Matt Pond has spent much of his career finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. On Permanent Change Part 1 (Sonder House), that sensibility has become something closer to a philosophy. To wit, life is imperfect, and most of us are making it up as we go along—so there’s really no reason to burn through endless hours worrying about getting it right.
For latest chapter in Matt Pond PA’s long and winding history, its namesake is in a reflective (though hardly resigned) mood. It’s a perspective cultivated through experience. Since launching the project in Philadelphia 28 years ago, Pond has released 15 albums, navigated numerous lineup changes and explored various musical identities. Now happily married to fellow singer/songwriter Anya Marina and based in Kingston, N.Y., he’s discovered that the stability he once worried might diminish his creativity has actually strengthened his commitment to his craft.
MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland recently caught up to Pond in the midst of a 12-date U.S. tour in support of Permanent Change Part 1.
You’ve described Permanent Change Part 1 as an attempt to stop treating life like a constant audition. What finally prompted that realization?
I’ve been an imperfection fanatic since birth. Every first comes with the beautifully distinct possibility of getting it wrong—but it’s taken me until recently to realize there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone trips on the sidewalks in Kingston. They’re made of bluestone … broken and uneven. It’s like an endless loop of performance art. I love when we show our true selves—especially when it’s performed as an art.
The new album seems particularly invested in the moments between major events: walking the dog, chilling out on the living-room floor, sitting beside a lake. How have you become more attentive to those experiences as you’ve gotten older?
On the walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I’ve hummed some of my best beginnings of songs into my voice memos. Nothing should be considered inconsequential. We just finished a new EP that might turn into an album. We’re putting it out this winter because I can’t stop writing songs. I love the stream of consciousness and repetition of my style of songwriting because that’s where I’ve learned how to sift through my thoughts and find truths.
“The Stars Below” lingers in that eerie silence between taking the leap and hitting the water. What draws you to those suspended moments?
I think the moments between moments are the actual moments—that, and I was raised on Mountain Dew advertisements. I once thought the greatest feeling in life would be to roll down a hill in a huge truck tire. The vision of that experience in my head was enough to make me happy.
After 15 albums and decades of working in an unpredictable business, how has your definition of success changed for the better?
What’s different now is that I like myself more than I used to. That’s better than having a constant hum of self-destruction in the back of my head. True success is defined by true self-love. I’m not always crazy about myself, but I love thinking creatively. I like seeing the poetry.
You’ve envisioned Permanent Change as a three-volume work?
Half the songs for the next chapter are already written. The unreleased titular track, “Permanent Change,” is mostly recorded and will be amazing if I don’t blow it.
What made you want to approach it on a larger scale?
I wanted to commit to something I hadn’t completely thought through. I believe in hope. I believe in belief, even if it takes on a vague shape, especially when all the songs have yet to be written.
Matt Pond PA has evolved through different lineups, locations and musical approaches. What constants have remained?
Chaos no longer rules my mind. I used to have a half-dozen guitars in strange tunings and pieces of crumpled notebook paper everywhere. Even though I feared that stability would make me less interesting, the creative current is alive, and it’s only made my faith in songwriting stronger. I tried changing the name a few times, but that seemed to confuse people.
I assume you’re referring to the Natural Lines.
Yes. That album and EP are some of the best music I’ve ever written and produced, yet no one’s really heard it. Resilience is my ragged power—surviving my own worst instincts, blind, stupid resilience, and the belief in the idea of transcending our existence with words and music.
See Matt Pond PA live.
