New Young Pony Club interview

ON THE EVE OF THEIR FIRST EVER VISIT TO AUSTRALIA, LONDON’S NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB TALK TO ROB TOWNSEND ABOUT NEW RAVE, TOURING AND CAT FIGHTS WITH LILY ALLEN

“A good gig is better than sex.” Frontwoman Tahita pauses for a second, before correcting herself. “Well, actually it’s like having sex with 1300 people. And no consequences.” Watch out; New Young Pony Club are heading this way, and they’re bringing their unique brand of punk-funk, disco-pop noise with them.

For the uninitiated, New Young Pony Club is a supercool collective, comprised of three girls and two guys, that was born following a meeting between Tahita and guitarist Andy Spence three years ago. Bored with the plethora of dad-rocking post Brit-pop bands dominating the indie scene, they saw a niche for the fusion of guitars and dance music, and so their journey began.

NYPC’s influences come from far and wide. There are traces of the New York punk scene from the 70s, the rave scene, as well as nods to bands like The Stone Roses and The Rapture. “Our sound is a free-for-all, a car crash of styles,” the instantly likeable Tahita confirms. The band’s recent eponymous EP release brilliantly showcases this sound, offering simplistic lyrics and chunky, funky beats. It is infectious stuff.

Because they’re guaranteed to get you dancing, NYPC have lazily been labelled with the New Rave tag that all English bands combining guitars and dance music have been lumbered with. Like most of these groups, they feel a little uncomfortable being pigeonholed in such a way. A slightly baffled Tahita does her best to describe a scene that nobody really seems to fully understand. “It’s more a term based on people’s hopes of what is going to happen - the potentiality of a group of bands,” she says by way of explanation. “We’ve had a Labour government in England for ages now and things are getting corrupt. People, particularly young people, want to feel like they have something of their own. There seems to be a spirit lifted directly from 1988, when there would be a cavalcade of cars heading out to the countryside for a rave. Now it all happens with bands playing in warehouses in East London.”

And where did the band’s name come from? “I just like the idea of a Pony Club. It is cutesy and innocent, but then there is also that whole domination thing where people dress up as ponies and draw carts. There is also a lot of Freudian imagery entrenched within horses.” Almost as an afterthought, Tahita adds: “Also, it’s a good acronym.”

Until now, most of the band’s performances have been in the UK, including a recent tour with potty-mouthed songstress Lily Allen. “She’s an interesting girl,” the refreshingly candid Tahita says. “She’s pretty nice, and her band and our band got on really well, but to start with, her and I kind of circled each other like cats, ready to scratch.” In an attempt to clarify the reason behind the initial animosity between the two, she merely says with a laugh: “It’s a front-person thing. It was fine in the end though, and she gave us all flowers at the end of the tour.”

Keen to escape the freezing cold winter’s days of London, the gang of five are heading to Australia this week for the first time to perform at the Modular Christmas party, and a genial Tahita can’t wait. “It’s going to be an absolute riot, “ she enthuses. “I’ve heard that people are really up for it compared to London, where you have to shove a rock up people’s arses to get them moving.” NYPC’s tour also takes them to America and Japan, which is something that will test their stamina to its very limit. “I’m looking forward to seeing more of the world, and I think I’ll enjoy it, but I’m a weakling,” the singer openly admits. “A few nights of doing naughty things and I’ll be coughing, hacking and just wanting to be put in a cardboard box and fedexed home.”

And what does the future hold for New Young Pony Club? “Everyone wants to feel like they are going to be the biggest band in the world, but I’d just be happy to get a really good album out; something that sounds timeless,” Tahita says sincerely. “We want to write emotive songs, as well as songs that make you feel like going out and biting somebody.”

Interview by Rob Townsend