MARTIN TONNE OF POM POKO

Hi Martin and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology. Firstly, congratulations on your latest EP This Is Our House, it is a punchy record with its quick, vibrant and energetic tracks. In what ways were you looking to push the sonic boundaries with this EP compared to your 2019 LP Birthday and 2021’s Cheater?

Thanks for the good description! For this one there wasn’t really much of unifying thought, except to kind of put out what we want at this exact moment. For us it felt perfect to record a Bach-cover and a couple of rock tunes, so we just did that.

Lyrically, was there a common thread running throughout the record as if to capture a certain time and place or are the tracks very much standalone pieces?

Definitely standalone pieces. Themes of longing and intense energy are often present in our music, and I think they are this time as well.

As a relatively new band yet one that has already produced several records, has this brevity been an asset in terms of having only just began the process of tapping into the creative well from which you all draw from?

Well, it’s very hard to know what music we’ll make in the future. Sometimes we kinda get scared that the song we just made was the last good song we’ll ever write, but then we write another one we like and everything’s good.

It what ways has your native Norway shaped and guided your music direction that you feel is distinctive and shines through in your work?

The Norwegian music scene is quite small and open, so it’s easy to hear and be exposed to many different ways of making music, which has definitely helped us find our own way of music making. There are also lots of cool places to learn and study music, and quite a lot of these places have been important for us as a band.

Entering the music scene at one of its most challenging periods in many years. The global pandemic has wreaked havoc with touring and performing but during this time have you discovered new creative measures within your music that has come from a rolling state of lockdown and restrictions?

Hmm, not really. We’re not really a streaming concert-type of band, and although it was very fun to make the talk show/concert film that we did for the release of Cheater we definitely prefer the real deal So we’ve really missed playing live. We’ve had the chance to write and record some new music during all the lockdowns, which has been good, but touring and travelling with Pom Poko is normally a big part of our lives and it’s been emptier without it.

Known for your live sets which bristle with energy and passion, when it comes to your own stage craft, what elements have your drawn upon from other acts that have inspired you and conversely what aspects do you incorporate into your shows that come from what you are not seeing out there on stage in a live setting?

There’s not that much with Pom Poko (apart from the music) that’s very well thought out. The way our live shows came to be the way they are is just that we started playing together, and had so much fun that it was impossible NOT to have that type of energy at a concert. Aesthetically we like everything that’s fun and colourful, but our focus is mainly getting the music we play deeply into the heads and brains of the listeners.

Can you share with us a highlight show you have played and what made it so memorable?

The first show we did in a long time, this autumn in Bristol, was amazing. It was the first show of the UK tour and it’d been waaaay to long without a gig for us, and then we were suddenly on this boat full of sweaty people blasting away. It was pure pleasure.

Throughout your recent years and the many artists and musicians you have met during that time, have any words of wisdom been spoken to you that really resonated with you which in turn has altered the way you approach your craft?

Probably, if we were better at remembering words of wisdom. We’ve met loads of cool and wise people, and they have most definitely said smart stuff to us that we’ve had good use for.

There is a fusion of the art mediums across your work and one only has to look at the video clips of Like A Lady or Crazy Energy Night for evidence of that. What is your approach in cherry picking elements from various art forms and melding them into your own blend of visual art rock?

The way we like to work with other artists is to give them total freedom. So we like to find talented people that make things we like, and then we just ask them to do what they want. Usually that ends up being something super cool, and we love the feeling of seeing someone create something that you know you could never dream up yourself.

On a more philosophical level, what does music give you that nothing else does?

Even though music often has lyrics, it’s very satisfying that purely musical elements, like melody, harmony and rhythm, don’t carry any inherent meaning, and still mean so much. That very abstract but powerful way of creating meaning is special for music in our eyes.