep elements of uncertainty and ambiguity. I think we are a live band, the sounds you hear are being created live on stage, and that’s how music for is exists and it’s how we record. It seems very basic and traditional to me, haha!

CC: How would you classify yourselves genre-wise? Are you punk? Prog rock? Plain old indie? What genre do you identify with the most?

Ken: I think we used elements of so many genres in a way that can only be called “Pop,” to be honest.

Bonus question: Does it get annoying when people ask if Baltimore really is as tough as it seems on the Wire when you tell people you’re from there?

Ken: Haha, only because I haven’t watched the Wire enough to tell if they are serious or screwing with us!

Comments? I’m especially eager to hear what people think of the new Bloc Party album! Also a big thanks to Ponytail – come to Austin guys!

Comments
Comment from Becks - August 23, 2008 at 11:54 pm

Hey,
I’m still listening to the Bloc Party album… still trying to pick out what I like, what I don’t, what’s to be discovered in the lie of the album (I love listening to music in the order the band put it out in). So… jury is still out. Don’t think it’s a Silent Alarm (that album had me hook, line and sinker from the opening thrum of like eating glass) but it might top weekend in the city… We’ll see. Much kudos for you for such a long post; and, as always, the music. Cheers.

Comment from wacky_jacky@hotmail.co.uk - September 12, 2008 at 12:51 pm

Will someone Please Please PLEASE tell me where to get the Intamacy album from? Halo And Better Than Heaven are just Amazing.So Yeah, Bit Of Help?

Comment from wacky_jacky@hotmail.co.uk - September 12, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Never mind, I found it, Its amazing.

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