POMO’s gonna be in town for ClubIHC this weekend, and we’re the happiest bugs in the rug. The Canadian is known for his well-crafted live shows, so we picked his brain on what to expect Friday night, what he and the other HW&W artists do when they’re together, what substances pair best with Howard Stern listening sessions, and what was happening in his shower this morning.

Musically, you got your start the old fashioned way – playing instruments – and in interviews you talk about how about 99% of your recordings are played out. What do you think about the fact that so many successful artists in electronic music are missing that classical musical background? Do you think it encourages independent musical thinking, or does it limit it?

I think that there is something cool that comes out of making music without a background of music training. As long as you have a good ear. You can come up with chords or things that someone with a musical background wouldn’t think of because they aren’t conventional. So yes I think that it does encourage independent musical thinking, but obviously sometimes not having musical training can be a negative thing.

You record most of your own instrumentation – have you ever thought about putting together a full band, even if just for touring?

That is actually my dream, if I could tour with a live band I would be a happy, happy boy.

Do you think your dual-identity between POMO and Nouvel Age would be possible without an education in music, or does the Jekyll & Hyde split come naturally to you?

I think doing both projects would be much harder without music education. It becomes handy when working with another artist and you’re trying to achieve a certain sound that you both want but might be a bit out of your normal comfort zone writing-wise. So you’re kinda pushed into really going into your training to pull out chord progression ideas or trying to bridge two sections together. Things like that. The music education helps things move along faster.

Tell us more about your relationship with Kaytranada. “Cherry Funk” is dope, his spotlight helped put you on HW&W’s radar, but now that “you’ve made it”, are you guys still working together? Was it ever a mentor/mentee dynamic, or are you guys on a more level playing field than that? Any collabs we should be looking forward to?

I met Kaytranada a couple years ago and I think we got along because of similar musical taste and goals. There wasn’t really a mentor/mentee dynamic it was more just getting together and jamming with ideas and things just really happened easily. Cherry Funk is actually the very first song we ever worked on. We have a bunch of other songs we’ve started together over other sessions, hopefully we will finish them soon!

How’s it going with HW&W? That’s a pretty ballin’ roster you guys are building over there … please tell me you guys all hang out and watch Clueless and eat pizza sometimes.

I love being on HW&W. Its such a great team of people and everyone is fully on the same page and doing music for the right reasons. Haha we do hangout whenever we are in the same city and definitely eat a ton of food.

How do you want people to feel when they hear your music? In what setting would a POMO song be most hilariously inappropriate?

I guess the most I would want is for people to feel the way I did when I made the particular song. If it’s a more upbeat dance track I would hope you feel like dancing. If it’s a more emotional kinda track I would hope you feel some kind of emotion.

When asked about your influences, you’re quick to drop the classics: Prince, Michael Jackson, Dilla, Pink Floyd. Tell us about some of the less monolithically famous characters you draw from (musical or otherwise). Who’s an artist you feel like everyone needs to know about?

I’m inspired by musicians who are true masters of their instruments. I spend hours youtubing videos of crazy players like Chris Dave, Spanky McCurdy, Thundercat and his brother Ronald Bruner Jr. Those musicians that just set the bar so high. I feel like its a good thing to compare yourself to musicians of that calibre even though it makes you think all your stuff sucks. One artist everyone should know about is Tennyson. I spent Redbull Bass Camp in Montreal with that young dude, one of the most talented and creative people I’ve ever met.

We’re nerds, you’re obviously a music nerd. What else do you nerd on? Games, shows, books, cooks?

I nerd on movies and food. I wanna nerd on video games more I need to buy a PS4 or something.

RAPID FIRE ROUND!

1. What were you thinking about in the shower today?

Shit I gotta meet my girlfriends parents for the first time at dinner. I hope it’s not awkward.

2. What food are you craving right now?

Sushi.

3. What do you do when you’re alone? 

Smoke weed and listen to Howard Stern.

4. What was the first song you put on this morning? 

Madonna- Justify My Love

What does the future look like for you? Any upcoming projects?

A few remixes are coming out soon. And I’m always working on original music at the same time. I will be releasing a new single soon.

What can we expect from your ClubIHC show on Friday?

A set that is a display of a bunch of styles I’m into. Starting off more chill and working its way up.

Sadly, we couldn’t get him to confess to the bit about Clueless, but we’re just going to go ahead and assume that happens. If you want to wrangle the truth out of him in person, make sure you show up to his ClubIHC show this Friday with starRo and Mike Gao at The Lash Pop-Up. Maybe we can all watch Clueless together afterwards…