You Are Feeling Sleepy...

Bailey and his Pony Face crew are packing the van at their Melbourne home, getting ready to hit the road for a big run of dates to mark the release of their second record, Hypnotised. Things have already got off to a flyer, though, with a sold-out launch party at the Northcote Social Club seeing the new soundscapes making an immediate impact with fans.

“Alabama, Howdy Moon and Disco Cop got a really big reaction, but [single] Silver Tongue just got a massive response,” Bailey says. “We've only just figured out how to play it live because it's a drum machine song, so that's pretty weird for us.” But as to why the track connects with people so well, the bearded frontman is lost for an answer. “I've got no idea?” he chuckles. “I guess it's got a really kickass guitar chorus and it's probably as pop as we've gone, but I hear this really nerdy, shitty guitar sound, almost on purpose. People have been very accepting of it though, I don't know why?”

Don't let the frontman's humble nature fool you though. People have been accepting of far more than simply one song. With two albums now the independent Victorian trio have a glut of material to deliver on the live stage and Bailey informs that fans should expect more soon.

“As soon as we finished [2010 album] Stars Are Bright we recorded and tracked Hypnotised,” he tells. “So within six months of that first record we were then just waiting until we could make enough money to put it out, so we've been sitting on it for a year-and-a-half. It seems a bit weird but every time we get together it's just so easy to write and we just like the tracks. I learnt really early on with the band to not hold anything back with regards to songwriting – just record it and get that shit down as soon as possible while the fire is burning.”

But ease of songwriting wasn't simply a virtue for Pony Face when they formed in 2008. They knew what band they wanted to be; they just had to learn how to be it.

“It happened straight away but we couldn't play – we were really shit,” he hoots. “Anth [Dymke] is an exceptional bass player and technically proficient as a motherfucker. But we couldn't play together as the trio that we wanted to be. Kris [Emond] was a guitarist, he never played drums before in his life, but he had a cracker rhythm so I wanted him behind the kit because we didn't have a drummer. He had a really rocksteady rhythm guitar – you could almost set a watch off it, but it just took a while for it all to slot in.”

But since they have the music has come in droves. Hypnotised was recorded with Casey Rice, an American expat whose ear has helped guide, “... more good records than we've made songs,” according to Bailey. It was a working partnership that he admits was critical to finish the record, even if the three-piece were applied some pressure.

“It was good for us because Kris and I come from a studio background and left to our own devises we would have taken four years before we had the album done. Casey has a Chicago work ethic and he has no bones about saying when something was shit, y'know; 'Let's go again'. And it was great because in the past we'd worked with people that would hold a lot back and would rather iron out problems rather than go, 'Look, that's not working'. He pushed us around. I like that; I like that honesty.”

Pony Face will be playing the following shows:

Friday 21 September – The Joynt, Brisbane QLD
Thursday 27 September – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart TAS
Friday 28 September – The Royal Oak, Launceston TAS
Thursday 11 October – The Junkyard, Maitland NSW
Friday 12 October – The Greenroom, Sydney NSW
Saturday 13 October – Yours & Owls, Wollongong NSW