You’d think that after what was a mightily successful year behind them, that the members of Perth’s band of the moment Tame Impala would have earned themselves a break from their intense touring and recording schedules, but when two fifths of said band are part of fellow collective Pond (and a string of other side-projects), resting on their collective laurels is the last thing on the agenda.
Speaking to Tone Deaf for an upcoming interview, Tame Impala’s drummer turned keys man Jay Watson has revealed that Pond have a swathe of new material to be released in the coming months, while each member of the five-strong collective have separate records nearly in the can to be released in the near future also.
“We’re all just recording stuff, Pond records, we’ve done one and we’re doing another one, and solo records and stuff,” says Watson.
He also confirmed that Pond’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Beard Wives Denim, as a “full on crazy fiend rock and roll album,” complete with the working title of Hobo Rocket. “We were going to do a really nice, beautiful orchestrated album, but we figured we might as well capture the live band as we’ve been touring… So that’s what Hobo Rocket is, the full on, manic acid rock [album].”
Adding to Watson’s assessment, bassist Joe Ryan said in an interview with Tone Deaf last year that the band recorded their latest LP at Fremantle’s Wastleand Studios, “owned by the guys from Eskimo Joe and we did it in three nights,” explains Ryan, describing it as “a pretty sonic album with a lot of feedback and crazy shit,” and we can expect many tracks to be “heavier; more like Earth or one of those kinds of band.
Meanwhile, Jay Watson also confirms, “I just finished my solo album yesterday.” Having first revealed his solo project last September under the moniker of Gum, with the Back To The Future referencing single ‘DeLorean Highway’; Watson now says he may be up for another name change, “I might call my [solo] album Jay Watson, just my name, because there’s a band in England called Gum. We went through all the stuff with Pond and that band from Portland called Pond, and I can’t really be bothered with that.”
“We’re all just recording stuff, Pond records, we’ve done one and we’re doing another one, and solo records and stuff,” – Jay Watson
As for what to expect from his solo record, “I tried to make it different,” says Watson. “I did one album, and it was kind of 60s psychedelic stuff, and I didn’t just want to do that again and have it sound kind of like Pond and kind of like Tame Impala.”
“Some of it sounds… not hi-fi 80s – lo-fi 80s,” the Perth muso continues, “there’s a Phil Collins cover on there. Phil Collins on acid, that’s what that sounds like. I didn’t have a drum kit in my house so half of it I recorded in a studio with a drum kit, and half the songs just have a drum machine from my computer that I put heaps of reverb on so it sounds really 80s.”
“But it’s good, because it sounds like me, it doesn’t sound like Pond or Tame Impala,” Watson’s solo record and Pond’s Hobo Rocket are both scheduled to drop in March or April, according to the performer “hopefully, mid-year.”
Watson also teased that we can expect to see even more spin-offs from the band before the year’s end. “We’ve got so many records in our bands… Joe [Ryan], the dude with the afro in Pond, me and him have decided we’re going to drop our albums at the same time, same day, which should be fun. And Allbrook/Avery – Nick and Cam’s band – are doing it as well.”
“We’re going to have an online poll,” Watson adds humorously, “me and Joe, ‘who’s album’s better and who’s more handsome’?”
