Pond bring their psyched out dream-pop to End Of The Road

"It's fucking awesome," Nick Allbrook exclaims, looking in wonder at the green space around him. "We've been here somewhere around 20 hours. It's beautiful." The band are taking some downtime after performing on the Big Top stage. "I had a great time," Nick states, smoking his cigarette. They might've encountered a few tuning issues, but with their performance on top form and the crowd lapping up every moment, Pond have absolutely no complaints.

The group have a long and complex history. "When we started it was just me, and Joe, and Jay," Nick describes. "Then we decided we wanted to be a big, sort of, commune group, so we got about eight other people to be in the band. Then we decided we wanted to be in a slick funk group, so we got rid of those eight other people. Then we changed members again, and then we changed members again, and then we changed members again, and now it's just us four. For the moment."

Constantly in flux, Pond's sound is an ever-evolving mixing pot of influences and experimentation. The group released their sixth studio album Man, It Feels Like Space Again at the start of this year. "One time Joe [Ryan] was extraordinarily inebriated, in a rather colourful way," Nick remembers. "he came into the tent where we were, and he said "man, it feels like space again." We thought it was incredibly hilarious because it implied that he'd, y'know, been in space. And we decided it was going to be an album name about three years before we made the album."

Now finally in existence, Man, It Feels Like Space Again is a Pond album with a difference - it's the first time the band have recorded to tape. "You just have 16 tracks to work with. You've got to make them count," Cam Avery stresses. "That said we just fucking waffled all over the top of it after that."

Following the success of the record, Pond have recently toured around Australia with mix-master Mark Ronson. "It was lovely. He's a fucking good man, that boy," Nick reminisces. "He's good at collecting other good folk under his wing and making a serious party."

Touring, recording, and working on numerous side-projects, it's a wonder Pond have time for anything. "We just pick up the scraps that Tame Impala leave behind," Cam laughs. "Yeah, whenever people can be fucked," Nick adds. "There's no particular rationale behind it. It's just when we want to and when we can." And when will that next be? "We're gonna make another album," Nick enthuses. "Continue on the great carousel that is music band performance group world." Is the next record in the works already? Whilst Cam insists "not collectively", Nick divulges "Everyone's got their own little bits and bobs floating about."

Turning their attentions back to the makeshift football match and the "cosmic" sounds of Django Django emanating from the Woods stage, Pond can rest easy knowing they've performed a job well done.