Poi Dog Pondering LINER NOTES, LYRICS, credits & BIO
for the New Album: "Keep On Loving Each Other"
Release Date: 01/27/2023 / Label: Platetectonic Music
http://www.platetectonicmusic.com/poidogpondering/home
Band Site: / http://www.poidogpondering.com
Private SoundCloud link of the album
https://soundcloud.com/user-504709138/sets/keep-on-loving-each-other
BandCamp pre-oder link
https://poidogpondering.bandcamp.com/album/keep-on-loving-each-other
ALBUM RELEASE TOUR DATES 2023
CHICAGO, IL., Thalia Hall - Friday/Saturday January 27 & 28 - (SOLD OUT)
AUSTIN, TX., 3TEN ACL Live - Friday/Saturday February 17 & 18
PHOENIX, AZ., Musical Instrument Museum - Saturday March 11 (SOLD OUT)
MICHIGAN CITY, IN., Uptown Social - Saturday March 25
EVANSTON, IL., SPACE (PDP Solo) - Saturday May 20, 2023
AURORA, IL., RiverEdge - Saturday August 26
SANTA CRUZ, CA - Moe’s Alley - September 15th
SAN FRANCISCO, CA,., - Chapel - September 16th
CHICAGO, IL., - City Winery - September 23
ST LOUIS, MO., - City Winery - September 24
NOTES ON THE RECORDING, LYRICS, & MUSIC
We’ve finished the New PDP album.
Lot’s of influences shine through on this album: 60’s & 70’s Sunshine sound of Brazil & southern California, 70’s British rock guitar swagger, mid 80’s British dream pop, 90’s/2000's post rave synth chill groove gospel soul. (Joao Gilberto, James & Bobby Purify, WAR, Nazareth, Primal Scream doing Rolling Stones, Style Council, Bryter Layter, 4AD /Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, James, Madchester / Screamadelica sound).
Origins:
Thoroughly restless and emerging the isolation of pandemic daze, and inspired by a documentary about Primal Scream’s recording of the “Memphis Tapes”, (Bandmate, Guitarist, Co-producer) Ted Cho and I got together in Chicago & started work on this New PDP album, winter of 2021-22... me, flying in from Sonoma, sleeping on Ted’s studio couch.
Ted and I started, as we often do... with 2 acoustic guitars, fleshing out the songs, then moving on; me on drums and Ted on electric guitar - recording the basic tracks. We work fast together. (With our long history going back to the post punk days of Honolulu, sometimes just a nod is all it takes for us to know where to go). Once we could stand the songs up on 2 legs (so that the band members could see their shape and arrange their parts) we brought everyone into the studio to add their unique & particular magic. It happened very organically. We’ve been a band so long, that we all know how how our style and parts will work together.
MUSIC:
As with every album since Pomegranate (where we 1st started developing the orchestral soul sonic sound) The beautiful orchestral arrangements of the amazing triangle of Susan Voelz (strings), Paul Von Mertens (Wind instruments) & Max Crawford (Brass) again, shine & glow beautifully on this album.
A Wonderful new addition to the PDP sound on this album are the marvelous and creative vocal arrangements, and singing of Kelly Hogan & Nora O’Connor. They did such amazing work on this album, and were a joy to be in the studio with.
Sophia De Leon Sanchez sings a beautiful French verse on “Sweet Taste in my Mouth” & joins Kornell Hargrove and Carla Prather. And, all 3 bring their magic to the Choruses of “ Wake it Now” & “Keep on loving each other”.
Abra Moore (long time PDP collaborator & original member) Also sings on “Wake it Now” & “Keep on loving each other”.
Ted Cho paid passionate attention to detail to the sound of the recording & focus of the mixing process. It sounds gorgeous.
As a band, our collective influences are so wide and varied, that the albums sound that way. We follow our instincts, song by song. The albums reveal themselves upon completion.
NOTES:
“My relationship with music was forged listening to my favorite records, sprawled out on the bedroom floor, with my head phones on. Music felt like a river that was constantly flowing by, in which artists were pouring their music into, for us all to enjoy and get nourished by. I knew then that I wanted to make my own songs and pour them into that river, and be part of that for someone else.
To this day, when I am writing a song, I imagine communicating with someone laying on their bedroom floor, alone, with their headphones on, listening. It’s that intimate communication. It’s one of the reasons I feel safe to write from actual experience, and in the 1st person. I don’t hide in a persona or make up scenarios. I am talking one on one. Direct.
