Walden (pond)

Our conversation began next to the infamous Walden (pond) red band van in the parking lot of The B.O.B. I was briefed on the coach and what happens to groupies their after the show. "Tonight we are showing Bobarino's no mercy," said drummer Danny Gilmore. Walden (pond) are relatively new to the scene, yet this welcome trio is melting faces with rocked out psychedelic pandemonium. If you were to toss The Mars Volta, Fugazi, Pink Floyd and From Monument to the Masses into a blender, then add one part Jameson and serve chilled in a shot glass, you would be getting ripped off Walden (pond). Aside from the fact that you need to seem them in concert immediately, these dudes are as multidimensional and far out as their blend of musical flavor.

"I'm a drummist," touted Danny Gilmore, a bearded, tattooed gent, with Elvis Castelo-like black rimmed bifocals. "I decided that it is not fair that you get to have guitarists, and bassists, and keyboardists, and then just a "drummer" – so, yeah, I' a drummist."

This summer the band has two major objectives: finish its debut album, Jack Knife Gleaming, and to pick enough mulberries for Gilmore's mulberry mead. They have been in the studio working on it for eight months "Which is how long we have been around," said guitarist/vocalist Nolan Potter, a gangly, tall fellow with grey-ish blue wolf eyes. "It drops on July 10 at Mulligan's; we are having [the bands] Minnesota and Kids on Fire from Muskegon come out – they are our buddies." Nolan moved here a year ago from Cadillac; Matt Carey, the long-haired stage Viking and self-described "baser" hails from "fucking Muskegon"; and Gilmore is originally from Brighton.

When asked what would make up the recipe to describe Walden (pond) as a food product, they came up with guacamole: Bruce Springsting's pants (half off his left check with ass showing, because "He's the fucking Boss"), The Berenstain Bears and Billy Idol's lips. They are really happy to be part of a scene where there are many opportunities for bands to play shows. "There are other benefits to the scene, like getting naked and doing drugs and having orgies," claimed Matt Carey. "Bestiality, you know...whatever, what have you."

"We used Eastown studio to track and Lance Eikler to auto-tune [laughing]. We are doing vocal tracking and mixing and mastering with Pete Fox over at Stone House Recording." The band referred to Fox as "their wizard," and Carey went as far as to say that his code name is "White Chocolate aka Pete Fox."

"I really like how the community has come out to support us here in Grand Rapids. Nolan and I are pretty new to the scene, but Matt's been here a while. It's nice to see people come out and support us because of the music – otherwise we would still be feeling around in the dark for a while," said Glimore. "Grand Rapids is the perfect city to be playing in at the start of our career – if you can say this is a career – but it's a great place to start," said Potter. Throughout the dialog, Gilmore and Potter continued to refocus the gist of our conversation, and then, low and behold, the wild man Matt Carey chimes in: " I want a golden toilet to sit on [laughing]...and diamond-coated toilet paper." - RECOIL magazine (Grand Rapids)

Three-piece Walden (Pond) is a cerebral affair.
It's music that relies on complexities and nuances, with the kind of structure that only quick fingers and hours spent meandering through scales and time signatures can perfect. Laid overtop Nolan Potter's unassuming vocals — listen long enough, and they build a soundscape.

"What I've always liked about most of my favorite artists like Floyd or Zeppelin or Radiohead is that I can feel like I'm part of something outside myself," Potter said. "I think that's the highest thing that could be achieved with any kind of art."

Which is, perhaps, what Potter and his two cohorts, Danny Gilmore (drums) and Matthew Carey (bass), are doing. Each track on their latest album, Like a Jackknife Gleaming, contains a number of intricacies, that when fit together, build waves of stylistic scenes and shifting dynamics.

Gilmore and Potter began the band in an experimentalist way in October 2008, and the band went through a number of transitions before the two met Matt Carey at their favorite Eastown watering holes.

