Straight outta Ottawa, the Canadian sensations Pony Girl spoke to Music Forever Magazine about taking their surrealist synth-pop on the road after the release of their new LP Laff It Off, out now via Paper Bag Records. Check out the last of their current Canadian tour dates in Vancouver at The Anza Club on November 27th.
Esteban: Hi there, so who is in the current lineup?
Pony Girl: Mili Hong on the drums - fuckinβ monsta! Gregg Clark on bass (βGood Timesβ by Chic can be heard playing in the background), Julien Dussault on guitar, Yolande Laroche on vocals, keyboards and clarinet! Pascal Huot on vocals and guitar.
How did you all meet each other? Is everyone from Ottawa?
No oneβs from here, but we got together at the University of Ottawa and played our first show at the student-run cafe where Pascal and Gregg worked.
Where did the name Pony Girl come from?
People at shows say strange things like, βStay Golden, Pony Boy!β [We] didnβt really get whyβ¦ until someone explained thatβs a phrase from The Outsiders movie or novel. βPony Girlβ are in fact random words we found among the pages and pages of Pascalβs drawings and doodles. Someone in the band proposed we used it as a joke, and the name stuck!
What are some of your musical or cinematic influences?
90s pop, rock and hip hop music. Cheesy or not, as long as it slaps. Modern pop, Hyperpop, Caroline, Charli, the whole gang. 80s ambient music.
Movies: In The Mood For Love, Yi Yi, Drive My Car, Tampopo, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Synecdoche New York.
How did Laff It Off come together? Where was it recorded? How long did it take? Did the pandemic affect its coming together?
Laff It Off and its sister album Enny One Wil Love You were recorded before 2020 at a handful of studios in Canada. Some rural studios like Port William Sound (Mountain Grove), Studio Wild (Saint-ZΓ©non), and studios in town like Little Bullhorn (Ottawa) and Toute Garnie (MontrΓ©al).
How does Laff It Off compare to making Enny One Wil Love You in terms of sound and vision?
Well, in some ways theyβre pages from the same book. Or a better analogy might be two sides of the same coin? Sonically distinctβ¦ but inseparable when it comes to lyrics and themes. We went into the studio to record one album, and quickly realized we had the material for two. Enny One is the electronic, more βproducedβ pop aesthetic which Pony Girl loves to perform. Laff It Off is the collection of songs which highlights our live βoff-the-floorβ sound.
I see that youβre touring Canada. Are you touring the U.S. soon?
Weβve had a few offers from festivals in the U.S., and itβs really cool to see Laff It Off is charting at a bunch of campus and alt radio stations. Tour dates TBA!
I read that βWannabeβ is about facing stage fright? How have you confronted it or coped with it? Were you shy as children?
After 2017, I had developed performance anxiety. I just couldnβt go on stage and βget into itβ. I felt too far from myself and even further from the people we were performing to. Ultimately we took a break until 2022 and that gave me the space and time to reconnect with myself, the band and figure out what we wanted to accomplish together. Something that helped me a lot was to stop drinking. I used to think that it helped me cope with stage fright but it just made it worse. It distanced me from the present moment and made me feel like an observer. When I am on stage I want to feel everything, I want to sink into every note and make them last for a million years. You simply canβt do that when youβre buzzed. I try to approach every show as if itβs going to be my last one. I want to make it worth our while and I want everyone in the room to feel that emotional weight. I was not shy as a child.
Is there a favorite single on the album? Or maybe a favorite lyric? What's it about?
I like the line, βYour own Rite of Spring, heckled from the standsβ in the track βCome Goodβ. Itβs a reference to Stravinskyβs ballet, which is famous for causing a riot during its premiere. At the time, there was nothing quite like it. It was polarizing. But as time passed, it became one of the most admired pieces of music of the 20th century. βCome Goodβ is all about second chances. The conversation is never over. There is always space for change, room for growth.
What was your first concert?
I donβt remember. But in the early 2000s, I saw YES with the original lineup (minus Bill Bruford) at a private outdoor concert. My dadβs friend got us tickets through a lawyer friend who knew these fancy pants capitalist organizers. Weird gig but amazing to see this band at an intimate concert.
Were you around for the Ottawa Truckers strike last year? Did that inform any lyrics or music?
We were, yes, very unfortunate. That was hell. But no! The album was mixed and mastered by that point.
If you could describe your sound as a marriage of two or three bands, what would they be?
I got no clue! But an early review of Pony Girl saidβ¦ in like 2013β¦ βI think RΓΆyksopp & OSI had a baby that was raised by Sigur RΓ³s & Little People.β A more recent writeup in the Sled Island festival program says, βyouβd like to see Pony Girl live if youβre into Grizzly Bear, Royal Canoe or The Flaming Lips.β
Whatβs next now? What are some of your goals for the future, whether personally or musically?
Weβre heading to the studio next week to record LP5. Itβs sorta funky?
Is there anything that you wish somebody would ask you?
Are you too cool for the weird kids or are you too weird for the cool kids?
Thanks for talking with us!