If you were to ask me what this album is about, I would tell you that I feel it is about following your heart. Forging your own path & doing it your own way. The title of the album speaks to the the current climate of polarization at work in the world today. There is also something of a thread to the lyrics about us each being our unique self, and feeling free to share that with the world, so that other’s feel free to do the same, and not feel so alone.
It’s a theme I always reframe, album to album. Perhaps to keep mindful of it, myself.
It’s a really good record.
Not to be cocky, but, it’s what we do.
We care about what we do.
Honestly, at this point, I feel we all have a sense of protecting what we’ve built.
We’re proud of it.
We do it because we love it.”
Frank Orrall
Chicago 2023
Currently in rehearsals with the band for our upcoming record release shows in Chicago, Austin, Phoenix and Michigan City etc.,.
THE ALBUM:
Produced by Frank Orrall & Ted Cho
Recorded and Mixed by Ted Cho
Additional Recording and Mix Assist by Frank Orrall
Supplemental Remote Recording by
Paul Mertens, Susan Voelz, Rick Gehrenbeck, Julio Davis, Ron Hall & Dag Juhlin
Recorded in Chicago & Sonoma 2022
Mastered by Carl Saff @ Saff Mastering
PERSONNEL:
Poi Dog Pondering for this album is: Frank Orrall, Ted Cho, Susan Voelz, Max Crawford, Paul Von Mertens, John Nelson, Ron Hall, Rick Gehrenbeck, Dag Juhlin, Ryan Murphy, Julio Davis, Bruce Hughes, Matt Davis, Kelly Hogan, Nora O'Connor, Abra Moore, Kornell Hargrove, Sophia De Leon Sanchez, Robert Cornelius, Carla Prather, Ali Weiss Mann
For Lyrics and Performance Credits visit www.poidogpondering.com
Platetectonic Music DBA Poi Dog Pondering
P & C 2023 Poi Dog Pondering
Booking Agent: Frank Riley frank@highroadtouring.com
Management: Dandy Info@platetectonicmusic.com
Music Licensing & Legal Affairs: Hillel Frankel - hf@ent-law.net
All songs written by Frank Orrall, except “Do It Your Own Way”, “Bespeckled Angel” & “Licked All The Sugar” - by Frank Orrall & Ted Choand, “Keep On Loving Each Other" - by Frank Orrall & Kornell Hargrove
Platetectonic Music DBA Poi Dog Pondering
P & C 2023 Poi Dog Pondering
Music Publisher: Guava Juice Music, BMI
www.platetectonicmusic.com/poidogpondering/home
PLATE209CDPDP2023
_____________________
PERFORMANCE CREDITS:
DO IT YOUR OWN WAY
Frank Orrall - Drum Kit, Acoustic Guitars, Vocals
Ted Cho - Electric Guitars
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Paul Von Mertens - Horn Arrangement & Bari Sax, Flute & Tenor Sax
Max Crawford - Trumpet
Matt Davis - Trombone
Ron Hall - Electric Bass
Rick Gehrenbeck - Organ
Backing Vocals - Kelly Hogan & Nora O'Connor
FREE & EASY
Frank Orrall - Electric Guitar & Vocals
Ryan Murphy - Drum Kit
John Nelson - Congas
Ron Hall - Electric Bass
Rick Gehrenbeck - Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet D6
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Max Crawford - Horn Arrangement & Flügelhorn
Paul Von Mertens - Flute
Dag Juhlin - Guitar
Julio Davis - Vibraphone
Backing Vocals - Kelly Hogan & Nora O'Connor
SWEET TASTE IN MY MOUTH
Frank Orrall - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Jarana, Guzheng, Percussion & Drums
Paul Von Mertens - Horn Arrangement & Sax, Flute, Alto Flute
Max Crawford - Flügelhorn
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Ron Hall - Electric Bass
Rick Gehrenbeck - Fender Rhodes
Sophia De Leon Sanchez - French Vocals
Kelly Hogan & Nora O'Connor - Backing Vocals
TENDER LITTLE HEART
Frank Orrall - Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Vocals & Drums
Ron Hall - Electric Bass
Dag Juhlin - Electric Guitar
Rick Gehrenbeck - Fender Rhodes
Max Crawford - Horn Arrangement & Trumpet, Glöckenspiel
Paul Von Mertens - Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Flute
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Matt Davis - Trombone
Julio Davis - Vibraphone
Kelly Hogan & Nora O'Connor - Backing Vocals
BESPECKLED ANGEL
Frank Orrall - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar & Drum Kit
Ted Cho - Electric Guitar
Bruce Hughes - Electric Bass
Rick Gehrenbeck - Piano
Max Crawford - Horn Arrangement & Trumpet
Paul Von Mertens - Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax
Matt Davis - Trombone
