Matt Pond et al. are gaining fans from media play as well as a new, joyful sound
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
March 2, 2006
'Is there a reason we're swerving so much?” barks Matt Pond at the undisclosed band member driving his van. “It's windy? Well, when it's windy we slow down.” Pond – along with Brian Pearl (guitar, piano), Dan Crowell (drums), Daniel Mitha (bass), Dana Feder (cello) and Steve Jewett (guitar) – are traveling from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati as the band Matt Pond PA.
“It was never my intention to be here in a van telling people to slow down on the way to a show,” jokes Pond, the hum of the van – probably moving slower at this point – in the background. “My intention was probably to be a history professor or something much quieter and calmer. I think I just wanted the brown tweed jacket and the pipe. I could have it, but it wouldn't work in the van. I think everyone would object to the pipe smoking.”
To give Pond credit, he'd just woken up from a midday nap to find a journalist from San Diego on his cell phone and his tour van skittering along a Midwestern back road.
As Pond and his band's music filters into the public consciousness, American audiences are starting to get a far more pleasant wake-up call. The group's 2005 album, “Several Arrows Later,” finds it stepping away from its uptight intellectual indie rock background, putting forth a more joyful set of tunes. Everything sounds more relaxed, resulting on a truly beautiful and accessible record.
As a testament to Matt Pond PA's ability to reach a mainstream audience, the quintet can add its name to the ever-expanding roster of excellent bands gracing the soundtrack of TV's “The O.C.”
Matt Pond the man hails from New Hampshire. Matt Pond PA the band started in Philadelphia in 1998. After numerous lineup changes, the group calls Brooklyn home after moving to New York in 2003. Asked about his band's name, Pond takes a second to reflect on his changing perspective on his music and his career.
“We have a strong Pennsylvanian following,” noted Pond, after playing Pittsburgh the night before. “I think they're just as confused as everybody else by our name. I used to like the name of our band because I think I enjoyed the confusion and the alienation it caused. But now, I think we're just going to stay with this name. So we're not going to be Matt Pond NY anytime soon.”
In Matt Pond PA's previous eight albums, the string arrangement stood front and center alongside Pond's clever songwriting. On “Several Arrows Later,” the work of cellist Eve Miller (Rachel's) and violinist Margaret White (Sparklehorse, Comas) integrates seamlessly with catchy pop hooks and sharp interplay between all five band members. Cellist Feder now tours with the band.
“We've always had cellists in the band so it sounds like we really concentrated on strings,” said Pond. “It's a really cool instrument to work with, it blends well. In a larger sense, we try to incorporate orchestration, not just strings but all kinds of instruments, especially on the last record.”
Matt Pond PA's ninth album displays a pleasing balance between Pond's sweet vocals, subtle strings, wistful pedal steel, upbeat drumming and delicate guitar lines. The balancing act found other band members stepping up to take charge: “For the last record, Brian and Dan put a lot into it in terms of arranging and putting their energy into it. They really treated it as their own, which it is.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
