Ponytail to release new album; Dustin Wong on their touring plans, "Infinite Love," and salvia
When I interviewed Dustin Wong last week to preview his show at Golden West Cafe tonight, he casually mentioned that Ponytail, despite having taken a hiatus last year, had just completed a new album.
Today, the official announcement came: the album is called "Do Whatever you Want all the Time," and will be released April 12.
It will be released by label We Are Free, which posted the image at right on its website. (The band had also made a cryptic announcement about the album on its blog several months ago.)
New album or not, Wong said the band has no plans yet to tour together. He's going on a solo European tour in April, so that would seem to put Ponytail shows, if they were to happen, off until after Spring.
For now, he intends to keep performing and recording solo.
"The advantage of working alone is that it's all you. You're responsible," he said. "You can make any changes without asking anybody. You can do whatever you want."
The disadvantage? "You can't play off anybody. There isn't much surprise because of that. A lot of times when you're playing with somebody, you're surprised at what they're coming up with. I definitely miss that aspect."
He has planned collaborations with other musicians - most recently with Dave Hartley, of the Philly band The War on Drugs - but those will only be occasional.
Here's the top of the preview of Wong's show tonight:
Dustin Wong was in labor. Felt like he was in labor, anyway.
It was his 27th birthday and he was riding a powerful, shroom-inspired psychedelic trip that made him think he was about to give birth. This was a year ago. He was in his Mount Vernon apartment, went to his bed, lay back and pushed.
"I felt this love, and I kept repeating that," he said. "That's where the name 'Infinite Love' came from."
The rest of the preview is here. Cut from the piece are Wong's plans for his next solo album.
While "Infinite Love" moves at a dizzying speed, like a spinning kaleidoscope or a Hunter S. Thompson book, he's going for a slower pace for the work in progress.
That's mainly thanks to his experimentation with the hallucinogenic Salvia.
"It's a very strange effect. If you can imagine being the carts in a rotating ferris wheel," he said. "I'm trying to incorporate that into the recording process somehow."
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
Isn't that an old picture of Soundgarden?
Posted by: Dave | February 10, 2011 2:07 PM
Isn't that an old picture of Soundgarden?
Posted by: Dave | February 10, 2011 2:18 PM
@Dave yes it's definitely an old Sound Garden pic - possibly from the Superunknown CD insert but I can't verify at the moment.
Posted by: Foo | February 10, 2011 2:23 PM
figures @foo is a soundgarden fan
Posted by: Maza | February 10, 2011 2:32 PM
What can I say - I prefer musicians who actually play instruments, that said I'm missing the connection here with Soundgarden
Posted by: Foo | February 10, 2011 5:13 PM
Foo, Didn't Chris Cornell cut his hair before Superunknown?
Posted by: Dave | February 11, 2011 12:08 AM
@dave I don't know if it was before the album or before the Black Hole Sun video - could this pic date back to BadMotorFinger?
Posted by: Foo | February 11, 2011 9:15 AM
Could be from Badmotorfinger. I wouldn't be suprised if it was even older than that.
Posted by: Dave | February 11, 2011 11:10 AM
I'm 99% sure it predates Badmotorfinger; I think it was a promo photo taken when Ben Shepherd first joined the band, which would have been in 1990 (the aforementioned album was released a year later). That being said, it WAS his first album with the band, so I guess you could associate the photo with that album. But the photo was never actually included in the liner notes.
Of course, none of this changes the fact that I have no idea what it has to do with Ponytail (admittedly, I know nothing about that band).
Posted by: Dave F. | February 12, 2011 11:39 AM
... unless the photo is merely interchangeable with any band that HAS ever broken up.
Posted by: Dave F. | February 12, 2011 11:42 AM
@Dave F I'm with you - no clue what a early 90's pic of Soundgarden has to do with the story at all.
Maybe maza thinks all rock bands look the same or something?!
Posted by: Foo | February 14, 2011 11:08 AM
@foo, maybe you had your beer goggles on when you read the post. as i wrote above, ponytail's label put the picture on its homepage the day of the album announcement.
Posted by: Maza | February 14, 2011 11:30 AM
Ah, fair enough, I was skimming the post and missed that part.
Carry on.
Posted by: Dave F. | February 14, 2011 1:09 PM