Sandman Interview

Daft names are easy to come by, but daft band names are even easier. However, for every Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, there is a Part Chimp. So, it'd be easy to dismiss Lardpony as nothing more than a silly name about a greasy ass. Huhuh.. I said 'ass'. Think again, nose-pickers, because this cuter than cute foursome from Derby rock Sandman's socks. Sam Metcalf got a lift to Derby to speak to Tom, Kristian, Mandy and Nathan. Photos by James Anastasi

This is Lardcore

Tuesday night in The Bless - the centre of everything indie in Derby, and I'm late. The Bless is an odd place - lots of twists and turns and corners that hide Lardpony from James and I. Eventually Tom, singer and guitarist and owner of indie pop's most delightful beard pops his head around the corner to save us from both the regulars, and we take our seats in the church of Lardpony.
Lardpony started as a joke between Tom and... himself. And possibly the rest of Derby. He booked his imaginary band a gig, then realised that his band didn't exist. Panicking slightly, he got together Kristian and Rob from Plans and Apologies and played the gig. Realising that Plans and Apologies at least existed, Rob quickly jumped ship, and Nathan joined to play bass. Tom didn't think of hiring a keyboardist - probably because he was too busy trimming his beard, but when he did realise that he needed some synth in his life. Who better than Mandy, then? No-one, that's who. And the Lardpony we know and love today were complete.

And relax.

The first Lardpony song this writer heard was called 'I'm in Love With a Noxious Gas'. This is fairly typical of a Lardpony song.
"Tom writes all the lyrics, so they probably say more about him than they do about the rest of us," says Nathan, wringing his hands of any responsibility for songs such as 'Catwatching' - a song Tom wrote about... erm... watching cats.
"I try to write lyrics about personal things," admits Tom. "I want to make every day things and make them funny."
"He's very strict!" says Mandy. And immediately and image of Tom dressed in nothing by a leather cat suit brandishing a whip comes to mind. But that probably says more about my mental state than it does Tom. Moving on....
The wrod on the street is that the Derby scene has never been healthier, and Lardpony couldn't agree more.
"The Derby scene right now is fantastic," says Tom.
"I agree, and there are no cliques or anything," agrees Nathan.
"I think that each band is its own separate clique," says Kristian, the scamp.
Tom again, "Yeah, you'll always get bands that seem to play with each other all the time, but there doesn't seem to be any animosity."
"Nearly everyone we've met in a Derby band has been really nice," gushes Mandy. Are Lardpony the nicest band in the world? Probably.
There was an excellent column by Jyoti Mishra in Sandman a couple of months ago, bemoaning the fact that a few people around the Derby scene seem to be jealous of the success of Komakino. Lardpony disagree.
Nathan kicks off: "We really like Komakino as people. They've never been anything but pleasant to us. I've no problem with their success at all - if anything it's been good for other bands in Derby."
Tom agrees, "I've known some of the band for years and have always got on well with them, and I'm glad they're doing so well. Musically, I'm not that keen on them, but they're very much a band of today and deserve all the success they've got. They've always helped us when they can, and I hope we've been okay with them."
That's that nailed, then.
So, who else in Derby have Lardpony got to say thanks to?
"Phil from Stressed Records and Robbie from Plans and Apologies have done a lot for us over the last couple of years," says Tom.
"Yeah, and Twinkie and Moo and Annemarie, and the Ponce girls have been great too," says Mandy.
"We once played two gigs in a night after the Ponce gang rang us up with five minute's notice and asked us to go and play, so we;ve helped them, too!" says Tom.
When Sandman first started in April as much effort as possible to make sure that there was no Nottingham bias at all, and that Derby was given just as much space as its larger neighbour down the A52. I hope that's been carried through. However, for some there'll always be a rivalry.
Nathan steps in "I don't know if that's true to be honest. I, for one, don't know much about the Nottingham scene."
Tom has other ideas - "I think it's true that not many Derby bands get gigs in Nottingham. We've not played there that many times - the only gigs that stick out in my mind are when we played with Milky Wimpshake and Mirah, and we played with the Radiator Experts, who I like quite a bit."
And so to Lardpony, is the live gig everything?
"I love playing live... mainly because I don't get scared any more".
Aww, she's a cutie, that Mandy.
"I think we all love playing live, but we've also had fun recording our album, 'This is Lardcore'. We;ve had a lot of help from Moo from Twinkie who'll be sorting out the release of the record, and we're all really excited about that I think."
Lardpony are a precious thing. But like a lot of precious things, they could quite easily break. I wonder what will happen to these purveyors of sweet indie pop should the 'pony keel over and die. Perish the thought.
"I think I'd probably kill myself," says Kristian, deadpan.
Readers, if you have any compassion at all, buy 'This is Lardcore'. Not only will you save a life, you'll probably be changing yours.



Note: Errors have been left in - "Rob from Plans and Apologies" should be "Dave from Plans and Apologies" and various other small things. Get a proofreader, Sandman! I'll do it if you like!
Tom on 10.19.05 @ 10:51 PM GMT [link]