Pony Bwoy Discuss Their Debut Album, Set the Record Straight on Supposed Bon Iver Connection + More

Sometimes, change is a good thing. At least that’s what Jeremy Nutzman thought when he decided to leave his party rap behind. Under the moniker Spyder Babybie Raw Dawg, Nutzman prided himself in spitting rhymes that weren’t too serious, and he wasn’t afraid to throw blatant sexual and drug references. However the Minneapolis native has moved toward a more R&B-meets-spacey-electronic style with his new project, Pony Bwoy.

Alongside producer Hunter Morley, Nutzman experiments with sounds on Pony Bwoy's forthcoming self-titled debut, which arrives via Totally Gross National Project on July 16. Diffuser.fm had the chance to chat with the duo about the origins of their sound, the influence of the Minneapolis scene and their connection -- or lack thereof -- to Bon Iver.

How did you guys get together?

Hunter Morley: Our old bands used to play shows together, and we were partying and made a track one night. Then we just decided to keep going.

Jeremy, you used to work perform as Spyder Babybie Raw Dawg. What inspired the change?

Jeremy Nutzman: The music itself was just better. So I made the switch.

What was the recording process like?

HM: Essentially, when we worked on the songs, we were staying up for two or three days to work on, like, two songs and then smash it up from start to finish. We’ve recorded three albums already. The first one is going to come out, but we’ve finished the new one already. It just takes so long to go from our hands to get to everyone else’s, you know?

What is the story behind the track 'Ævum (time crawls)?'

HM: It kind of just happened one night. We don’t really choose what the songs sound like. They just kind of write themselves. And the next day that song was there, and we were all surprised about it.

Since you mentioned that Pony Bwoy has already recorded three albums worth of music, how did you decide which songs would make it onto this one?

HM: Actually, the album coming out is the second one we recorded. It’s the songs we did together with friends or something like that.

Where did the name Pony Bwoy come from?

HM: One of the first songs we wrote was called ‘Pony Bwoy.’ And at first, I was totally against starting a new band with our collaboration. I just didn’t want to start a new band with it. But when we decided to start a new band, we just went with that song title.

Pony Bwoy have been linked to Bon Iver various times in the press. Have you ever worked with Justin Vernon?

HM: I’ve personally never met him. I think that’s Jeremy’s side of the conversation and maybe played with him.

JN: Yeah, I see him at group party functions. I think he played with us in [Minneapolis noise band] Marijuana Deathsquads a couple of times. But yeah we definitely don’t do sessions with Bon Iver.

HM: I feel like it’s more of a promotional thing from the label.

JN: Yeah, kind of a tool I think.

How has the Minneapolis music scene influenced you two as artists?

JN: It reminds us that we’re better [artists] and we need to be better.

HM: I like to make music for me to listen to because it fills the void that’s not filled. There are a lot of great bands from Minneapolis even though I haven’t been ecstatic about the scene lately. I guess that’s why we make music, I suppose.