Notes on Noise

by Alex Smith

Artblog (May 2024) 

"On their upcoming LP Motivic Consciousness, flutes, chimes, gongs, randomly plucked guitar, and even accidental mic-stand bumps and “Hey, watch that, pal!” type screams and other shards of sound are utilized in the live setting. Pond’s penchant for bringing people of various disciplines together continues Philly’s rich tradition of collaboration. His shows, under his name or BoRBs or even the newly formed collective People’s Music Supply, often match the energy of a Saturday Morning cartoon with bright, proto-social anarchistic themes, ebullient spirituality and a unique theatrical strain. Think Anthony Braxton and Ween making an album for Elephant 6 (probably about birds, wrestling, and revolution). Strange, unmatched sonics pierce the veil, drenching the audience in a playful, droney ephemera. It’s future music without abandoning the past."

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A new performance series combines improvised music, contortionism, neuroscience. And pro wrestling.

By Shaun Brady 

Philadelphia Inquirer (February 2023) 

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"The Fish Sauce series brings together Philly’s improvised music and dance communities in new ways. Each show — or “bottle” as Pond refers to them — includes combinations of artists encouraged to take risks together. These collaborations often take novel and unexpected forms."

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Review of Pre-Frost Bloom by Jorgie Ingram

Thinking Dance (November 2022)

“This use of space is exciting; an uncovering and unfolding of choreographies inside of (what I assume is) an improvisational score, grounds the often-buoyant soundscape. Moving through somber, dynamic, and spirited sonic environments, Mijkalena engages gestures that emerge through her movement: a forearm grazing her forehead and tracing down her neck until it turns into balance on one leg, grounding her standing leg a few feet below the floor. Until it turns into near-stillness, lying on the floor, only her ribcage and chest moving from the expansion of her lungs. Until it turns into movement that resembles the stretching of a rubber band: stretchy and with tense weightedness.

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Until it turns into, describes much of this 30-minute premiere. It’s palpable, the way that each member of The Mijkalena Quartet listens to one another. As decisions are made within the score, the audience watches and listens to relationships unfold between sound, dance, gesture, and perception. Circulatory leading and following takes hold: Mijkalena finds herself in body percussion alongside the musicians, and they listen, Mijkalena listens, the musicians listen, and this way of listening breathes life into the room.”


Building community with Sonic Sunsets at the Discovery Center by Hanae Mason

Broad Street Review (December 2019)

“With Sonic Sunsets, Pond is hoping to create a new model not only for the making and sharing of music but also for building community. In this model, jazz itself is a metaphor for how we show up in the world with our unique talents and gifts, meet others where they are, and create something fresh and distinct together. Accordingly, each event date is headlined by a different jazz and improvisational act (to date all are POC). While Pond acknowledges that the kind of music can be somewhat intimidating or uncomfortable for some listeners, the point is for attendees to connect with each other and with the space through the shared experience, a theory of change rooted from public space thinkers like Jane Jacobs and Afro-futurist literature, both inspirations for the series.”