When it comes to scoring left-of-centre support slots, Brisbane electro-glitch avant-rock stalwarts Ponyloaf are the undisputed masters.
Fresh from supporting psychedelic rock masters Trans Am on their recent national jaunt, the ’Loaf have also racked up a warm-up set for Boston metal act Isis and will soon add dance act Infusion to their CV following this Saturday’s gig at Arena.
For synth wizard Damian Lewis and his bandmates, this is just another unusual feather in a large and impressive cap.
“It’s actually really awesome,” Lewis says of scoring such a plethora of support slots. “We find something we like in every act we play with and we find ourselves really lucky to be offered so many different support gigs.
“In terms of different styles, that tends to suit us because we’re a pretty difficult band to define.”
Ponyloaf’s versatility enables them to pull off sets of minimal ambience (as seen at the recent Prime exhibition opening at the Queensland College Of Art) or floor-filling beats with equal aplomb. The recent addition of Hazard Brothers skinsman Ommy has seen the quartet introduce an even more rocking vibe to their notoriously energetic stage show.
“When we started getting more and more gigs it became more about [playing live] for us, so we figured, ‘If we’re going to play these shows and stand up [to the acts we’re supporting] we’ve got to be able to rock it like a rock band’,” Lewis explains. “We’ve jammed with Ommy in the past and he’s also given us heaps of advice on the ’Loaf album [last year’s O Complex], so he’s had a hand in our stuff for a long time.”
Bringing live drums into the equation has not only fattened the Ponyloaf live show, but also had a strong influence on a songwriting process that, until now, was primarily studio-based.
“With the live drummer something’s clicked in our heads now,” Lewis continues. “When we started out it was basically all about writing stuff in the studio, but now we’ve evolved to this point where we’re writing a lot of stuff in the rehearsal room.
“Because we’ve got that studio background behind us, we tend to write something, record it in the studio, then bring that into the rehearsal room and play with it again. It’s a really good place for us to end up.”
With a reinvigorated live set-up and a new approach to songwriting, it’s only a matter of time before Ponyloaf commit the new sound to disc.
“While everything feels new and exciting we’re going to try to write a bunch of songs and see how it goes in terms of recording that as a demo,” Lewis says. “We might even put together an EP by the end of the year. We’re definitely keen on writing as much new stuff as we can and putting it on disc and seeing what it sounds like.”
Ponyloaf join Infusion, Soma Rasa and a big support cast of local DJs at Redtronic at Arena Saturday Apr 30.
KRIS SWALES