Pony Pony Run Run : Q & A

When the French do pop music it is invariably done with a soupçon of elegance, a stroke of intelligence and a blast of powerful dancefloor vibes. Its usually not sugar coated nor is it inane; in fact the polar opposite actually which is why us Brits have regarded our friends across the channel to take themselves a little too seriously at times.  Music is definitely one of those times.  But who cares when it’s this good?

Pony Pony Run Run make pop music with electronica as its foundation.  Influenced by the music of the 80’s (isn’t everyone) and the 90’s, they mix it up with indie inspired guitars and basslines, ensuring a dance worthy element strikes at the core of every track further tinged by the flecks of French disco they impart.  No it’s not groundbreaking by any stretch of the imagination, but it is instantaneous with all the right bits in all the right places.

Recent single ‘Hey You’ was an assault on consciousnesses’ over summer, amassing European appreciation of its swirling synths and textured beats. Proving a favourite amongst producers and remixers alike, there are now reportedly around 18 different remixes of this track alone circulating the web, with bands such as the Basque folk inspired Crystal Fighters clamouring to stamp their unique style all over it.

Now with UK audiences firmly set in their minds, Pony Pony Run Run are moving ahead with debut album, the confidently titled ‘You need pony pony run run’; confirming they are as far from Eurovision as possible, and that the French musical renaissance is set to continue into the next decade.

We caught up with frontman Gaëtan for a brief chat about Pony Pony Run Run, leaving me wishing that I really had paid more attention in French lessons, instead of passing notes about the more challenging language of l’amour. Damn.

4or The Record: How did Pony Pony Run Run begin?

Gaëtan: We formed the band 3 years ago whilst at art school.  I basically chose people to play with me, so my brother Amaël plays bass and my friend Antonin plays keyboards.

4TR: The music is essentially electronic, but was that the music you always aspired to play or has it gone through a progression over the 3 years you have been together?

Gaëtan: Our music has evolved because to start it was maybe more rock and roll or something like that, but because I have been doing electronic music for about 10 years I tried to inject some electronic stuff into the rock and roll during the development of the band. So now I guess we are making pop music, because there is no definition of pop.

4TR: Soundwise Pony Pony Run Run is very relevant at the moment, is that just coincidence? 

Gaëtan: Well we are not trying to reproduce something or be part of a scene; we are just making music with our influences so it’s quite natural actually.  Electronic music is here now but maybe tomorrow it will be Caribbean music or African music that is popular.  I don’t know and we don’t care because the most important thing for us is to make good pop music.

4TR: So after evolving from a rockier, guitar heavy sound to a predominantly electronic one, could another complete change happen in the next 3 years?

Gaëtan: [Laughing] yeah maybe it will change because we are not stuck on this kind of music; we’re always trying new things in the studio and different things on stage to see what happens and when I say maybe tomorrow we will be making Caribbean music it’s possible because I am into Caribbean music now.  We are not stuck in an idea of what our music should be, everything is constantly evolving. 

4TR: Do you write collaboratively?

Gaëtan: Well first we play together to experiment with sounds and after that I compose with my voice and try to write melodies – it’s a very experimental way of working and I am usually driving it, but then after that everyone is involved in writing.

4TR: Are you all influenced differently?

Gaëtan: Yeah, I can’t answer for the other guys but we do have many influences from jazz to electronic to pop to rock n roll to sometimes African music or Chinese music.  [Laughing] Sometimes it’s like a melting pot of all our musical culture coming together at once. Different stuff influences us all the time; you know we are kids from the 90’s and the radio in France in the 90s was a mix of stuff like euro dance, rock and the beginnings of r’n’b, so some of everything! I guess with that in mind the main influences of the band are everything we used to hear then.

4TR: You released your debut album this year ‘You Need Pony Pony Run Run’.  From the starting point of that record to the finish did it become what you always expected it to be or was it completely different?

Gaëtan: It’s completely different; we spent 3 months during the winter in Paris recording and before that we were on tour for 3 years, so sometimes the songs became part of you because you play them so much.  And because of that we tried to take a mental photo of all the music we have done over the 2 years and put it in the album and so we expected lots of predictable things, but the result is completely different, almost like something we didn’t make.

4TR: Did you produce it yourself?

Gaëtan: Before the album I was the producer for the band but for this we worked with a well known French producer.   For us it was a different experience because he was very involved in the creation and that’s mainly why its become different I think.

4TR: In future would you work with someone else or keep it in house?

Gaëtan: Maybe something in between the two.

4TR: You recently released your debut single ‘Hey You’ here, what is that track about?  

Gaëtan: [Laughing] I don’t know actually, that is the last song we composed before the recording session and I guess it’s a young song but I am not able to explain why; it’s a winter song but also perfect for the summer, does that make sense?

Video: 'Hey You'

4TR: There are a number of remixes of ‘Hey You’ out there at the moment, do you have any favourites?

Gaëtan: I really like the one from Crystal Fighters and I really like their single ‘Xtatic Truth’ actually; but you know there are maybe 18 remixes so I’m not able to have an opinion on every one of them but I do like the Crystal Fighters one.

4TR: You have almost a cult following here in the UK, but across Europe you are very successful. Why do you think that is? 

Gaëtan: Yeah we have success in France now, but we are not a success in the UK yet [laughs], maybe people know about us but its really complicated to be everywhere at the same time obviously.  So first we have tried to be something in France and that’s what is happening now and it’s going well, but now we’re in the UK trying to make the same thing happen.  I don’t know if that is going to be possible, it depends on the audiences, but we are at the beginning of our work here in the UK.

4TR: You supported Katy Perry this year – was it a case of her being a fan of your music so she asked you herself?

Gaëtan: Yeah we played with Katy Perry which actually is the only time we have played in the UK so far.  She asked us so we said yes of course; I’m not really into her kind of music but we thought why not, and so that was our first UK show in Glasgow.

4TR: What can audiences expect from Pony Pony Run Run live show? 

Gaëtan: Something different I think; it’s another kind of work on stage compared to the studio. We try to make sense of the music and interact with our audience to make the music powerful.  The album is a pop album but when we’re on stage we try to make everything bigger and dancier, so its kind of electro rock sounding.

Words: Francesca Strange

Images: Gareth Jackson www.jacksonfoto.com

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