new young pony club says...

New Young Pony Club fans have been waiting patiently for the follow up to the much loved, highly underrated Fantastic Playroom, which was released in 2007 through Modular. Influenced by break ups, the ups and downs of the music industry, and life in general, The Optimist exposes a more vulnerable side to the band and sees them exploring a more challenging lyrical terrain. Comparing the two, their debut was akin to a fun, kinky and quickly satisfying one night stand with tracks like ‘Ice Cream’, ‘The Bomb’ and ‘The Get Go’. The Optimist is more like a tempestuous love affair that takes you through the intimacy, heartbreak and happier times with that classic NYPC beat and hypnotic vocals. ‘Lost a Girl’, ‘Oh Cherie’ and ‘Stone’ transport you to the tear-soaked pillow, to the core of love’s calamities. Self-produced and released, this album shows that sometimes the harder you fall, the higher you bounce.

Covered: Break ups, the rewards of self-producing, Australian food cravings and the new light/dark NYPC.

Danielle Le Toullec: So you arrived in Australia last night for the Parklife circuit as well as some side shows, where did you fly in from?

Andy Spence: We’re in Brisbane now, just come from London, we finished our festival circuit the weekend before last. We had about a week and a half off and that’s about the most time we’ve had off all summer so it was nice… As we’ve been doing festivals rather than concerts, we’ve been away for a weekend, back home for a couple of days and that.

DL: New Young Pony Club has undergone a bit of a makeover for The Optimist. What inspired the shift? 

AS: Various things, we were feeling different after about three years of touring the last album. We just wanted to do something different and we needed to get away from what we were at that time. Ty (Bulmer) was going through a break-up, so that inspired a lot of the lyrical content.

DL: A lot of people are referring to The Optimist as a darker album. Do you agree with that description? 

AS: Yeah, well it’s darker for us, but not dark in comparison to, like, Nick Cave. It’s still pretty ‘up’ stuff but it has a bit more of a mix. It’s dark and light.

DL: Was the writing and recording process substantially longer in comparison to Fantastic Playroom?

AS: It wasn’t really, we started Fantastic Playroom and ‘Ice Cream’ which is one of the first things we did, back in 2004. So, it took about two and a half years to get that out. It took about a year, maybe a year and a half to do this. It probably felt like it was longer for everyone as we’ve been on the road since 2006, and for the 2nd album to come out in 2010 that’s quite a break. 

DL: The Optimist was self-produced and self-released; did you find it harder without the support of a label or more liberating?

AS: No, it was much more rewarding. I mean we had other people around obviously, we’re not running the label ourselves, we have a management company and distribution and Mushroom in the UK so there are partners there helping us every step of the way. It actually felt more supportive this way, you’d think a major label would give you everything but sometimes they are just too busy.

DL: Although it’s hard to pick a favourite, I really love the track 'Lost A Girl', can you tell me the story behind it?

AS: That’s one of the songs Ty wrote about her ex. She was going through a break up and she’d been with the guy for ten years. It was quite a big deal and that’s the very open and honest description about what it’s like to go through that.

DL: Do you know if her ex has listened to the song?

AS: Yeah, he has heard the whole album. They are still in touch. Apparently he joked to her “I think you need to get me some royalties for this album”.

DL: What is your favourite track from the album?

AS: It’s hard; it changes from day to day. I actually haven’t listened to the album in a long time. But we’ve been playing ‘Before the Light’ a lot recently, which we don’t usually play for the festivals but sometimes we’ll do it at our own shows… it's one of the songs that make this album a lot different to the last one. ‘We Want To’ has been going off live too, so we love that one.

DL: So, this time around you’re working with a lot more complicated lyricism and heavier themes. Has crowd response changed in comparison to the more dancey sounds of Fantastic Playroom?

AS: Yeah a little bit, people who come to see us now are more like music lovers rather than people who are just following the fashion thing. So the response is a little bit more intense, I guess, I don’t know, it has been really nice. Obviously there are still the dancey moments but then songs like ‘The Optimist’ and ‘Oh Cherie’ balance it out. It just makes the set more heavyweight… I don’t really know how to describe it, but it makes it a bit more solid.

DL: How did you find NYPC’s new bassist, Lee?

AS: Well, he actually lives at the end of my road, but I didn’t know that when we auditioned him. So it was quite a shock! We just put the word out there amongst everyone we knew and a few people came to audition and he was the best one. 

DL: What has been your all-time favourite gig that you’ve attended?

AS: Oh, god that is a huge question. One that I went to recently was really up there… we managed to get on the guestlist to see Arcade Fire in a really small venue, like a theatre in London which was like a warm up show they were doing and there were only like 1000 people there. And we had great seats right up the front.

DL: Do you prefer those intimate gigs or festivals?

AS: I like both, festivals are great for when you are doing the big, dancey songs… it’s a great experience when everyone is dancing and jumping around but then for doing the darker tracks, an intimate environment is better.

DL: Does NYPC have any collaborations in mind for the future?

AS: We don’t have any specific ones but we do want to collaborate a bit more on the next album. We always say that though but don’t end up doing it! There are lots of great bands out there that we respect but I always find collaborations with people you admire can be a bit tricky because there is that pressure and all the people we really like, it’d be too much pressure…you’d feel like it had to be great. And often you just don’t just get lucky like that. There are some young bands in London that we’d love to do something as well as a few bands from Sweden.

DL: Your touring schedule is pretty hectic at the moment, how do you wind down when you’re not performing?

AS: Swimming, I like to hit the pool. We love the food down here as well, its one of the things we love about this country so much. We keep talking about what we’re going to eat!

new young pony club, andy spence, ty bulmer, parklife