Touching Bass: Pomo

Pomo makes the type of glutinous funk that Prince would be proud of. Straight out of Vancouver and now living in Montreal, his tunes rock like Shalamar for the Soundcloud-age contingency, stooped in glorious chord progressions and grooveworthy drum patterns. Canada, as we’ve noted in the past with the likes of Kaytranada, is wallowing in a rich sea of great electronic music. Pomo contributes to that not only with his solo project but alongside his former boss in funk duo, Nouvel Age. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s a fan of a good documentary and has great taste in coffee table books. Revel in the first edition of Touching Bass for 2014.

Noisey: How’s it going man? What’s up?

Pomo: Nothing much man. Just drinking some coffee.

What do you usually do on a Sunday?

I just hang out and usually make music. Maybe watch a movie. I’m stuck inside because of the snow and it’s freezing, but that’s all good.

So what’s the last movie you watched?

I watched a documentary on the Galapagos Islands.

Once you find a good one, they’re really really good.

Hell yeah. I watched one called Red Obsession that I was told about. It was about wine which sounds really boring but it’s one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.

This reminds me that I need to up my documentary game in the new year. Your music reminds me of late 80s music that my dad used to play to me on vinyl. Who would you say is your favourite 80s act?

My dad used to listen to a lot of 80s New Wave stuff like Depeche Mode and New Order but my favourite 80s band? Prince in the 80s! The best show I’ve ever seen is the Prince after party that he played in Vancouver. It was wild.

Prince has consistently held don status.

Oh, also the Chaka Khan album “What Cha' Gonna Do for Me” is one of my favourites.

So are you a multi-instrumentalist?

Yeah, I started on piano and then moved onto guitar. One of my best friends had a jam space when we were in high school and he had everything in there. We’d just jam there for hours trading off different instruments. I don’t get to play drums enough because I don’t have access to them but they’re so much fun.

Is your sound mostly hardware or software based?

It’s a bit of both but I’d say it’s mostly software. Especially recently, I've been getting into playing more hardware stuff because it forces me to commit to the actual performance and not be able to edit the MIDI afterwards. It makes it sound more natural too.

What’s your favourite synth?

I have a Roland JP8000 that I’ve been using that’s pretty cool. I love the Mini Moog, Juno and the Korg MS20.

I’ve been meaning to get this amazing coffee table book about drum machines. Think it’s by Stones Throw.

The drum machine book! I saw that dude. I really want that too.

I don’t even have a coffee table. How are things going with your band, Nouvel Age?

That came about when I moved to Montreal and I was working in this store. My boss put on his iPod during work and it was one of my favourite tracks off of the Erykah Badu albums, New Amerykah Part 2. We started talking about music and then he told me he sings so we started working on tunes.

Your boss?!

At one point, yeah.

Are you working on a project then?

Yeah, we’re just working on an EP at the moment. First I’m doing the Pomo one, and then we’ll work on that more.

Is there a direct correlation between the themes on the tracks or is the style varied?

It’s not just one tempo and different vibes but it’s still funky-ass-synthy shit along with the spacey, ambient stuff. I wanted to get across my influences in there as well.

How close to completion is your own project?

Probably about 80%. I've just been trying to write every day or every other day and then cut it down to what I really like. I always find that if I make something and wake up the next day wanting to work on it, it’s a good sign.

Talking about collaborations, you and Astrological fathomed up “Gangdu”, which is sumptuous. Could you explain the production process for that track?

Astrological is one of my best friends and one of the most talented dudes I know. He’s actually part of the reason I do what I do now. We were chilling at his house and basically, he’s a master of chord progressions so he was writing those and I did the bassline, drums and synths.

Rightfully described on Soundcloud as “sounds like sex in the bathroom”…

Someone said that?! That’s awesome.

What’s the weirdest comment you’ve seen on a social network?

It was this weird guy who wrote three comments back to back that made no sense. I’ll never find it though.

Are you social network heavy?

I try to be more on Twitter. I'm on Instagram quite a lot. I'm not super crazy on it but I use it.

What’s the best thing about Canada?

I’m from Vancouver but I moved to Montreal with some music friends to meet people. Montreal has such a great music scene so you feel like you’re really at the heart of a lot of big things.

Not Canadian pancakes? Maple syrup is glutinous joy. What kind of vibe have you gone for on the mix?

I wanted it to start off pretty chilled and get progressively groovy. I got some of my favourite tracks of 2013 in there too but I’m liking how it sounds.

Awesome, thanks Pomo.