Carey saw the two perform at Plugged, the open mic for bands at Billy's, and met up with them the next day. Since then, the group's been performing throughout the area while working on the album. Like a Jackknife Gleaming, recorded at Eastown Studios by Lance Eichler, is the full-length follow-up to Planet Dismantler, a short EP.

Potter, who lived with a number of various people through the state, traveling frequently and playing music with a myriad of people, tends to write about the transitory nature of his life.

"Our songs, and our band in general, is geared towards people who, like us, are in this weird, in-between phase of life in which we're living as children in adults' bodies with no real place to go," Potter said. "I think this confusion and contradiction comes across in our songs."

Gilmore describes the band's sound as a grab bag, saying, "it seems like a lot of bands try too hard to find a sound to bond to, but I think people find an eclectic mix refreshing."

Thus, Walden's sets tend to come in the form of cohesive experiences, where they don't always play the same thing every time and rely on, according to Carey, "raw emotion." This enables Walden audiences to become immersed in a unique aural atmosphere, which makes Walden stand out from other bands. - Revue Magazine (Grand Rapids)

Great sounds coming out of Michigan these days, Take a listen to our pick for Artist of the Day Walden (pond). If your in the area stop by their CD release party tomorrow night. - DFJams

There were a plethora of bands playing on Thursday, the first day of Prospecto, “Musical Showcase and Sonic Experience”, but since I wasn’t sure exactly how long the buses would take to get from venue to venue, I decided to camp out at The Intersection to make sure that I wouldn’t miss the headlining acts. Mustard Plug and The Presidents of the United States of America, both of whom I was really looking forward to seeing. I think that was my mistake for the evening, not circling around to the other venues. I know I missed some good acts.

I started off the night with Walden Pond on the main stage at The Intersection. They’re a 3-piece band who put out a lot of high-energy sound for a small enemble. The bassist looked and acted like Jack Black’s brother, but you gotta hand it to a group who plays their hearts out to an audience of 15 people—the evening was definitely off to a slow start as far as drawing in the crowds. I did sit through their entire set though, and enjoyed their psychadelic rock tunes with just a hint of post-grunge 90s. - Backstageallaccess.com

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau conducted an experiment in home economics by living in a small, self-built cabin in the woods near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. His intentions were mainly to conduct an experiment: Could he survive, possibly even thrive, by stripping away all superfluous luxuries, living a plain, simple life in radically reduced conditions? During his voyage of self discovery, Thoreau emphasized the importance of solitude, contemplation, and closeness to nature in his writings; and over 150 years later, a band that shares the same name as Thoreau's book and cabin home, emphasize the same sentiments in their sound.

Walden(pond) is an emerging Grand Rapids, Michigan based trio consisting of Nolan Potter (guitar/vocals/piano), Danny Gilmore (drums/back-up Vocals), and Matt Carey (bass). Much like Thoreau escaping "over-civilization...in search of the raw and savage delight of the wilderness," Walden(pond)'s sound avoids the over-produced world of mainstream rock and roll and chooses to exist on the outskirts where their sprightly guitar arrangements dance like water bugs; their bass croaks wildly like bullfrogs in heat; and vocals float and ripple like wind over water.

Earlier this year, the newly formed trio completed their debut album, Like a Jackknife Gleaming, featuring ten serene tracks full of earthy compositions, 90's alternative nostalgia, and hints of psychedelia. The album is now available to purchase and download via iTunes and ready to stream on BandSoup.com.



My personal favorite song, I Get Back, proves that Walden(pond) is a force to be reckoned with. Potter's crafty guitar work and infectious vocals is a perfect introduction to a band that sounds like self discovery, nature, and healthy isolation wrapped in one simplistic package.

Thoreau once said: "Nations are possessed with an insane ambition to perpetuate the memory of themselves by the amount of hammered stone they leave ... One piece of good sense is more memorable than a monument as high as the moon." The members of Walden(pond) have left one good piece of sense with their latest album and it will be remembered. - Bandsoup