Matt Pond: The Show Must Go On

What do you do when, in the middle of a two-month tour, you find yourself lying on an operating table, leg broken, and destined for weeks of pain pills and restricted physical activity? If you’re Matt Pond, you pick up, grab your prescriptions, and jump back in the van. Since breaking his tibia and fibula in Pontiac, MI, the frontman for Matt Pond PA has been keeping on — begrudgingly at times — for the sake of the live show and, at least as far as he’s concerned, his sanity.

“I can’t imagine just sitting at home with a remote control when I could have been on tour,” says Pond. “Touring is a little exhausting, even with both legs, and it kind of makes you crazy. But the thing that I love about it is that you’re thinking in real time and living in the moment, which I think is amazing because, well, there’s no more dance parties for me for a while.”

Though Pond may be off the dance floor, it certainly doesn’t mean his fans will be. He’s touting a semi-new EP, Spring Fools, which is brimming with bright, buoyant vocal harmonies, retro-tinged guitar progressions, and bop-ready drum beats. He’s also currently out on tour with a full band (including PA co-collaborator Chris Hansen), and coheadliner Rocky Votolato, all of whom swing by Velvet Jones next Friday, October 7.

For Pond and Votolato, this is not their first trek ’round the States either; the two have been touring and working together for years. “He’s one of my favorite musicians and people,” Pond explains. “For both of us, music is so integrated into our conversation and the way we relate to people; it would be impossible for us to not collaborate somehow.”

In terms of future projects, though, Pond is focused on PA’s newest full-length, which is slated for release in spring: “The joke of it all is all the new songs are stuff that I would want to dance to.”

Matt Pond PA and Rocky Votolato play Velvet Jones on Friday, October 7, at 8 p.m. Visit newnoisesb.com for tickets.