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Ali Weiss Mann, Kelly Hogan & Nora O'Connor - Backing Vocals
THE ROME SONG
Frank Orrall - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar & Drum Kit
Ted Cho - Electric Guitar
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Ron Hall - Electric Bass
Max Crawford - Wurlitzer
Kelly Hogan & Nora O'Connor - Backing Vocals
LICKED ALL THE SUGAR
Paul Von Mertens - Wind Arrangement & Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Flute
Susan Voelz - Violins & String Arrangement
Frank Orrall - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Ted Cho - Electric Guitar & Bass
Dag Juhlin - Electric Guitar
Max Crawford - Synthesizer
Rick Gehrenbeck - Organ
Julio Davis - Vibraphone
MEET ME IN THE FOREST
Frank Orrall - Electric Guitar, Vocals & Drums
Susan Voelz - Streichfett String Synthesizer, Violin
Ted Cho - Bass
WAKE IT NOW
Frank Orrall - Synthesizers, Electric Guitar, Vocals & Drums
Rob Myers - Electric Guitar
Ted Cho - Electric Guitar
Susan Voelz - Streichfett String Synthesizer
Max Crawford - Moog Bass
Julio Davis - Vibraphone
Abra Moore, Kornell Hargrove, Carla Prather, Sophia De Leon Sanchez - Backing Vocals
KEEP ON LOVING EACH OTHER
Frank Orrall - Synthesizers, Vocals & Drums
Ted Cho - Electric Guitar
Susan Voelz - Streichfett String Synthesizer
Julio Davis - Vibraphone
Rick Gehrenbeck - Synth Bass
Abra Moore, Kornell Hargrove, Carla Prather, Sophia De Leon Sanchez - Backing Vocals
_________________________________________
THE LYRICS:
DO IT YOUR OWN WAY
I'm missing a feeling in my heart
I think it's time for a brand new start a brand new start!
I'm not afraid to start over
I am no stranger to manual labor
I feel all right
Well alright
Right on
Take your time
Do it your way
Stand up
Speak your mind
Follow your heart
Try to be kind.
Be yourself
It’s ok
There’s only one like you
In this whole world
Take your time
Find your place
Be true to your heart
Do it your own way
I got a feeling in my heart
I think it's time for a brand new start A brand new start
I got a feeling in my heart,
Like I can spark a brand new start Yeah I feel all right
FREE AND EASY
I love you more than you’ll ever know It takes Time to let it show
And if you wanna get next to me
You gotta be ready and willing
To be Free & Easy with me
I don’t do well under pressure Jealousy’s got no place with me
If you love me, then let me be me Don’t try to change or rearrange me I’ve got this far on my own account
I don’t need you to turn me out
I just want you to be your self
I’m not looking for someone else
To be Free & Easy with me
So be Free & Easy with me
SWEET TASTE IN MY MOUTH
I heard the crickets clicking in the distance As I watched the moon rise high
I was thinking about you baby
I was contemplating life's atrocities
You put a sweet taste in my mouth
I don’t know what I’d do with out you baby I was un-tethered in the storm
you gave me a sense of home
Now I wanna be there for you baby
I’ve been waiting so long
To feel a sense of home
And now that you’ve come along
I want you in my arms
Tout de suite
When the world gets heavy on
your shoulder
When ever you’re down inside
I’ll be waiting for you
Now I wanna leave a little light on
For you when you come home
I wanna set the table for you baby J'ai attendu si longtemps
Pour trouver un refuge Maintenant que je t'ai trouvé
Je te veux dans mes bras tout suite I’ve been waiting so long
To feel a sense of home
And now that you’ve come along
I want you in my arms Tout de suite
TENDER LITTLE HEART
Let me in your tender little heart
She don’t wanna talk about it
How love broke her heart
Now’s she’s tryin’ to live with out it
Ooh baby let me in your tender little heart
BESPECKLED ANGEL
Bespeckled Angel
Star map made of freckles
Hair tousled and tumbled
Wrapped up in a bedsheet
Everybody needs someone they can depend on
When Times are tuff, and you need a friend
Everybody needs someone they can come home to Everybody needs a little love
To get um through
I Got a feeling like Sunday morning
I'm high on the mountain
Tryin’na shake off the blues today
Everybody needs someone they can depend on
When Times are tuff, and you need a friend
Everybody needs someone they can come home to Everybody needs a little love
To get um through
