interview

New Young Pony Club are one of the hot new bands currently strutting their stuff on the NME Rave tour. MyVillage met up with Andy Spence, lead guitarist and producer for a chat. In between assurances that they didn’t want to be the biggest band in the world and the frustration at the reluctance of bands to try new sounds we discussed the role of the internet in the music industry and the difficulties of bringing a new sound to a resistant market.

So Andy how is it going so far?

“Yeah the tour is going really well so far. We’ve got a bit of a team going now with the other bands. Sometimes we wish we could have bigger crowds at the start of the night, but half the point of this tour is to win over new fans so yeah it’s going really well.”

What are you aiming for with your live shows? What do you want the audience to get from it?

“Hmm, well I suppose mainly to get the sound of the band, to get what the band is about. To me we don’t sound like any other bands out there. With some bands out there it’s obvious to hear who they are influenced by. Some bands even seem to base their entire sound around one band, mentioning no names, *cough* ‘Wolfmother’ *cough* (laughter), no I mean they’re doing great and they’re on our label so I’m really pleased for them. But we want to make music that people will really say ‘that was really of its time’ so if people at the shows can get that vibe then that would be cool.”

Do you think having a mix of male and female in the band helps give you a different edge and perspective?

“Well we didn’t make the decision to have the mix it just happened that way. But we are really pleased it happened because it has given us a different image to that traditional ‘indie’ look. We are quite a random bunch of people. None of us grew up together and we all come from different backgrounds, which is part of the appeal for me to our music.”

So how to do you feel about the Myspace phenomenon? Is it harder for bands to keep fans that are possible only looking for the next ‘new’ band, rather than being loyal to a band they actually like?

“Well I like to think that good music will always win the day. Hopefully people will follow a band and stay with them because the music is good. Yeah I suppose there is a lot of ‘let’s find the next new band’ and there is a lot of hype through Myspace, but it’s ridiculous to think bands like The Artic Monkeys, or Lily Allen, only made it big because of Myspace. I mean essentially it puts everyone on a level playing field so there is no reason why the best stuff shouldn’t do the best.”

What was the best gig you have done, the one that really made you think you could make it?

“Oh I always remember one we did in Amsterdam at a festival and the crowd just went mental. We’d only just started off so I doubt they had heard our stuff before and that was just fantastic. I don’t think we’ve had a better gig to date.”

What about the worst?

“We did this one in Portsmouth and the crowd just didn’t clap or move or anything. We ended up not caring ourselves. We were finishing songs early and, yeah, basically it was awful.”

How would you define your music?

“Well people have tried to put us in with this new rave scene, but it’s a bit of a misnomer. We don’t see ourselves as part of any scene. We’re influenced by indie and dance music and to be honest I’m amazed there aren’t more bands around like us. We’ve all grown up with dance and indie but most people don’t seem to want to do that. There is a tendency to be safe and follow a tried and tested sound.”

Do you think with singles so available to download or listen to on the internet it is becoming more about albums now?

“Yeah partly, although there is still a lot of pressure for bands to have a massive single so they can get the airplay. Radio 1 still dominates the air waves and that can’t be a good thing. When one station, and basically a handful of people, are in control it’s not a good situation. But unfortunately that is the way it is. Albums are becoming more of the real selling point of a band now but if you can get on Radio 1 with a huge radio friendly monster, like ‘Monster’ (by The Automatic) (laughter), then you can do really well. I think bands like us may struggle to get on Radio 1 because we haven’t got that desire to make really radio friendly singles.”

So where would you like to be in five years time?

Three number ones and loads of Brit awards (laughter), and a coke habit, (more laughter). I’d probably just want to have a big fan base, still be making albums, and being able to play decent sized venues anywhere in the world. I mean, we don’t want to be the biggest band in the world, we really don’t. I’d rather have a loyal fan base who will be more willing to stay with us if we try new things, rather than being some massively commercial band with an instantly recognisable sound and then just disappear after two years. It’s been a while since a band really just built up over time, most seem to arrive in a flash and then be gone again. Hopefully we can just keep building up, have a great fan base that support us and to still enjoy what we do. That’s the main thing, to enjoy it.”

Gig review
Read review from the New Young Pony Club gig in Cardiff

www.myspace.com/newyoungponyclub

Picture credit: Kane Skenner