A Beautiful Fall

Staff Writer: Colin Gibbons

Wednesday, October 8, 2008. Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco.

Baltimore noise rockers Ponyail have been gaining a lot of attention in the wake of their recent release Ice Cream Spiritual, an experimental celebration of all things wild and raucous. The quartet’s penchant for untethered live performances has earned them a reputation as one of today’s most energetic and exciting young bands. I sat down with guitarists Dustin Wong and Ken Seeno, vocalist Molly Siegel and drummer Jeremy Hyman before their show at the Bottom of the Hill on October 8th to discuss the dangers of touring, their influences, and the difficulty of categorizing the band’s sound.

San Francisco Foghorn: So you guys have been doing a lot of touring this year.

Ken: Since May we’ve been doing a lot of touring.

SFF: How’s it been treating you?

Jeremy: I’m a little bit tired tired, but I’m having a lot of fun. Ken got a paper cut… Oh, I got really sick! That was kind of a disaster. It started in Iowa. About a week before we went on tour I got my wisdom teeth out, and it was fine for about a month and a half, but then I got a huge infection in my mouth. I couldn’t swallow or bite down, and Molly’s mom bailed me out and prescribed me antibiotics. It was kind of scary for about 24 hours.

Ken: It was worrisome, but we haven’t faced any mortal danger.

San Francisco Foghorn: You’ve received really positive reviews for Ice Cream Spiritual, has your audience been changing as a result?

Dustin: It’s been getting a little bigger.

Ken: It’s been slow.

Dustin: I feel like we’re getting to know them rather than seeing a change.

Ken: It depends on the city, you know? Some of the east coast shows have been getting pretty awesome. And we were really surprised in Europe; [at] some of the turnouts; the people who knew who we were. we were kind of baffled.

SFF: Is it very different touring in Europe?

Ken: It was definitely pretty crazy.

Dustin: It just felt like people cared more.

Ken: There weren’t as many bands. People like music but they don’t have as many bands. There were some really cool places though.

Molly: Each country was really different. I think my favorite place was Lyon. We played at a squat there called Grrnd Zero. It was weird. They just have this really incredible set up. They have this huge building and they gave us a place to sleep, and they fed us really well. There was a really good vibe there, and I thought the city was pretty nice.

SFF: So you guys are based out of Baltimore, and I realize you are from all over, but do you identify as a Baltimore band?

Molly: I think that we have really strong roots there, we came of age doing all of that. Now we might not have as much time playing shows with other bands from there at the moment, but that’s where we came from.

Ken: If we ran into another band from Baltimore we could connect with them on a level, like before a lot of other people knew about us, playing in warehouses and stuff like that. We are a Baltimore band because that’s where it all began, and there’s a lot of good energy going on there. Nowadays a lot of Baltimore bands are touring, they’re all over the place.

SFF: Are there other bands right now that you guys see as doing the same thing as you or pushing for the same sound?

Dustin: I really like Abe Vigoda. I feel pretty connected with their sound, with their attitude. They have a very light and positive attitude towards music. I really like them.

Ken: It’s hard to compare [ourselves] to other bands. I just don’t know where we stand. I don’t want to be like “yeah, we sound like Led Zeppelin” or whatever.

Dustin: I don’t think we sound like anybody, its more of an attitude.

Ken: We just saw Dirty Projectors and we’ve always felt like there’s a good kinship there somehow, like an exploration.

Jeremy: But we don’t sound alike…

SFF: In a lot of write-ups you’re mentioned in association with current acts. It seems like you are very much regarded as a current band. Do you feel like you draw heavily from past influences?

Ken: Actually yeah most of the stuff I’ve been listening to is pretty old it seems like.

Dustin: We like all kinds of music. My roots are surf [bands] like the Ventures That’s kind of the first band I really got into. I’m a guitar nerd, so anything that’s guitar oriented like Ashra …

Ken: And also stuff without guitars too. Like electronic music, ambient music, and experimental composers too. Like Terry Riley and Brian Eno. There are just so many different ways to go.

Jeremy: Lots of punk

Ken: Yeah, like The Police even– still a punk band. Or Minor Threat or Fugazi. Minute Men.

Dustin: Minute Men, yeah. We love music.

SFF: If you could describe your sound or what you’re trying to get across, how would you describe it?

Jeremy: Allegra? I don’t know..

Ken: Upbeat…

Jeremy: Cialis?

Ken: That’s a hard question

Dustin: Clicking and popping noises.

Ken: A puzzle.

Molly: A happy puzzle.

Ken: Funky punky happy puzzle.

Jeremy: Easy peezy.