You know it don’t come easy
You gotta follow your heart
Down deep inside
You know what you want
Now you know you gotta Bleed, to get what you came for
Yeah you know you gotta Dream to get what you want Yeah you know you gotta Bleed to get what you came for Yeah you know you gotta Dream to get what you want You might think that you know it
You might think you got it all worked out
Things change in a moment
You might find that you need a friend
Everybody needs someone they can depend on
When Times are tuff, and you need a friend
Everybody needs someone they can come home to Everybody needs a little love
To get um through
THE ROME SONG
The Birds of Rome
Are finding their way home
In the dusk light
And out on the west coast
You’re just waking up
And walking into the sunlight
And your eyes
Your eyes are in me now
I’m Patient
Patient as the Rain
I can take it
I can take the pain
But I’m Lonely
In this exquisite ache
And your eyes
your eyes are in me now
What Am I gonna do
Your milk is in my mouth now
And I want you
I need you and I want you
Wanna smell and taste and
feel you on me, baby
What the heart wants the heart wants You can’t make it change it’s mind
I just wanna love you
Your map is in my soul now
Your seed sewn deep inside
And your eyes
Your eyes
Your eyes are in me now
LICKED ALL THE SUGAR
I Licked all the sugar
I Drank all the wine
I staggered home in the cool morning light With a hand full of piece of mind
I stood High on the Mountain
I dove deep in the sea
I wandered round in the electric dawn in the Morning in New Orleans
MEET ME IN THE FOREST Meet me in the forest
Take off all your clothes
Let me lie with you awhile When the sun comes asunder And the starlight falls
And your hair comes tumbling down I wanna be there with you
When your Thunder Reigns
Rain all over me
I feel like a lone wolf
On the edge of town
Tempting danger
Incase you might come around
WAKE IT NOW
You're gonna have to wake it now Your heart fell asleep
When the night time falls down And I’m on my knees
And the clouds swirling around me to intervene She comes to me in silence
Never calls my name
I never ask her what she came for
No need to explain My past a mystery My future's unwritten Gonna play that pony
Gonna lay my chips down on the table
The future flys like an eagle in the distance
And the moment burns like a match in an instant I'm so supple now I've got velveteen skin
You can tell I've got the blues by the shape I'm in You're gonna have to wake it now
Somewhere along the way
Under the bourdon of dreams
You got weighed down by the dailies
And let let your heart fall asleep,
You're gonna have to wake it now
The path unfolds unfolds before you in an instant And the truth speaks clearly if you're listening You got your life before you
Your past behind
The future's got you worried now
I know you're terrified
But you're gonna have to take it now
It'll be alright! it'll be alright! I feel it
Yeah, you're gonna have to wake it now
It's alright
It's alright
I can feel it
Gonna have to wake it now
KEEP ON LOVING EACH OTHER
I was distracted doing some casual research
On a glass of wine at the dining room table
When you reached over and put your sweet palm on my shoulder We’ve gotta keep on loving each other
Spread love today
We can end this hate
Let’s defeat it
It’s up you me & you
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RANDOM FACTS:
* Frank Orrall is also a member of Thievery Corporation’s live band (as percussionist and Vocalist) and, has been since 2000.
* PDP holds the concert attendance record at Ravinia Festival, Illinois.
* PDP performed the entire album “Pomegranate” with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra.
* PDP has arranged and performed two orchestral collaborations with the Chicago sinfonietta (Dvorak’s New World Symphony & Bizet’s, Carmen).
* PDP wrote and performed a live score for the Brazilian avant-garde film “Limite” and performed it live at Sonotheque , Chicago
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POI DOG PONDERING HISTORY
1984:
Frank Orrall begins making cassette solo albums, under the alias, Poi Dog Pondering, on a 4 track tape deck, in his bedroom in Hawai’i. Hand painting the covers and selling them on consignment in local Honolulu record stores.
