Poi Dog Pondering
Poi Dog Pondering keeps thriving because their ethic has always been about following their musical heart. Their steadfast independence has allowed them to perennially bloom. From bohemian street buskers to impossible to market major label sacrificial lambs, to hard won autonomy with their own record label (Platetectonic Music) Poi dog pondering have ripened into staunchly independent musical voyagers.
They have let every sound that excited them, flow through their music and flood it with ever changing colors: Orchestral, Acoustic and Electronic textures. Rock Band Disco, Chicago Stepper Soul & their unique ‘Soul Sonic Orchestra’ – “Acous-tronic” sound. (Threaded all along the way with ‘heart on the sleeve’ lyrics that embrace the beauty and pain of everyday life).
Poi Dog Pondering is stronger than ever & continue to evolve with their ever present irreverence to stylistic conformity. 30+ years down the line there is a bolstered sense of history within the band now. A swagger that comes from having steadfastly carved their own path. It is quite apparent that PDP has always been, and ever will be, initfor-the-love-of-it; creating and performing. Line up changes are par for the course. PDP is an organic entity, it changes like life does. But there is a core with strong roots & deep personal history, open to new ears and ready to experiment. That’s what keeps it vibrant.
Poi dog pondering was founded in Hawaii by band leader & chief songwriter / producer, Frank Orrall, in 1984, originally as a solo project & recording production alias. Frank then formed a touring band a few years later. The first live performance was at the Honolulu Arts Academy. Filled with youthful imitative exuberance and inspiration from reading about Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground’s ‘Exploding Plastic inevitable’ projected film and music happenings, PDP projected films of lava eruptions, ocean and other natural environments over the band as they performed. The tradition of projected imagery along with PDP live performances developed and matured over the years and continues to this day thanks too long time film and video artist/collaborators Luke Savisky and Marco Ferrari.
In 1987 PDP’s wanderlust drew them to the mainland, where they embarked on a year long bohemian travel tour across the United States and Canada, playing acoustically on street corners for gas and food money, while sleeping outdoors all along the way. This experience forged Poi Dog Pondering’s self identity & confidence as a “D.I.Y.” entity. PDP was signed to the noble boutique label Texas Hotel who released their first record in ’88. Sony / Columbia released the next 2 records “Wishing like a mountain…” & “VoloVolo”. PDP relocated to Chicago in ’92 and formed their own label Platetectonic Music and released the critically acclaimed “Pomegranate” in ’95. For the next ten years PDP delved heavily into developing their orchestration skills, culminating in major collaborations with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Sinfonietta (with PDP’s Susan Voelz, Paul Mertens, Max Crawford & Frank Orrall doing the arrangements). Band leader Frank Orrall’s interest in electronic music garnered him respect from the Chicago House/Electronic music community for his solo project 8fatfat8, and lead him to become a member of Thievery Corporation as percussionist and vocalist (whom he is still a touring member). All this influenced PDP’s next 2 records “Natural Thing” and “In Seed Comes Fruit” which saw the band experimenting with electronic textures, beautiful lush arrangements and unhurried, sometimes instrumental song structures, letting musicality determine the song structure, rather than traditional “verse / chorus / bridge” style song writing.
In 2005 PDP combined all of it’s experience together and
set out to write and record “a straight up Rock and Soul record”, complete with strings and horns. The result was the critically acclaimed; “7”. Two EPs & a Live DVD later, PDP has swashbuckled through their 8th & 9th Studio recordings “Everybody’s Got A Star”… and now this most recent release: “Remnants of Spring”.
PDP is currently recording a new album, due out end of 2022.
Creating, Touring, not Stopping: Loving.
This band shows no sign of wear.