Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who haven’t come across Ponte Pilas before, how would
you describe your sound?
As if a 1960s rock group were cryogenically frozen, rudely awakened circa 50 years later and
mainlined 21st Century culture like Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. Basically, Austin
Powers but with a penchant for a big chorus and sexy guitar riffs.
You’ve been a band since 2017, what have been the biggest challenges over the years?
Honestly, one of the biggest challenges being in an up-and-coming back is just keeping things
friendly and not getting dragged down by the struggles of life as a musician. But we’re a band
of brothers, have been since before we were a band, and going through the highs and lows
together has made us who we are today. The pandemic years especially were a kick in the
balls, but we made the most of them to record our last record ‘So It Goes’ and our upcoming
album. And my Lord is it good to have gigs back!
And what have been the biggest highlights?
Recording our debut album with one of our musical heroes, Gordon Raphael, really meant a
lot. We have been fans of his work for years and his albums with the Strokes were always an
early reference for our sound. The whole experience taught us a lot as well as being a
hilarious and enjoyable time: the Mister, as we call him, is a stone cold legend.
You’ve just released a new single called ‘San Ingacio’, what does this song mean to the band?
San Ignacio is about one of the sainted figures in rock ’n’ roll history and someone whose
music changed all of our lives for the better: Iggy Pop. It paints him as a biblical martyr,
sacrificing himself for the masses and communicating a divine message. Not to mention it’s a
kick ass slice of rock ’n’ roll that you can dance to.
It’s a song squarely in the rock’n’roll world, although with a distinctly modern twist. Why
does this genre feel like the best place for Ponte Pilas to exist?
Rock ’n’ roll is a genre that has been reviled, celebrated, and sadly become something of a
novelty for the most part. Sure people love singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody, but when we
started playing there was a dearth of great up-and-coming rock ’n’ roll bands coming through.
Now we see a lot of post-punk and indie-rock artists that we love, in Berlin and in particular
coming through in the UK, but more classic-rock and Britpop inspired bands like us are still
somewhat rare.
Are there any bands or artists from your local scene in Berlin you could recommend to our
readers?
Our soul brothers and sisters The Flavians have been friends and stage-mates for a long time,
they’re a great band that we’ve been fans of for a long time. Shybits, Easy Read, Lawns are
some other sick bands out there making loud noises we love. Berlin is great in that at any
given time you’re less than 3m away from a frustrated musician so there are plenty of great
folks to tune in to.
Final question, what other exciting plans do you have for this year? Any more new music or
live shows?
We have our debut album ‘Old Enough to Know Better’ coming out on August 26th, which is
going to blow some minds. We have some support tours lined up, a headline tour later in the
year and our beloved Residency series in Berlin where we keep it cheap and play to our most
loyal fans in dirty bars around town. So plenty to sink your teeth into, stay tuned and stay
Pilas.
You can also listen to ‘San Ignacio’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
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