1986:
Frank began busking on the street, and slowly formed a band of like hearted souls around the PDP cassette album songs. Together, they spent a year slowly crossing the continent from San Francisco to New Orleans to to Athens to Manhattan, busking for gas and food money and sleeping in sleeping bags.
1987
The PDP cassettes caught the ear of the famed Los Angeles based Indy record store/label; Texas Hotel Records (Vic Chestnut, Henry Rollins, Hetch Hetchy). They signed Frank Orrall to his 1st recording contract.
and with Ted Cho, Abra Moore, Sean Coffey, Bruce Hughes & John Nelson moved to Austin to record the 1st Vinyl PDP album for the label. It was during the recording of that album that Frank met Max Crawford & Susan Voelz and invited them to join PDP.
1988:
A year of touring later, after an infamous 6 label bidding war, Frank signed a co-deal with CBS/Sony Records & Texas Hotel, and Poi Dog Pondering recorded 3 records for them, over as many years. “Poi dog pondering”,
“ Wishing like a mountain, thinking like the sea” & “ Volo Volo “.
1992:
Uncomfortable with the constraints of life on a major label (and record sales not up to the expectation of Sony) Frank and Sony negotiated to terminate the contract. Freeing Frank to start his own recording label, PLATETECTONIC MUSIC.
1993:
With new found freedom, Frank and Max moved to Chicago to build a band home base there, and begin work on writing and recording the seminal PDP album POMEGRANATE.
Inspired by the orchestral arrangements of Robert Kirby (Nick Drake) Frank enlisted Paul Von Mertens to arrange for quartet, the songs Catacombs & Big Constellation. Working with co-Producer Martin Stebbing and the Parallax String Quartet, the new orchestral sound of PDP emerged.
Susan Voelz moved to Chicago during the recording, and the beautiful orchestral arrangement triangle of Susan (Strings), Paul (Woodwinds) & Max (Brass) began to bloom.
A residency at local club, Lounge Ax, gave PDP the opportunity to play with a wide array of Chicago musicians and the band grew into shape with the addition of native sons; Dag Juhlin (guitar/vocals - from The Slugs), Robert Cornelius & Kornell Hargrove (vocals).
1999:
3 albums later, needing rejuvenation, and with a new sound in his head, Frank moved back to his home state of Hawai’i for 2 years to write and develop music there. Putting PDP live performances on pause, he took time to adjust the line up to better suit the new music.
2002:
Moving back to Chicago, armed with new musical ideas & adding to the line up; Rick Gehrenbeck (keyboards), Ron Hall (bass), Ryan Murphy (drums), John Nelson (percussion), Joe Sonnefeldt & Julio Davis (vibraphone) the album “In Seed Comes Fruit” was recorded blending Acoustic, Electronic & Orchestral textures: establishing PDPs current “Acous-tronic / Orchestral / Soul Rock Sound”
2007:
With Hawaii / Austin era PDP member Ted Cho (guitar) relocating to Chicago, the line up was now complete. Frank’s infatuation with The Small Faces and The Faces combined with Ted and Dag’s proclivity for guitar rock, and Max’s desire for “shorter songs” PDP wrote and recorded the rock pop album “7”
2011-2918:
PDP release 3 albums: “Audio, love letter”, “Everybody’s got a star” “Remnants of Summer” & one DVD “Live at Metro Chicago”
2020:
Frank re-releases the 4 original PDP cassette albums on Digital Streaming: PDP1, PDP2, PDP3 & PDP4
2022:
Ted Cho and Frank Orrall, having come up together in the Hawai’i post punk scene, have a fast & efficient shorthand way of communicating musical ideas, and work well together: Roughing out song ideas quickly (Frank on drums, a Ted on guitar). That’s how this new record started.
Armed with lyrics, melodies, and chord changes collected during the pandemic, inspired by Primal Scream’s “Memphis Tapes”, Frank and Ted sat around with the acoustic guitars and framed the songs, and then pounded them into shape in the studio and brought the band members in to each do their beautiful magic.
2023:
The resulting album “KEEP ON LOVING EACH OTHER” is multi textured as ever. This time you can hear the reverberations of; Exile On Main Street, Screamadelica, the Brazilian soul of João Gilberto, 60’s soul Pop, 80’s post punk synth pop, & the post Rave culture chill out disco of the title track.
The album is a sort of song cycle call to follow one’s heart and to hoe your own road with love in your heart.